Morton Birnbaum
Morton Birnbaum | |
---|---|
Born | Brooklyn, New York | October 26, 1926
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | Columbia Law School New York Medical College, M.D. Columbia University JD, Doctorate, Legal Jurisprudence |
Known for | Advocating for the right of psychiatric patients to have adequate, humane care sanism right to treatment doctrine |
Morton Birnbaum (October 20, 1926 – November 26, 2005) was an American
His seminal paper on "The Right To Treatment"
Early life and education
Birnbaum was born to Jewish parents on October 20, 1926 in
Throughout his life, Birnbaum would work as an
Important concepts and cases
Birnbaum's "right to treatment" concept
Birnbaum's "right to treatment" doctrine asserted that mentally ill patients confined against their will had a fundamental legal right to proper treatment. After publishing an article describing the legal concept of "right to treatment" in 1960 and getting it published in the
O'Connor v. Donaldson, 1961-75, lengthy landmark case
Ken Donaldson was confined fourteen years at a Florida State Mental Hospital in Chattahoochee from 1957-71 without his consent by his parents for "incompetency". Birnbaum first took on the case in the late 60's, though he had many earlier contacts with Donaldson beginning around 1960, encouraging him unsuccessfully to petition the courts for his release. In 1967 Birnbaum petitioned the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of Donaldson, but when he was turned down, he decided to file the case with the Supreme Court.[10] In all, Donaldson wrote 19 appeals for a court hearing.
In helping to bring the Florida-based Donaldson case to the U. S. Supreme Court in the landmark case O'Connor v. Donaldson, Birnbaum was instrumental in not only "confirming the right to treatment" for many mental patients, but also in "proposing a way to achieve better therapy for those now in inadequate public mental hospitals". After Donaldson was released in 1971 at the age of 63, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Donaldson unanimously on June 26, 1975, and trumpeted the words of Judge Potter Stewart that "mentally ill patients cannot be confined in institutions against their will and without treatment if they are dangerous to no one and are capable of surviving on the outside".
Donaldson upon release was awarded £20,000. Over a period of 14 years inside, doctors had spoken to him for a total of less than 5 hours. Donaldson later worked for a year as a night auditor for a hotel, and began writing a book on conditions in mental institutions, entitled Insanity Inside Out.[11][4][12]
To the disappointment of Birnbaum, the court ruled so narrowly and stated their opinion so ambiguously in Donaldson that it was doubtful whether many other mentally ill patients would be released from confinement through the use of State or other regional courts.[13] Birnbaum was quoted as saying "The Donaldson case did nothing to guarantee the right of treatment to all the other patients who are still institutionalized,...as the Chief Justice was unable to determine what 'adequate treatment should be". The Supreme Court decision never directly addressed Birnbaum's concept of "Right to Treatment", but instead wrote that "a person could not be held against their will unless they were deemed dangerous to themselves or others".[14] Birnbaum lamented the obstacles of obtaining treatment, noting that in Florida there was only one Doctor for one thousand patients.[11][4]
He would later recall with amazement that for 14 years, in every Florida and federal court with jurisdiction and before more than 30 state, federal, and Supreme Court judges, he was unable to obtain a fundamental writ of habeas corpus for Mr. Donaldson. Securing the writ would have required the State, as custodian, to release Donaldson from confinement, at least temporarily, and bring him to court to determine the cause of his confinement.[13][4]
Rouse v. Cameron, 1966
A partial legal victory involving the right to treatment argument was the case of Rouse v. Cameron (1966), when U.S. Appeals Court District Judge David L. Bazelon became the first appellate judge, writing for the court, to state that civilly committed mental patients had a "right to treatment."[15] Birnbaum's client had been found not guilty by reason of insanity on a deadly weapons charge and hospitalized indefinitely. Birnbaum argued that his client would have to be released if he did not receive proper care.
Observations on the treatment of psychopathic offenders, 1966
Around 1966, Birnbaum argued that offenders diagnosed as
Wyatt v. Stickney, 1970
Beginning in 1970, Birnbaum was involved in the Alabama
In the mid-1970s case of Woe v. Weinberger, Birnbaum contended that "the states were segregating the mentally ill in such a fashion that the poorer and sicker patients went to inferior state hospitals while the wealthier and less ill went to better private hospitals." Birnbaum also contended that the commitment laws of New York were unconstitutional because "they do not require that involuntary patients be given the active psychiatric care that was...the initial reason for their commitment."
