Mental Disability Law
Course Description
This offering focuses on civil mental disability law and examines the growth of this field of law
and its ramifications for national and state public policy. Following an introduction, the topics to be
discussed will include involuntary civil commitment, competency and guardianship, the right to
refuse treatment, the right to treatment and habilitation, special education, and discrimination. The
course will examine the law as it applies to persons with mental illness and developmental
disabilities, and will include a consideration of substantive tests and procedural safeguards; voluntary
admissions, discharge, transfers, and least restrictive alternatives; the professional deference doctrine
and institutional conditions; self-determination and substituted decision-making; lawyers’ roles in
mental disability systems; and the future of mental disability law. Students may take both this offering and Mental Disability and Criminal Law Seminar.
Current & Previous Instructors
Offerings
This course is not currently scheduled.
Last offered Spring 2020.
Key to Codes in Course Descriptions
P: Prerequisite
C: Prerequisite or Concurrent Requirement
R: Recommended Prior or Concurrent Course
New Catalog Search