Table Of Content.d
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Failer, J. L. (2018). Who qualifies for rights? : Homelessness, mental illness, and civil commitment. ProQuest Ebook Central <a
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Who Qualifies for Rights?
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Failer, J. L. (2018). Who qualifies for rights? : Homelessness, mental illness, and civil commitment. ProQuest Ebook Central <a
onclick=window.open('http://ebookcentral.proquest.com','_blank') href='http://ebookcentral.proquest.com' target='_blank' style='cursor: pointer;'>http://ebookcentral.proquest.com</a>
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Failer, J. L. (2018). Who qualifies for rights? : Homelessness, mental illness, and civil commitment. ProQuest Ebook Central <a
onclick=window.open('http://ebookcentral.proquest.com','_blank') href='http://ebookcentral.proquest.com' target='_blank' style='cursor: pointer;'>http://ebookcentral.proquest.com</a>
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Who Qualifies for Rights?
Homelessness,
Mental Illness, and
Civil Commitment
JuDITH LYNN FAILER
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Failer, J. L. (2018). Who qualifies for rights? : Homelessness, mental illness, and civil commitment. ProQuest Ebook Central <a
onclick=window.open('http://ebookcentral.proquest.com','_blank') href='http://ebookcentral.proquest.com' target='_blank' style='cursor: pointer;'>http://ebookcentral.proquest.com</a>
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Copyright© 2002 by Cornell University
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or parts
thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the
publisher. For information, address Cornell University Press, Sage House, 512 East
State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850.
First published 2002 by Cornell University Press
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Failer, Judith Lynn, 1964-
Who qualifies for rights? : homelessness, mental illness, and civil
commitment/Judith Lynn Failer.
p.cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN o-8014-3999-X (cloth: alk. paper)
1. Insane--Commitment and detention-United States. 2. Homeless
persons-Legal status, laws, etc.-United States. I. Title:
Homelessness, mental illness, and civil commitment. II. Title.
KF48o .F25 2002
346. 7301' J-dC21
2001008602
.de Cornell University Press strives to use environmentally responsible suppliers and
vre materials to the fullest extent possible in the publishing of its books. Such materials
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Failer, J. L. (2018). Who qualifies for rights? : Homelessness, mental illness, and civil commitment. ProQuest Ebook Central <a
onclick=window.open('http://ebookcentral.proquest.com','_blank') href='http://ebookcentral.proquest.com' target='_blank' style='cursor: pointer;'>http://ebookcentral.proquest.com</a>
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For my David
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Failer, J. L. (2018). Who qualifies for rights? : Homelessness, mental illness, and civil commitment. ProQuest Ebook Central <a
onclick=window.open('http://ebookcentral.proquest.com','_blank') href='http://ebookcentral.proquest.com' target='_blank' style='cursor: pointer;'>http://ebookcentral.proquest.com</a>
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Failer, J. L. (2018). Who qualifies for rights? : Homelessness, mental illness, and civil commitment. ProQuest Ebook Central <a
onclick=window.open('http://ebookcentral.proquest.com','_blank') href='http://ebookcentral.proquest.com' target='_blank' style='cursor: pointer;'>http://ebookcentral.proquest.com</a>
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Contents
PREFACE
ix
INTRODUCTION
1
1. THE CIVIL COMMITMENT OF JOYCE BROWN
11
2. THE THEORY BEHIND CIVIL COMMITMENT
Rights and the Mentally Ill
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3· LEGAL STATUS AND CIVIL COMMITMENT
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Failer, J. L. (2018). Who qualifies for rights? : Homelessness, mental illness, and civil commitment. ProQuest Ebook Central <a
onclick=window.open('http://ebookcentral.proquest.com','_blank') href='http://ebookcentral.proquest.com' target='_blank' style='cursor: pointer;'>http://ebookcentral.proquest.com</a>
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7· CONCLUSION
Who Qualifies for Rights?
137
NOTES
145
BIBLIOGRAPHY
185
INDEX
197
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viii Contents
Failer, J. L. (2018). Who qualifies for rights? : Homelessness, mental illness, and civil commitment. ProQuest Ebook Central <a
onclick=window.open('http://ebookcentral.proquest.com','_blank') href='http://ebookcentral.proquest.com' target='_blank' style='cursor: pointer;'>http://ebookcentral.proquest.com</a>
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Preface
IN THE SUMMER OF 1987, the New York Times metropolitan section
began to run stories about a homeless woman named Joyce Brown.
She seemed to be mentally ill, but she refused all offers of help from
the mayor's special task force for the homeless mentally ill. Eventu
ally, the task force hospitalized her against her will. She responded by
invoking her "right to liberty" and filing a legal petition for her re
lease. The city responded by asserting that they were protecting her
"right to treatment." Rights countered rights, and the problem
seemed intractable.
That Joyce Brown was homeless seemed to add to the confusion.
On one hand, some people claimed that a person would have to be
crazy to prefer the streets of New York to a warm shelter or hospital
bed. Moreover, leaving the mentally ill on the streets was tantamount
to leaving these unfortunate souls to "rot with their rights on." On the
other hand, others claimed that by targeting the homeless mentally ill
for involuntary hospitalization instead of the mentally ill population
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vin focus on rights? Do the mentally ill have a right to "liberty," as Joyce
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Failer, J. L. (2018). Who qualifies for rights? : Homelessness, mental illness, and civil commitment. ProQuest Ebook Central <a
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