title: The involuntary medication of Jared Loughner and pretrial jail detainees in nonmedical correctional facilities.
abstract: In United States v. Loughner the Ninth Circuit will soon address the constitutionality of involuntarily medicating an incompetent pretrial defendant through a Harper order that could serve to render him competent to stand trial without the added procedural protection of a judicial hearing. Judicial support for applying Harper orders to pretrial defendants is likely to be used to justify Harper orders for pretrial jail detainees, allowing them to be involuntarily medicated in a jail setting, even though the place of involuntary medication was not at issue in the Loughner case. Because of the critical clinical, ethics-related, and legal concerns for such practice, the potential misapplication of the Loughner ruling should be considered by the Ninth Circuit before rendering its decision. This is, however, unlikely because the Ninth Circuit has just determined that Loughner will continue to be involuntarily medicated, regardless of whether this occurs in a hospital or in a nonmedical correctional facility.
authors.affiliation: Division of Forensic Psychiatry, Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, Saint Louis University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63104, USA. felthous@slu.edu
authors.forename: Alan R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Felthous
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D002961:Civil Rights / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D003134:Commitment of Persons with Psychiatric Disorders / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D003617:Dangerous Behavior; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005104:Expert Testimony / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D006708:Homicide / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D007298:Insanity Defense; D008297:Male; D016743:Mental Competency / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D010344:Patient Advocacy / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D011329:Prisoners / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D035521:Supreme Court Decisions; D016312:Treatment Refusal / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000523:psychology; D014481:United States
chemical_list: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents