The process of determining an accused person's competence to stand trial often causes
indefinite commitment to mental hospitals. The authors administered the Competency Screening …

Although large numbers of criminal defendants are being sent to Massachusetts hospitals
for pre-trial observation by the courts, few are indefinitely committed in a criminal status. This …

In a long-term follow-up study in Massachusetts, the author found that most defendants who
have been committed as incompetent to stand trial can probably be returned to the courts …

When a court asks a psychiatrist for an opinion with respect to the competency of a
defendant to stand trial, the common law questions are, or ought to be," Does the defendant …

This overview delineates trends in mental health law beginning with early law and proceeding
to the present time. The authors discuss such recent mental-health-related judicial …

The authors' four-year examination of the competency for trial issue in Massachusetts suggests
that neither the psychiatric nor the legal profession in the state is currently able to deal …

Evidence is presented to support the hypothesis that pretrial commitment in a criminal status
of mentally ill persons charged with a crime is antitherapeutic compared to the alternative of …

It is the authors' contention that the psychiatrist as an amicus curiae can play an effective role
in pretrial examinations provided he is experienced, mature, intimately acquainted with the …

The diagnosis of Pathological Gambling was officially established by the American Psychiatric
Association in January 1980 (DSM III) and was quickly echoed in ICD-9, thus achieving …

The 1971 Massachusetts Mental Health Code was developed by doctors and lawyers to revise
the state's law regarding mental illness and mental retardation. In its two-year history the …