Sanism
Birnbaum is credited with coining the term
... the irrational thinking, feeling and behavior patterns of response by an individual or by a society to the irrational behavior (and too often even the rational behavior) of a mentally ill individual. It is morally reprehensible because it is an unnecessary and disabling burden that is added by our prejudiced society to the very real affliction of severe mental illness … It should be clearly understood that sanists are bigots …[17]
According to Birnbaum's daughter, Rebecca Birnbaum MD, he was influenced in the concept by his close friend the lawyer and civil rights activist Florynce Kennedy, with whom he graduated from Columbia Law School. Kenneth Donaldson used the term sanism in his memoir "Insanity Inside Out," in 1976, as well as acknowledging the 'dedicated fighter', Birnbaum. Later Michael L. Perlin, now professor at New York Law School, read about it in 1980 and would use and publish on it widely.[17]
The negative effects of deinstitutionalization
During his cases, Birnbaum sometimes disagreed with fellow advocates who were primarily concerned with
Ultimately Birnbaum's legalistic approach failed to achieve a constitutional right to treatment, described as 'a disappointing failure'. Most 'right to treatment' cases were dealt with by 'consent decrees' which tended to descend into superficial bureaucratic disputes.[18]
In November 2005, Birnbaum died of a stroke in Brooklyn at the age of 79, survived by his wife Judith and children: Julius, Jacob, Belinda, Rebeca, and David.[1][6]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d "Columbia College Today". www.college.columbia.edu. Archived from the original on 2016-07-28. Retrieved 2016-02-25.
- ^ Association, American Bar (May 1960). ABA Journal. American Bar Association. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
- ISSN 0747-0088.
- ^ a b c d "His Triumph Over an Asylum May Help Many People", Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, pg. 113, 8 August 1976
- ^ "Columbia College Today". www.college.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2023-04-26.
- ^ a b ""Irwin Morton Birnbaum Named a Lifetime Achiever by Marquis Who's Who", 24/7 Press Release". Retrieved 20 November 2017.
- ^ "OBITUARY Morton Birnbaum, 79, Physician Lawyer Sought Right to Treatment for Mentally Ill - Treatment Advocacy Center". www.treatmentadvocacycenter.org. Retrieved 2016-02-25.
- ^ Law Precept Urged: Aid for Mentally Ill; LAW RULE URGED FOR MENTALLY ILL By LAWRENCE O'KANE, New York Times, May 26, 1961
- ^ Twersky (1970). "Treating the Untreatable: A Critique of the Proposed Pennsylvania Right to Treatment Law".
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(help) - ^ "He Fought to Prove His Sanity", The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore, Maryland, pg. 9, 298, 23 October 1977
- ^ a b Butcher, Lee, Tampa Bay Times, "The Sweet Smell of Freedom", pg. 237, 24 October 1976
- ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2018-03-04.
- ^ a b Rensberger, Boyce, "Right for Treatment for Mentally Ill Back in Court", The Morning News, Wilmington, Delaware, pg.17, 26 September 1975
- ^ Ezell, Wayne, "Chattahoochie: From the Inside Looking Out", Tallahassee Democrat, Tallahassee, Florida, pg. 11, 19 July 1976
- ^ "The Evolution of Disability Rights Litigation: In the Supreme Court: The Right to Treatment". Mn.gov. Retrieved 2015-02-13.
- ^ Primum Non Nocere: How to Treat the Criminal Psychopath Birnbaum, Morton. American Bar Association Journal, Vol 52, No 1 (January 1966) pp. 69-73
- ^ a b Sanism in Theory and Practice Archived 2014-03-17 at the Wayback Machine May 9/10, 2011. Richard Ingram, Centre for the Study of Gender, Social Inequities and Mental Health. Simon Fraser University, Canada
- ISBN 9781461391944.
Sources
- American Bar Association Journal, May 1960 (Vol 46) Pgs 499-504: The Right To Treatment by Morton Birmbaum
- My Father's Advocacy for a Right to Treatment Rebecca Birnbaum, MD, J Am Acad Psychiatry Law 38:1:115-123 (March 2010)
- Disability Discrimination Law, Evidence and Testimony: A Comprehensive Reference Manual for Lawyers, Judges and Disability Professionals John Parry, American Bar Association, 2008. Page 7-13
- Morton Birnbaum, 79, Champion of Mentally Ill, Dies Potts, M., NY Times, October 2005
- The Right to Psychiatric Treatment: A Social-Legal Approach to the Plight of the State Hospital Patient Jonas Robitscher, Vol 18 Vill. L. Rev. Issue 1 (1972).