Abstract: This article seeks to clarify the concept of supported decision making and to consider its major implications for mental health law. It draws on the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability as well as the broader literature on supported decision making in order to distinguish some of its conceptual features and…
Adult guardianship is the state law process by which a court appoints a surrogate to make decisions for an adult who is deemed “incapacitated,” frequently by virtue of intellectual disability, mental illness, or cognitive impairment…
“Just because people have a disability does not mean they need a guardianship. Many times they may need just a little help,” Margaret “Jenny” Hatch, an adult woman with Down Syndrome, wrote in a letter to others…
Healthcare providers often rely on surrogates to decide on be- half of their patients with dementia who are deemed incapable of exercising autonomy. There is a longstanding debate about the appropriate standard of surrogate healthcare decisionmaking for these patients. Many influential scholars argue that the precedent autonomy of the person with dementia should be respected,…
The balance between public law, private law and civil society has long attracted interest. As state or public functions have contracted in recent decades, much recent scholarly attention has been devoted to the erosion of public accountability associated with neoliberal ‘contracting-out’ of formerly government delivered services or responsibilities (often termed new public management or ‘NPM’)…
In May and June 2019, the Commission on Law and Aging convened advocates, experts, and policymakers in disabilities and aging to discuss decision supports for individuals across the age spectrum and to explore areas of consensus about supporting decision-making for all adults. Participants in the two forums, held in Washington, DC, agreed on some points…