Foucha v. Louisiana

SCOTUSCase
Litigants=Foucha v. Louisiana
ArgueDate=November 4
ArgueYear=1991
DecideDate=May 18
DecideYear=1992
FullName=Terry Foucha v. State of Louisiana
Docket=90-5844
USVol=504
USPage=71
Prior=Petitioner's writ denied in State Court of Appeals, denial affirmed in State Supreme Court
Subsequent=
Holding=The Supreme Court ruled that potential dangerousness was not a justification to commit a person found not guilty by reason of insanity if no mental illness is present.
SCOTUS=1991-1993
Majority= White
JoinMajority= O'Connor (parts I and II only), Blackmun, Stevens, Souter
Concurrence= O'Connor
JoinConcurrence=
Dissent=Kennedy
JoinDissent=Rehnquist
Dissent2=Thomas
JoinDissent2=Rehnquist, Scalia
NotParticipating=
LawsApplied= U.S. Const. amend. 14

"Foucha v. Louisiana" 504 U.S. 71 (1992) was a U.S. Supreme Court case in which the court addressed the criteria for the continued commitment of an individual who had been found not guilty by reason of insanity. The individual remained involuntarily confined on the justification that he was potentially dangerous even though he no longer suffered from the mental illness that served as a basis for his original commitment.cite web
author=
year=
month=
url=http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/90-5844.ZC.html
title=TERRY FOUCHA, PETITIONER v. LOUISIANA on writ of certiorari to the supreme court of Louisiana
publisher=Cornell University Law School
accessdate=2007-12-16]

Circumstances

Petitioner Terry Foucha was charged with aggravated burglary and illegal discharge of a firearm. He burglarized a home after the occupants fled and discharged a firearm in the direction of a law enforcement officer. Initially he was evaluated as incompetent to proceed to trial because he was unable to distinguish right from wrong at the time of the offense. When he later was evaluated as competent, he was tried and found not guilty by reason of insanity. He was committed to East Feliciana State Hospital (La Maximum Secure) on the grounds that he had a mental illness and was dangerous. [cite web
author=
year=
month=
url=http://law.onecle.com/ussc/504/504us74.html
title=Foucha v. Louisiana, 504 U.S. 71, 31 (1992)|publisher=
accessdate=2007-12-16]

Under Louisiana law, a criminal defendant found not guilty by reason of insanity and committed to a psychiatric hospital will remain there until the hospital review committee recommends that he be released. If the review committee recommends release, then the trial court must hold a hearing to determine whether he is dangerous to himself or others. If he is found to be dangerous, he may be returned to the hospital whether or not he is currently mentally ill. The committee met and stated that it could not guarantee that Foucha would not be a danger to himself or others. [cite web
author=Robert G. Meyer
year=
month=
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=_zU4PCsY774C&pg=PA139&lpg=PA139&dq=foucha+v+louisiana&source=web&ots=hVgkXggbIK&sig=0GcDHktNaVGH17dpbQRLYGMLSSM#PPA141,M1
title=Law and Mental Health: A Case-Based Approach
publisher=Guilford Press
pages= pp 139–141
accessdate=2007-12-16]

Therefore, the state court ordered petitioner Foucha to return to the mental institution to which he had been committed, ruling that he was dangerous. The decision was based on a doctor's testimony that, although Foucha had recovered from the drug induced psychosis for which he was committed, he continued to be diagnosed as having an antisocial personality, a condition that is not a mental illness and is not considered treatable. Foucha had been involved in several fights within the facility which doctor felt might indicate he might pose a danger if released. The court stated the burden of proof rested on Foucha to prove that he was not a danger to himself or others. [cite web
author=
year=
month=
url=http://law.onecle.com/ussc/504/504us75.html
title=Foucha v. Louisiana, 504 U.S. 71, 32 (1992)
publisher=
accessdate=2007-12-16]

