An Ethicolegal Analysis of Involuntary Treatment for Opioid Use Disorders

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 735-740
Author(s):  
Farhad R. Udwadia ◽  
Judy Illes
Keyword(s):  
Police Officers ◽  
Standard Of Care ◽  
Opioid Use ◽  
Ethical Concerns ◽  
Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Law ◽  
Court Mandated ◽  
Ethical Critique

Supply-side interventions such as prescription drug monitoring programs, “pill mill” laws, and dispensing limits have done little to quell the burgeoning opioid crisis. An increasingly popular demand-side alternative to these measures – now adopted by 38 jurisdictions in the USA and 7 provinces in Canada — is court-mandated involuntary commitment and treatment. In Massachusetts, for example, Part I, Chapter 123, Section 35 of the state's General Laws allows physicians, spouses, relatives, and police officers to petition a court to involuntarily commit and treat a person whose alcohol or drug abuse poses a likelihood of serious harm. This paper explores the ethical underpinnings of this law as a case study for others. First, we highlight the procedural and substantive standards of Section 35 and evaluate the application of the law in practice, including the frequency with which it has been invoked and outcomes. We then use this background to inform an ethical critique of the law. Specifically, we argue that the infringement of autonomy and privacy associated with involuntary intervention under Section 35 is not currently justified on the grounds of a lack of evidenced benefits and a risk of significant of harm. Further ethical concerns also arise from a lack of standard of care provided under the Section 35 pathway. Based on this analysis, we advance four recommendations for change to mitigate these ethical shortcomings.

scholarly journals Features of training of police employee in the USA

2022 ◽  
pp. 97-106
Author(s):  
Ekaterina Sumina ◽  
Leonid Grischenko ◽  
Ekaterina Sepiashvili
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Police Training ◽  
The United States ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
Psychological Skills ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Law ◽  
Internal Affairs

The complexities of modern policing require internal affairs agencies to expand the training opportunities for police officers to carry out the tasks assigned to internal affairs agencies. It is not enough to focus solely on the law or on perishable skills such as arrest and control; defensive tactics; driving; and firearms. This article discusses the experience of building and developing the psychological skills required by the United States police force. Police training in the United States focuses on developing the skills needed to deal with the modern challenges that arise in the performance of official tasks. Training involves building and developing skills such as cognitive, emotional, social and moral skills that can improve the condition of police officers, as well as foster relationships between police officers and members of the community. Trained police officers need to develop critical thinking skills, effective communication, and emotional intelligence. The presented article reveals professional competencies for police officers, graduates of the police academy, which were developed by the Law Enforcement Foundation in the United States (Ohio). It also discusses aspects of psychological screening developed by the California Commission on Peacekeeping Training Standards to Consider When Recruiting Police Officers. The authors emphasize that when training police officers in any country, it is necessary to pay special attention to the continuity between training and practical service activities of the police officer.

Performance Regulation and Industrial Location: A Case Study

1981 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 321-338 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Storper ◽  
R Walker ◽  
E Widess
Keyword(s):  
Industrial Location ◽  
Industrial Growth ◽  
Significant Barrier ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Strict Enforcement ◽  
The Law ◽  
A Site ◽  
The Impact

The impact of performance regulations on industrial location in the USA or elsewhere has been little researched. This case study shows conventional assumptions to be questionable on two counts. First, industry appears not to consider local regulations until after selecting a site on more basic economic reasons. It assumes that regulations are not a significant barrier, owing to local eagerness to attract new growth. Second, the letter of the law is not the effect of the law, given the role of politics. In the case study described, opposition led to strict enforcement and the company's withdrawal, but a business backlash restored a more normal degree of governmental accommodation to industrial growth.

scholarly journals A comparative case study of Reserve Deputies in a Florida sheriff’s office and Special Constables in an English police force

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 259-271 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iain Britton ◽  
Ross Wolf ◽  
Matthew Callender
Keyword(s):  
Police Officers ◽  
Comparative Research ◽  
Police Force ◽  
Comparative Case Study ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Law Enforcement Agencies ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Deputy Sheriffs

