Wednesday, November 12, 2003

Right to Refuse Medication Upheld
Portland Press Herald story reprinted at PsycPORT - " A man arrested on a firearms charge outside the Bush family estate last year cannot be forced to take medication to make him mentally competent to stand trial, a federal judge in Portland has ruled. The case is the first in Maine and one of the first in the country to rely on a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that is winning praise from mental health advocates while also raising new issues for the legal system. Last week's ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Gene Carter says that even though Theodore Miller has been found mentally incompetent, he still has a constitutional right to refuse to be medicated against his will."