The United States Supreme Court And An Inmate's Right To Refuse Mental Health Treatment

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Abstract
The courts have stated categorically and unequivocally that civilly committed persons have a constitutional right to refuse psychotropic drugs. However, the courts have never spoken so firmly with respect to prisoners. Prisoners have enjoyed a rather fragile, indirect right to resist mental health treatment, which is often administered under the guise of aversive therapy or which is actually unwarranted. In 1990, the U.S. Supreme Court had an opportunity in Washington v. Harper to afford prisoners the same right other hospitalized individuals have to refuse psychotropic drugs. Instead, the Court chose to sanction the involuntary treatment of mentally ill prisoners. The author of this essay analyzes this decision and its implications for the criminal justice system and the rights of prisoners.

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