a 1975 lawsuit in the U.S. Supreme Court wherein it was established that people can’t be committed against their will to a facility on the sole premise of cognitive disease if they aren’t hazardous to themselves or other people and are capable of surviving safely outside the institution. A lower court ruling in this case helped the court in its end ruling in Wyatt r. Stickncy concerning the right to remediation with non-voluntary commitment.
O’CONNOR V DONALDSON: “O’Connor vs. Donaldson was a serious turning point in the American culture among the mentally ill population.”