Eckerhart v. Hensley’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

8 federal appellate · 1 district · 6 state decisions

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 24 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “All seclusion or restraint orders must be signed by a doctor. Seclusion or restraint is to be used to protect the patient and others from his severe emotional outbursts, perhaps involving acts of aggression or of self-abuse. All other means of controlling the patient are to be tried before seclusion is used. A patient may be put in seclusion or restraints in an emergency by psychiatric aides. However, as soon as the emergency is under control, the doctor must be notified. Emergency use of seclusion or restraints may be no longer than twenty minutes. Within that time the doctor must see the patient and order continuation of the seclusion or restraint, if indicated. Written seclusion and restraint orders are effective for no more than twenty-four hours and must be renewed if seclusion or restraint is to be continued. A patient must be seen by aides every fifteen minutes and his condition charted every hour. Each incident of seclusion or restraint is to be reported in manner to facilitate review of the doctor’s decision. The reporting is to include how the seclusion or restraint is to be used, a description of the behavior that required such use, alternatives which were attempted or considered prior to the use of seclusion, and the duration of the order. All such incidents are to be reviewed by the treatment team and a separate review committee. Eckerhart v. Hensley, supra, 475 F.Supp. at 927 .”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Burks v. Teasdale

2. ““[I]f a mental patient is involuntarily confined because he is dangerous, due process requires a specific focus to the treatment which is his right. Treatment efforts must be directed to that aspect of he behavior which caused him to be classified as dangerous so that he has a reasonable opportunity to be eventually discharged from maximum security confinement.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. WOE BY WOE v. Cuomo

3. “[T]he state's inability to provide a dangerous person with a reasonable opportunity to be cured or to improve his mental condition because no effective treatment is known would not render unconstitutional his involuntary confinement for the protection of himself or others.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
   e.g. Bailey v. Gardebring