Jackson v. Indiana
| Jackson v. Indiana | |
|---|---|
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| Argued November 18, 1971 Decided June 7, 1972 |
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| Full case name | Theon Jackson v. Indiana |
| Citations | 406 U.S. 715 (more) |
| Prior history | Certiorari to the Supreme Court of Indiana |
| Holding | |
| The state of Indiana cannot constitutionally commit the petitioner for an indefinite period on the sole grounds that he was incompetent to stand trial on the charges filed against him. | |
| Court membership | |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Blackmun, joined by unanimous |
| Powell, Rehnquist took no part in the consideration or decision of the case. | |
| Laws applied | |
| U.S. Const. amends. VIII, XIV | |
Jackson v. Indiana, 406 U.S. 715 (1972), was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that determined a U.S. state violated due process by involuntarily committing a criminal defendant for an indefinite period of time solely on the basis of his permanent incompetency to stand trial on the charges filed against him.
In general, if a defendant is found incompetent to proceed to trial, the criminal proceedings are suspended. In those cases, where the charges are petty, the charges are often dropped or a plea bargain may be made in which the charges are nolle prossed if the defendant agrees to seek treatment. Otherwise, the defendant is usually committed to a psychiatric hospital for treatment until the defendant is restored to competency, at which point the trial will proceed.
Theon Jackson, a deaf-mute who could not read, write or communicate in other ways, was charged with two counts of petty theft. Competency evaluations and testimony by the evaluating doctors showed that Jackson's intelligence was too low for him to understand the nature of the charges against him, even if he were able to develop the ability to communicate, and that the prognosis for restoration of competency was "rather dim" even if he were not a deaf mute. Despite testimony that the state of Indiana had no facilities to treat Jackson's problems, Jackson was committed to a psychiatric hospital for treatment.
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