O’Connor v. Donaldson

a 1975 lawsuit in the U.S. Supreme Court in which it was determined that people cannot be involuntarily committed to a facility on the basis of mental illness alone if they are not dangerous to themselves or others and are able to survive safely outside the facility. A lower court ruling in this case assisted an Alabama District Court in its final ruling in Wyatt v. Stickney (1972) regarding right to treatment with involuntary commitment (see forced treatment; Wyatt v. Stickney decisionwyatt-v-stickney-decision).

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Psychology term of the day

May 9th 2024

node of Ranvier

any of successive regularly spaced gaps in the myelin sheath surrounding an axon. The gaps permit the exchange of ions across the plasma membrane at those points, allowing the nerve impulse to leap from one node to the next in so-called saltatory conduction along the axon. [Louis A. Ranvier (1835–1922), French pathologist]