Editing Involuntary commitment (section)

===United States===
In the United States, the erection of state asylums began with the first law for the creation of one in New York, passed in 1842. The [[Utica State Hospital]] was opened approximately in 1850. The creation of this hospital, as of many others, was largely the work of [[Dorothea Lynde Dix]], whose philanthropic efforts extended over many states, and in Europe as far as [[Constantinople]]. Many state hospitals in the United States were built in the 1850s and 1860s on the [[Kirkbride Plan]], an architectural style meant to have curative effect.<ref>{{cite book|last=Yanni|first=Carla|title=The Architecture of Madness: Insane Asylums in the United States|publisher=Minnesota University Press|location=Minneapolis|year=2007|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fJOC_rSW1kgC&pg=PP1 | isbn=978-0-8166-4939-6}}</ref>

In the United States and most other developed societies, severe restrictions have been placed on the circumstances under which a person may be committed or treated against their will as such actions have been ruled by the [[United States Supreme Court]] and other national legislative bodies as a violation of [[civil rights]] and/or [[human rights]].  The Supreme Court case ''[[O'Connor v. Donaldson]]'' established that the mere presence of mental illness and the necessity for treatment are not sufficient by themselves to justify involuntary commitment, if the patient is capable of surviving in freedom and does not present a danger of harm to themselves or others. Criteria for involuntary commitment are generally set by the individual states, and often have both short- and long-term types of commitment. Short-term commitment tends to be a few days or less, requiring an examination by a medical professional, while longer-term commitment typically requires a court hearing, or sentencing as part of a criminal trial. Indefinite commitment is rare and is usually reserved for individuals who are violent or present an ongoing danger to themselves and others.

New York City officials under several administrations have implemented programs involving the involuntary hospitalization of people with mental illnesses in the city.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Newman |first=Andy |date=2022-12-02 |title=35 Years of Efforts to Address Mental Illness on New York Streets |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/02/nyregion/mental-illness-homeless-streets.html |access-date=2023-07-10 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Some of these policies have involved reinterpreting the standard of "harm to themselves or others" to include neglecting their own well-being or posing a harm to themselves or others in the future. In 1987–88, a [[Involuntary hospitalization of Joyce Brown|homeless woman named Joyce Brown]] worked with the [[New York Civil Liberties Union]] to challenge her forced hospitalization under new Mayor [[Ed Koch|Ed Koch's]] administration program. The trial, which attracted significant media attention, ended in her favor, and while the city won on appeal she was ultimately released after a subsequent case determined she could not be forcibly medicated.<ref name="LLC1988">{{cite book |last=Kasindorf |first=Jeanie |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UuUCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA36 |title=The Real Story of Billie Boggs |date=May 2, 1988 |publisher=[[New York (magazine)|New York]] |pages=36–44 |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230302140249/https://books.google.com/books?id=UuUCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA36 |archive-date=March 2, 2023 |url-status=live |access-date=December 11, 2022}}</ref><ref name="apnews">{{cite news |last1=Hampson |first1=Rick |date=June 3, 1991 |title=Whatever Happened to Billie Boggs? |work=[[Associated Press|AP News]] |url=https://apnews.com/article/515e79d71cbab2ab9e404fa58dc8863a |url-status=live |access-date=September 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220930194030/https://apnews.com/article/515e79d71cbab2ab9e404fa58dc8863a |archive-date=September 30, 2022}}</ref> In 2022, Mayor [[Eric Adams]] announced a similar compulsory hospitalization program, relying on similar legal interpretations.<ref name="Kim-2022">{{Cite web |last=Kim |first=Elizabeth |date=November 30, 2022 |title=New NYC policy to address mental illness will force more people to hospitals. Here's what to know. |url=https://gothamist.com/news/nyc-will-forcibly-hospitalize-mentally-ill-people-heres-what-to-know-about-the-plan-and-its-obstacles |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221130231901/https://gothamist.com/news/nyc-will-forcibly-hospitalize-mentally-ill-people-heres-what-to-know-about-the-plan-and-its-obstacles |archive-date=November 30, 2022 |access-date=December 1, 2022 |website=[[Gothamist]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Kanu |first=Hassan |last2= |first2= |date=2022-12-08 |title=New York plan for forced 'removal' of mentally ill tests limits of the law |language=en |work=[[Reuters]] |url=https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/new-york-plan-forced-removal-mentally-ill-tests-limits-law-2022-12-08/ |access-date=July 10, 2023}}</ref>

Historically, until the mid-1960s in most jurisdictions in the [[United States]], all committals to public psychiatric facilities and most committals to private ones were involuntary. Since then, there have been alternating trends towards the abolition or substantial reduction of involuntary commitment,<ref name=Hendin>{{cite book |first=Herbert |last=Hendin | title = Suicide in America | publisher = W. W. Norton | year = 1996 | isbn = 978-0-393-31368-0 |oclc=37916353 | page = 214 }}</ref> a trend known as ''[[deinstitutionalisation]]''. In many currents, individuals can voluntarily admit themselves to a mental health hospital and may have more rights than those who are involuntarily committed. This practice is referred to as [[voluntary commitment]].

In the United States, [[Kansas v. Hendricks]] established the procedures for a long-term or indefinite [[Sexually violent predator laws|form of commitment]] applicable to people convicted of some [[Sex and the law|sexual offences]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Testa |first1=Megan |last2=West |first2=Sara G. |date=October 2010 |title=Civil Commitment in the United States |journal=Psychiatry (Edgmont) |volume=7 |issue=10 |pages=30–40 |issn=1550-5952 |pmc=3392176 |pmid=22778709}}</ref>