Page "Involuntary commitment" Paragraph 74

In 1975, the U. S. Supreme Court ruled that involuntary hospitalization and / or treatment violates an individual's civil rights in O ' Connor v. Donaldson.

This ruling forced individual states to change their statutes.

For example, the individual must be exhibiting behavior that is a danger to himself or others in order to be held, the hold must be for evaluation only and a court order must be received for more than very short term treatment or hospitalization ( typically no longer than 72 hours ).

This ruling has severely limited involuntary treatment and hospitalization in the U. S. In the U. S. the specifics of the relevant statutes vary from state to state.