Update: July 2023
On July 27, 2023, the Washington State Supreme Court issued its opinion in In Re the Detention of N.G. And C.M. The majority opinion notes and reaffirms the long held legal requirement that involuntary civil commitment, “even when done for the person’s own good, is a profound deprivation of liberty that the State may not impose without due process of law.”
The Court’s majority opinion then interprets and applies the requirement in Washington’s Involuntary Treatment Act (the ITA) that a civil commitment petition must be dismissed where the state has “totally disregarded” the procedural requirements of the Act. The opinion holds that the State totally disregards the requirements of the ITA “when it fails to release someone at the end of their period of commitment and continues to detain them without authority of law.”
The Court’s opinion can be found here: https://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/1006683.pdf
Disability Rights Washington, the ACLU of Washington, the Washington Defender Association, and the King County Department of Assigned Counsel have filed an Amicus Curiae (Friend of the Court) brief in the Washington State Supreme Court in consolidated cases involving Washington’s Involuntary Treatment Act, RCW Chapter 71.05. The cases, In Re the Detention of N.G. And C.M., involve language recently added to Washington’s civil commitment statute that limits the circumstances in which civil commitment petitions may be dismissed by the court.
The DRW amicus brief provides historical context, including long recognized constitutional protections that limit the state’s powers to detain people for involuntary inpatient mental health treatment without adequate due process protections. The brief also provides the court with information and argument regarding the negative impacts that involuntary inpatient civil commitment can have on individuals; the disproportionate use of civil commitment against people who are BIPOC; abuse and neglect in Washington’s involuntary inpatient civil commitment system; and the questionable efficacy of court ordered inpatient involuntary treatment, versus community-based care.
The full brief can be found here: https://disabilityrightswa.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/In-re-Detention-of-D.H.-ACLU-Brief-of-Amici.pdf