Long-Term Involuntary Commitment Laws

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Long-term involuntary commitment laws permit psychiatric facilities to accept a patient for an extended amount of time, without the patient’s consent, if they are displaying dangerous symptoms of a mental illness. Generally, long-term involuntary commitment proceedings may be initiated when an individual poses a danger to himself or others as a result of mental illness, is gravely disabled, or is unable to meet their basic needs.

All 50 states and the District of Columbia have laws regulating long-term involuntary commitment. State laws vary on the duration of commitment, the rights that must be provided to a committed patient, and the subsequent limitations, if any, on a patient’s right to possess a firearm under state gun laws. 

John P. Petrila, JD, LLM and Jeffrey W. Swanson, PhD, MA contributed to this dataset as subject matter experts.

 

Dataset Details Supporting Documents
Created by Center for Public Health Law Research Data
Date range: April 2, 2008 - May 1, 2016 Codebook
Jurisdictions: 50 states and the District of Columbia Protocol

Cited By

Involuntary Commitment as “Carceral-Health Service”: From Healthcare-to-Prison Pipeline to a Public Health Abolition Praxis

Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics
Involuntary Commitment as “Carceral-Health Service”: From Healthcare-to-Prison Pipeline to a Public Health Abolition Praxis
Rafik Wahbi & Leo Beletsky
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Wahbi
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    Dataset Created by
    Center for Public Health Law Research

    Dataset Maintained by
    Center for Public Health Law Research

    Dataset Valid From
    April 2, 2008

    Dataset Updated Through
    May 1, 2016

    Total Jurisdictions Covered
    51

    Collection
    None

    Publication Year
    2015

    Cite this dataset

    Temple University Center for Public Health Law Research (2016, May 1). Long-Term Involuntary Commitment Laws. LawAtlas.org. LawAtlas.org/datasets/long-term-involuntary-commitment-laws

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