O'Connor v. Donaldson: retelling a classic and finding some revisionist history.
This article discusses the 1975 Supreme Court opinion O'Connor v. Donaldson. The article first examines the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, the basis for the O'Connor ruling. It then looks carefully at the Court's conclusions, with particular attention to the Court's reasoning and analysis. The article goes on to look at how the Supreme Court has interpreted O'Connor on subsequent occasions and suggests that the Court has often misconstrued its own decision. The article concludes by offering thoughts and commentary on the O'Connor opinion and its progeny.
Behnke
S H
SH
Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, and Massachusetts Mental Health Center, Boston, MA, USA. sbehnke@warren.med.harvard.edu
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