A Longitudinal Description of Incompetent to Stand Trial Admissions to a State Hospital

Chapter 9 - A Longitudinal Description of Incompetent to Stand Trial Admissions to a State Hospital

from Part I - Introduction/Description of the Problem

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 19 October 2021

Barbara E. McDermott ,

Katherine Warburton and

Chloe Auletta-Young

Edited by

Katherine Warburton and

Stephen M. Stahl

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Katherine Warburton: Affiliation:
University of California, Davis
Stephen M. Stahl: Affiliation:
University of California, San Diego

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Summary

According to the US Supreme Court, all individuals charged with a crime must be competent to stand trial (CST). As defined in Dusky v. US, competency requires that defendants have the ability to consult with their attorney with a reasonable degree of rationality and possess a rational as well as factual understanding of the legal proceedings. The precise number of CST evaluations conducted each year is unknown. The oft-reported figure of 60,000 provided by Bonnie and Grisso is an estimate based on the number of felony indictments coupled with the estimated percentage of referrals for competency evaluations made by the courts in the 1990s. Later work has suggested a much higher number.

Type: Chapter
Information: Decriminalizing Mental Illness , pp. 79 - 96

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108920698 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2021

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