Appeal

Foucha petitioned the court on a writ of certiorari. The State Court of Appeals refused petitioner Foucha's writs and the Louisiana Supreme Court affirmed, holding, among other things, that per "Jones v. United States" Foucha's release was not required. The court ruled that the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment was not violated by the statutory provision permitting confinement of an insanity acquittee based on dangerousness alone, although dangerous alone in the absence of a mental illness would not satisfy the standards for a civil commitment.cite web
author=
year=
month=
url=http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?navby=CASE&court=US&vol=504&page=71
title=U.S. Supreme Court - Foucha v. Louisiana, 504 U.S. 71 (1992)|publisher=findlaw.com
accessdate=2007-12-16]

Ruling

The Supreme Court ruled that potential dangerousness was not a justification to retain a person found not guilty by reason of insanity if no mental illness was present. Acquittees cannot be confined as a mental patient without some medical justification for doing so. Although the individual may be dangerous, the court ruled that a person committed on the basis of an insanity defense and who has regained his sanity cannot continue to be confined on the sole justification that he remains dangerous. Insanity acquitees must be both ill and dangerous to continue to be involuntarily committed. [cite web
author=Irving B. Weiner
year=
month=
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=jk8-b9AwmJgC&pg=PA395&lpg=PA395&dq=foucha+v+louisiana&source=web&ots=CuNv15E5Ce&sig=3PvG2VK-iEWHS3c6JjriNIgYNOY#PPA395,M1
title=Handbook of Psychology
publisher=John Wiley and Sons
pages= p. 395
accessdate=2007-12-16] This ruling also applies to convicted persons. "There is no conceivable basis for distinguishing the commitment of a person who is nearing the end of a penal term from all other commitments." [cite web
author=
year=
month=
url=http://www.geocities.com/three_strikes_legal/effects_of_foucha.htm
title=The Effects of Foucha v. Louisiana on SVPACivil Commitments and Equal Protection
publisher=
accessdate=2007-12-16]

Therefore, the State of Louisiana was not justified in retaining the petitioner unless it could prove that serious public safety concerns existed to justify the acquittee's continuing classification as dangerous.

ignificance

The court clarified that if the justification for commitment after an insanity acquittal no longer applies, the individual is to be released. To maintain that an insanity acquitee remain civilly committed to a psychiatric institution until he is no longer a danger to himself or others is unconstitutional. In this case the basis for commitment was that the defendant was both not responsible due to a mental illness and was dangerous. If he no longer suffers from a mental illness, then there is no justification to detain him. States must maintain the same standard for involuntarily committed insanity acquittees as they do for civilly committed individuals. Commitment must be based on standard principles of civil commitment, including proving that the individual is mentally ill. Commitment cannot be an automatic consequence of the acquittal. [cite web
author=Paul F. Stavis
year= [First published, Quality of Care Newsletter, Issue 55, March-April 1993]
month=
url=http://www.cqcapd.state.ny.us/counsels_corner/cc55.htm
title=Cases & Trends - Mental Illness and Treatment Rights
publisher=New York State Quality of Care Commission
accessdate=2007-12-16]

ee also

*List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 504
*"Jackson v. Indiana"
*"Jones v. United States (1983)"
*"Addington v. Texas"

Footnotes

External links

* [http://www.jaapl.org/cgi/content/full/34/4/555 Release of Insanity Acquittees]
* [http://law.onecle.com/ussc/504/504us71.html Foucha v. Louisiana, 504 U.S. 71, 28 (1992)]
* [http://www.geocities.com/three_strikes_legal/effects_of_foucha.htm The Effects of Foucha v. Louisiana on SVPA Civil Commitments and Equal Protection]
* [http://books.google.com/books?id=-50Of8_n_TAC&pg=PA157&lpg=PA157&dq=foucha+v+louisiana&source=web&ots=bK7-lDLde_&sig=685D9AlFzjKiU1Vu327B2GSK15Y Forensic Managementof Sexual Offenders]
* [http://books.google.com/books?id=jk8-b9AwmJgC&pg=PA395&lpg=PA395&dq=foucha+v+louisiana&source=web&ots=CuNv15E5Ce&sig=3PvG2VK-iEWHS3c6JjriNIgYNOY Handbook of Psychology]
* [http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=ZIXMTZ0BM3VCWQSNDLPCKH0CJUNN2JVN?articleID=202602099&pgno=2 The Paradox of Psychopathy]