Civil Mental Disability Law Evidence And Testimony

This new book written by ABA Commission on Mental and Physical Disability Law Director, John Parry, J.D. and forensic psychologist, Eric Y. Drogin, J.D., Ph.D., Manual has been formatted and written to guide lawyers, judges, law students, and forensic and other mental disability professionals through the maze of civil and criminal laws, standards, and evidentiary pitfalls, and forensic practices that characterize this area of the law. Moreover, it summarizes what empirical evidence exists to support or raise concerns about these legal standards and forensic practices when they are introduced in the courtroom.

This book covers employment, state and local government, public accommodations, telecommunications, housing and zoning, education, and criminal and civil institutions. It addresses practical ways to maximize the benefits of the client-lawyer relationship, including potentially divisive questions surrounding the need for accommodations and the ethical duties of lawyers to clients with disabilities. Also discusses expert evidence and testimony in disability discrimination cases. Includes numerous appendices to assist you in your research of disability discrimination cases.

This casebook covers all of constitutional "civil" mental health law, including involuntary civil commitment, the right to refuse treatment, and the rights of persons with mental disabilities in community settings. Perlin also addresses federal statutory rights, including, but not limited to, the Americans with Disabilities Act; other civil mental health issues, including tort law; and the criminal trial process, including all aspects of competency, the insanity defense, self-incrimination, confessions, the death penalty, and sentencing and post-sentencing issues. Important Supreme Court decisions that have been handed down since the first edition (Olmstead v. L.C., Tennessee v. Lane, Kansas v. Crane, Sell v. United States, and Atkins v. Virginia) are all given extensive attention. Mental Disability Law not only teaches students the relevant doctrine and theory, but also gives them an understanding of why the cases were decided as they were. Questions are provided after all major sections that encourage the teacher to direct students to think about the social, political, and behavioral forces that led to many of the decisions in question.

There is no question that the death penalty is disproportionately imposed in cases involving defendants with mental disabilities. There is clear, systemic bias at all stages of the prosecution and the sentencing process – in determining who is competent to be executed, in the assessment of mitigation evidence, in the ways that counsel is assigned, in the ways that jury determinations are often contaminated by stereotyped preconceptions of persons with mental disabilities, in the ways that cynical expert testimony reflects a propensity on the part of some experts to purposely distort their testimony in order to achieve desired ends. These questions are shockingly ignored at all levels of the criminal justice system, and by society in general. Here, Michael Perlin explores the relationship between mental disabilities and the death penalty and explains why and how this state of affairs has come to be, to explore why it is necessary to identify the factors that have contributed to this scandalous and shameful policy morass, to highlight the series of policy choices that need immediate remediation, and to offer some suggestions that might meaningfully ameliorate the situation. Using real cases to illustrate the ways in which the persons with mental disabilities are unable to receive fair treatment during death penalty trials, he demonstrates the depth of the problem and the way it’s been institutionalized so as to be an accepted part of our system. He calls for a new approach, and greater attention to the issues that have gone overlooked for so long.

"Favored by instructors and students for its real-world focus and engaging style, this authoritative text on the interface of psychology and law has now been revised and expanded. Each chapter provides an overview of case law on an important topic and explores selected cases in depth. Coverage includes psychological and mental health issues in criminal and civil proceedings; the role of practitioners as expert witnesses and forensic consultants; and legal concerns in general clinical practice. Salient legal processes and decisions are summarized and implications for today's clinical and forensic practitioners highlighted. Instructors who request a desk copy receive a supplemental Test Bank with questions keyed to each chapter. Students can access a downloadable Study Guide. New to This Edition *Updated throughout with current research and substantive changes in mental health law. *Chapter on competency in juvenile justice. *Citations of 115 new legal cases. *Conclusion identifying urgent social challenges facing the field. Subject areas/key words: forensic psychology, mental health law, psychology and law, law and behavioral science, legal cases, expert testimony, expert witnesses, case law, legal precedents, forensic mental health, forensic psychological assessments, forensic assessments, forensic psychological evaluations, psychiatric examination, juvenile justice, psychopathy, liability, malpractice, textbooks, casebooks, texts Audience: Students and practitioners in clinical and forensic psychology, psychiatry, and social work; also of interest in criminal justice and criminology"--

The best source for a comprehensive overview of mental competency in criminal, mental disability, and civil law, Competence in the Law prepares mental health professionals to assess questions of both civil and criminal competence and to counsel lawyers and judges in cases in which these issues are germane. A landmark contribution to forensic practice, this book equips you to expertly address critical issues faced in conducting assessments within the legal system.