Volunteers operating as ‘sworn’ police personnel with full policing powers are a common feature of policing organizations in many countries, including Special Constables in the UK and Reserve and Auxiliary police officers and deputy sheriffs in many law enforcement agencies in the USA. There has been only limited research into the experience of serving as a volunteer in such policing roles in either the US or UK settings, together with very little comparative research into volunteer officer experience across different international settings. This article presents a small-scale, comparative qualitative case study based upon interviews with volunteers from a Reserve Unit in a sheriff’s office in Florida and with volunteer Special Constables from an English police force, exploring their perspectives and experiences of volunteering in their respective policing organizations. The research identifies key differences between the settings in respect of past experience and volunteer pathways, models of training and confidence of operational capability, development and management of roles, the opportunities to develop specialization for volunteers, and leadership. The article points to the value of comparative research in police voluntarism and calls for more research in this area.

The Constitutional Principle of Accountability: A Study of Contemporary South African Case Law

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chuks Okpaluba
Keyword(s):  
Judicial Review ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Public Procurement ◽  
Case Law ◽  
The State ◽  
Constitutional Principle ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Law ◽  
Constitutional Right ◽  
The Many

‘Accountability’ is one of the democratic values entrenched in the Constitution of South Africa, 1996. It is a value recognised throughout the Constitution and imposed upon the law-making organs of state, the Executive, the Judiciary and all public functionaries. This constitutional imperative is given pride of place among the other founding values: equality before the law, the rule of law and the supremacy of the Constitution. This study therefore sets out to investigate how the courts have grappled with the interpretation and application of the principle of accountability, the starting point being the relationship between accountability and judicial review. Therefore, in the exercise of its judicial review power, a court may enquire whether the failure of a public functionary to comply with a constitutional duty of accountability renders the decision made illegal, irrational or unreasonable. One of the many facets of the principle of accountability upon which this article dwells is to ascertain how the courts have deployed that expression in making the state and its agencies liable for the delictual wrongs committed against an individual in vindication of a breach of the individual’s constitutional right in the course of performing a public duty. Here, accountability and breach of public duty; the liability of the state for detaining illegal immigrants contrary to the prescripts of the law; the vicarious liability of the state for the criminal acts of the police and other law-enforcement officers (as in police rape cases and misuse of official firearms by police officers), and the liability of the state for delictual conduct in the context of public procurement are discussed. Having carefully analysed the available case law, this article concludes that no public functionary can brush aside the duty of accountability wherever it is imposed without being in breach of a vital constitutional mandate. Further, it is the constitutional duty of the courts, when called upon, to declare such act or conduct an infringement of the Constitution.

scholarly journals Selling international law enforcement: Elite justifications and public values

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 205316802095678
Author(s):  
Melissa M. Lee ◽  
Lauren Prather
Keyword(s):  
Law Enforcement ◽  
International Law ◽  
Public Support ◽  
International Order ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Public Values ◽  
Norm Enforcement ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Law ◽  
Order Increase

International law enforcement is an understudied but indispensable factor for maintaining the international order. We study the effectiveness of elite justifications in building coalitions supporting the enforcement of violations of the law against territorial seizures. Using survey experiments fielded in the USA and Australia, we find that the effectiveness of two common justifications for enforcement—the illegality of a country’s actions, and the consequences of those actions for international order—increase support for enforcement and do so independently of two key public values: ideology and interpersonal norm enforcement. These results imply elites can build a broad coalition of support by using multiple justifications. Our results, however, highlight the tepidness of public support, suggesting limits to elite rhetoric. This study contributes to the scholarship on international law by showing how the public, typically considered a mechanism for generating compliance within states, can impede or facilitate third-party enforcement of the law between states.

scholarly journals Street triage services in England: service models, national provision and the opinions of police

2018 ◽  
Vol 42 (6) ◽  
pp. 253-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abirami Kirubarajan ◽  
Stephen Puntis ◽  
Devon Perfect ◽  
Marc Tarbit ◽  
Mary Buckman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
National Survey ◽  
Police Officers ◽  
Traditional Approach ◽  
Clinical Implications ◽  
Modes Of Operation ◽  
Specialist Services ◽  
Service Models ◽  
The Law ◽  
Core Part

