Sell Vs United States Case Study
Right to refuse treatment 2
In SELL v. UNITED STATES, the question was whether the constitution allows forcibly medicating a mentally ill defendant so that he/she can be competent for trial for serious crimes that are non-violent. The constitution does allow this but under certain circumstances. Sell was found to be mentally incompetent to stand trial after examination by a magistrate the United States Medical Center for Federal Prisoners. Sell decided to challenge the decision made by the Medical center to force the medication on him. Because he was a danger to himself and others, the magistrate gave the go ahead on forcing him to take the medication. This would most likely the best way to bring him back to competency to stand trial …show more content…
(http://www.jaapl.org/cgi/reprint/31/3/372.pdf) Singleton had been sentenced to death in 1979. As he began to deteriorate mentally in 1987, he exhibited paranoid and delusional symptoms. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Medication was necessary to control these symptoms. Ten years later, he expressed distorted beliefs and that he was going to kill a physician and the president. Because of his dangerousness, the Medical Review Panel agreed to force medication on him under a Harper involuntary medication order. The Due Process Clause allows them to do so since he is a seriously mentally ill inmate who may be a danger to himself and others and it may be in his best interests. In 2000, he had a petition filed for habeas corpus contesting that the state could not make him competent with medication and then have him executed. His petition was denied by the district court because they found “no evidence in this record that the actions and the decisions of the medical personnel involved were in any degree motivated by the desire, purpose or intent to make Mr. Singleton competent so that he could be executed”. The appellate court had two questions to answer, (1) was he competent to be executed before execution of the forced medication order? They found that he wasn’t competent enough to understand the punishment
In SELL v. UNITED STATES, the question was whether the constitution allows forcibly medicating a mentally ill defendant so that he/she can be competent for trial for serious crimes that are non-violent. The constitution does allow this but under certain circumstances. Sell was found to be mentally incompetent to stand trial after examination by a magistrate the United States Medical Center for Federal Prisoners. Sell decided to challenge the decision made by the Medical center to force the medication on him. Because he was a danger to himself and others, the magistrate gave the go ahead on forcing him to take the medication. This would most likely the best way to bring him back to competency to stand trial …show more content…
(http://www.jaapl.org/cgi/reprint/31/3/372.pdf) Singleton had been sentenced to death in 1979. As he began to deteriorate mentally in 1987, he exhibited paranoid and delusional symptoms. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Medication was necessary to control these symptoms. Ten years later, he expressed distorted beliefs and that he was going to kill a physician and the president. Because of his dangerousness, the Medical Review Panel agreed to force medication on him under a Harper involuntary medication order. The Due Process Clause allows them to do so since he is a seriously mentally ill inmate who may be a danger to himself and others and it may be in his best interests. In 2000, he had a petition filed for habeas corpus contesting that the state could not make him competent with medication and then have him executed. His petition was denied by the district court because they found “no evidence in this record that the actions and the decisions of the medical personnel involved were in any degree motivated by the desire, purpose or intent to make Mr. Singleton competent so that he could be executed”. The appellate court had two questions to answer, (1) was he competent to be executed before execution of the forced medication order? They found that he wasn’t competent enough to understand the punishment