TY - JOUR T1 - Commentary: Facts and Values in Competency Assessment JF - Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online JO - J Am Acad Psychiatry Law SP - 352 LP - 353 VL - 36 IS - 3 AU - Alec Buchanan Y1 - 2008/09/01 UR - http://jaapl.org/content/36/3/352.abstract N2 - Dr. Mossman's article cogently describes an approach to measuring the accuracy of competency-to-stand-trial assessments in the presence of a gold standard. I argue that a gold standard may not exist. A conclusion as to whether a defendant is fit to proceed requires a trade-off between a range of desired ends. This trade-off is inevitably influenced by the values of the examiner. ER -