Aims and methodStreet triage services are increasingly common and part of standard responses to mental health crises in the community, but little is understood about them. We conducted a national survey of mental health trusts to gather detailed information regarding street triage services alongside a survey of Thames Valley police officers to ascertain their views and experiences.ResultsTriage services are available in most areas of the country and are growing in scope. There is wide variation in levels of funding and modes of operation, including hours covered. Police officers from our survey overwhelmingly support such services and would like to see them expanded.Clinical implicationsMental health crises now form a core part of policing and there are compelling reasons for the support of specialist services. Recent changes to the law have heightened this need, with a requirement for specialist input before a Section 136 is enacted. Those who have experienced triage services report it as less stigmatising and traumatic than a traditional approach, but there remains little evidence on which to base decisions.Declaration of interestNone.

Ein rechtsfreier Raum? Die legale Situation auf den Färöern im Spiegel der ‚Færeyinga saga‘

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-45
Author(s):  
Andreas Schmidt
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Norms ◽  
Old Icelandic ◽  
Power Politics ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Narrative Literature ◽  
The Law

AbstractThe chapter argues for a more nuanced and empirically based understanding of the discourse on law and socio-cultural norms in Old Icelandic literature on the grounds of a narratological reading of ‘Færeyinga saga’ as a case study. It has often been claimed that Icelandic sources express an ideal of freedom based on communality as guaranteed by the law. By contrast, ‘Færeyinga saga’ represents a cynical discourse on power politics that renders law as an invariable concept obsolete and works solely on the principle that ‘might is right’. This cynicism, however, is presented in a form that leaves the narrative open to interpretation, showing that regardless of its possible dating, narrative literature can serve as a starting point for social discussion. Consequently, the discourse on law in medieval Iceland must be perceived as more polyphonic than has been allowed for by previous unifying readings in scholarship.

scholarly journals Opioid availability statistics from the International Narcotics Control Board do not reflect the medical use of opioids: comparison with sales data from Scandinavia

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Emmanuel Bäckryd ◽  
Markus Heilig ◽  
Mikael Hoffmann
Keyword(s):  
Opioid Analgesics ◽  
Warning Signal ◽  
Control Board ◽  
Opioid Use ◽  
Opioid Prescription ◽  
Sales Data ◽  
Narcotics Control ◽  
Addiction Risk ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Prescription Rates

Abstract Objectives Opioid analgesics are essential in clinical practice, but their excessive use is associated with addiction risk. Increases in opioid prescription rates have fuelled an epidemic of opioid addiction in the USA, making statistics on medical opioid use a critical warning signal. A dramatic 150% increase in Swedish opioid access 2001–2013 was recently reported based on data from the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB; Berterame et al. 2016) in conflict with other studies of opioid use in the Nordic countries. This article aims to analyse to what degree published INCB statistics on opioids in Scandinavia (Denmark, Norway and Sweden) reflect actual medical use and study the methodological reasons for putative discrepancies. Methods Data on aggregated total national sales of opioids for the whole population, including hospitals, were collected from the Swedish e-Health Authority. Total sales data for Denmark and drugs dispensed at pharmacies in Norway are publicly available through the relevant authorities’ websites. Results INCB opioid statistics during the period 2001–2013 were markedly inconsistent with sales data from Scandinavia, calling the reliability of INCB data into question. INCB-data were flawed by (a) over-representing the volume of fentanyl, (b) under-reporting of codeine, and (c) by not including tramadol. Conclusions Opioid availability, as expressed by INCB statistics, does not reflect medical opioid use. It is crucial to underline that INCB statistics are based on the manual compilation of national production, import and export data from manufacturers and drug companies. This is not the same amount that is prescribed and consumed within the health care system. Moreover, there are methodological problems in the INCB reports, in particular concerning fentanyl, codeine and tramadol. We suggest that INCB should carefully review the quality of their data on medical opioids.

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