Guided by a recently released ruling, the Appellate Division, Second Department, has blocked a judge from enforcing orders related to the mental health treatment for two men. The panel granted writs of prohibition restraining Supreme Court Justice Charles Wood (See Profile), sitting in Dutchess County, from enforcing an order that would have let mental health officials apply for temporary confinement orders if Norman D. and Christopher C. failed to cooperate with psychiatric exams.
When granting the writs in the two brief, unsigned decisionsMatter of Norman D., 2011-11138, and Matter of Christopher C., 2011-11140the unanimous panel relied on a recent 3-1 ruling from the Second Department, Matter of Robert T., 2011-03469. In that case, released Nov. 28, the majority blocked another judge, Dutchess County Supreme Court Justice Christine Sproat (See Profile), from enforcing a similar order wherein authorities could apply for the temporary confinement order without notice to Robert T. Writing for the majority in that case, Justice Leonard Austin (See Profile), who also sat on the instant cases, ruled the court order violated Robert T.’s due process rights. Justice Reinaldo Rivera (See Profile) dissented in Robert T., saying no such violations had occurred (NYLJ, Nov. 30).
