Journal of Social Science Volume 20 (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: ADDITIONAL PAPERS OF THE JURISPRUDENCE DEPARTMENT. I. THE LAW FOB THE COMMITMENT OF LUNATICS. BY F. H. WINES, SECRETARY OF THE ILLINOIS BOARD OF PUBLIC CHARITIES. The publication by Mr. George L. Harrison, of Philadelphia, at his own personal expense, and the gratuitous distribution of a work prepared, under his supervision, at great cost, entitled " Legislation on Insanity," has made it possible for me to present a brief summary of the laws relating to the commitment and detention of the insane in all the States and Territories of the Union. Mr. Harrison's book, for which he deserves the thanks of all who take an interest in the condition and treatment of the insane, purports to be " a collection of all the lunacy laws of the States and Territories of the United States, to the year 1883, inclusive, also the laws of England on insanity, legislation in Canada on private houses, and important portions of the lunacy laws of Germany, France, etc." In the following digest, I have not gone outside of this book, to consult original authorities, but have based my statements upon his researches. Public interest on the subject of insanity centres in the inquiry: Under what circumstances and by what methods may an insane man be deprived of his personal liberty? How must the necessary proceedings for the commitment of lunatics be conducted, in order to guard against the incarceration of sane persons falsely charged with insanity ? What precautions need to be taken to prevent the improper detention of persons, sane or insane, who no longer require the restraints of an insane hospital or asylum ? As will be seen, the answers given to these questions in the statutes of different States are very varied, and for the most part, too vague to be satisfactory. The laws of Illinois are pec...