Competency Restoration Case Study

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Another facet to this concept of competency restoration is the idea of predicting restorability. The groundbreaking case Jackson v Indiana (1972) dealt with the issue of pre-trial involuntary commitment of an incompetent individual. Theon Jackson, a deaf-mute was charged with petty theft. During his competency evaluation, the physicians determined that Jackson’s intelligence was too low, he was therefore incompetent, and had a very small chance of competency restoration even if he were not a deaf-mute. Jackson was then involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital. An appeal was then filed, arguing that Jackson’s right to equal protection and due process under the Fourteenth Amendment were violated. The Supreme Court’s ruling is as

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