September
11, 2005
UAA SWK -643
27
Meretricious Testimony
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.