February
3, 2005
Alaska Bar Assn Health Law Section
11
The Reality
Courts accept . . . testimonial dishonesty, . . .
specifically where witnesses, especially
expert witnesses, show a "high propensity to purposely distort their testimony in order to achieve
desired ends." . . .
Experts frequently . . . and openly subvert statutory
and case law criteria that impose
rigorous behavioral standards as predicates for commitment . . .
This combination . . . helps define a system in
which (1) dishonest testimony is
often regularly (and unthinkingly) accepted; (2) statutory and case law standards are frequently subverted; and (3)
insurmountable barriers are raised to insure that the
allegedly "therapeutically correct"
social end is met . . .. In short, the mental disability law system often deprives individuals of
liberty disingenuously and upon bases that
have no relationship to case law or to
statutes.
The
ADA and Persons with Mental Disabilities: Can Sanist Attitudes Be
Undone? by Michael L. Perlin, Journal of Law and Health, 1993/1994, 8 JLHEALTH 15, 33-34.