Can a Person Be Committed to a Drug Rehabilitation Center Against Their Will?

No democracy can lightly override the will of its citizens. In the United States, balancing the need for involuntary commitment against other values falls largely to the individual states.

Involuntary Commitment

• In Mississippi, anyone may file a petition for the involuntary commitment of a loved one, requesting drug, alcohol or psychiatric treatment, according to James D. Franks, attorney at law.

Parens Patriae

• Such detention reposes on the parens patriae power of the state to care for individuals with disabilities along with the state's police power to protect the community from dangerous persons, notes the book "Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing, Second Edition," by Katherine Fortinash and Patricia Holoday-Worret.

Judicial

• Before commitment can occur, a judge must review evidence and legal precedents.

  A judicial commitment allows for involuntary hospitalization, note Fortinash and Holoday-Worret.

Emergency

• The state must protect its citizens against violence and other dangerous behavior.

  Under Alaska law, an emergency commitment provides for involuntarily rehabilitation when an intoxicated person endangers himself or others.

Prerequisites

• Protections exist against involuntary commitment. Before detaining anyone, a sheriff in Mississippi must obtain written permission from a judge, notes Franks.

Due Process

• Persons involuntarily committed to rehabilitation retain the right to appeal their commitment.

  Not only must the evidence to support involuntary commitment be clear and convincing, but a person may contest her commitment in court, note Fortinash and Holoday-Worret.