October
10, 2004
ICSPP
5
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.