The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to the attention of law criminal issues concerning mental health. In this context, there is a crucial matter to be reviewed about the rights of individuals who are involuntarily hospitalized or detained for mental health issues. The health regulations due to COVID-19, like social distancing in mental health facilities, have been commonly seen, and many jurisdictions have increased the involuntary commitment period for that reason (Gather et al., 2020). Nevertheless, even though civil rights activists disagreed with the suggestion that people might be deprived of their liberty with no legal justification, only a few people approved of this idea, and both courts and states judiciously allowed this extension of time for voting. They, however, notified against blanket orders to hold in each election but for each voter to be assessed individually.
The second issue here regards the discharge of mentally ill patients in order to create room in the hospitals. It has been observed that some patients have been dismissed from the hospital to book an appointment for the screening in the next hospital without any support plan for how to go on living with the changes in their lives. Hence, this suggests the State’s obligation to a group of vagrant people who may be deprived of birth rights under the doctrine of parens patriae (Abrahami, 2022). The only reason discharges may violate procedural due process is the fact that there are appropriate procedures to assess how ready a patient is. An appropriate discharge plan has been made. Along with that, patient dumping concerns are another matter in violation of federal laws if hospitals send patients to shelters or homes without attention.
Lockdown and the tactics of the COVID-19 containment have accentuated the condition of numerous other mental illnesses. The Courts, on the other hand, have experienced a rash of cases revolving around the broad quarantine powers of the local and State health authorities (Hariharan, 2020). In particular, writing of mental health patients experiencing isolation of COVID-19 protocols has not been successful yet regarding the constitutional procedural rights of due process claims. Nonetheless, these areas of isolation have raised questions about the applicability of disability rights laws, such as the ADA and Rehabilitation Act, which guarantee privileges comparable to those given to the physically disabled.
The pandemic has limited the availability of psychiatric services due to things like voluntary closures of outpatient programs and the transformation of psych beds to COVID wards. Medicaid and private insurers are going the extra mile to broaden telehealth options. Maybe this has to be a cause for concern since the sufficiency of care may be compromised, and the parity between telehealth and face-to-face approach seems to violate sub-clause 1 (ii) and (iii) of the federal mental health parity laws (Doolin et al., 2023). Meeting the needs of students with emotional and behavioral disorders who require extra attention has become more challenging because of attention given to distance schooling amid the COVID-19 Pandemic. School districts, on the other hand, are forced to act in accordance with federal laws such as IDEA that seek these students out and place them under evaluation (Sugarman & Lazarín, 2020). Conversely, their right to access special education services as legally prescribed is infringed on if this is not done.
Mental health patient legal protections have been minorized by the pandemic, indicating public health regulation as a proportional means to defend this. Extra advocacy and oversight are required to prevent the abuse of the rights of mental illness patients or keep them unnecessarily incarcerated and lack adequate psychiatric approaches and services during the pandemic. The incorporation of accommodations and due process, as given by law, will contribute to a fairer approach that is consistent with the disability and due process laws.
References
Abrahami, A. (2022). The Abortion Paradox: How States Fail to Reconcile Their Parens Patriae Duty to Protect Minors with the Lack of Sexual Assault and Incest Exceptions in Stringent Abortion Regulations. Ind. JL & Soc. Equal., pp. 10, 257.
Doolin, E. G., Wall, J. F., & Jeffery, J. R. (2023). RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN HEALTH INSURANCE, LIFE INSURANCE, AND DISABILITY INSURANCE LAW. Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Law Journal, 58(2), 347–347.
Gather, J., Juckel, G., Henking, T., Efkemann, S. A., Vollmann, J., & Scholten, M. (2020). Under which conditions are changes in the treatment of people under involuntary commitment justified during the COVID-19 pandemic? An ethical evaluation of current developments in Germany. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 73, 101615.
Hariharan, R. (2020). COVID-19 Pandemic Situations: Understanding the Law, Rights and Responsibilities. Supremo Amicus, 19, 655.
Sugarman, J., & Lazarín, M. (2020). Educating English Learners during the COVID-19 pandemic. Migration Policy Institute. Retrieved from https://www. migrationpolicy. Org/research/english-learners-covid-19-pandemic-policy-ideas.
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