STATE SUPREME COURT TO RULE
ON CIVIL COMMITMENT RIGHT
by Michael Parks, Esq.

The New Mexico Supreme Court has agreed to rule on the enforceability of a hearing right which is supposedly available to persons facing mental health "civil commitments."

Under the authority of the state's Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Code, law officers and medical professionals can involuntarily detain individuals they suspect of having a mental disorder and are likely to cause harm to themselves or others. The Code, under what is known as the civil commitment process, authorizes the involuntary evaluation and extended treatment of such persons. However, the Code also provides that persons who are subjected to this process have "the right" to a judicial hearing within seven days of their admission to an evaluation facility.

In February of 1999, Fred Compton was involved in an altercation in Farmington, and was taken into police custody under the authority of the Code. He was detained against his will for two weeks in Farmington, and then at the state's Las Vegas Medical Center. He was never charged with a crime. At LVMC, he was not afforded a hearing for two weeks. P&A appealed his civil commitment, on the ground that his right to a hearing had been violated. The state Court of Appeals ruled that the hearing right, although mandatory, did not have to be enforced because Mr. Compton had not shown that he was prejudiced.

P&A asked the state Supreme Court to rule on this case, contending that the right to a prompt judicial hearing is a vital protection under the Code which must be enforced. Furthermore, P&A argued that Mr. Compton was "prejudiced" by being locked away in a mental institution against his will, for a longer period than authorized by law.

Individuals generally do not have a right to have the state Supreme Court take their case. They must request a "Writ of Certiorari" from the Court. On September 5, 2000, the Supreme Court granted P&A's request for a Writ of Certiorari, and will eventually hear the case by next Spring.