Prescribing a Balance: The Texas Legislative Responses to Sell v. United States

Abstract

Professor Shannon first addresses the Court’s parameters for determining when the administration of antipsychotic medications on an involuntary basis is permissible in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. The remainder of the Article discusses the various approaches taken by the Texas Legislature to codify certain hearing mechanisms to address the thorny issues raised by Sell. Specifically, after briefly addressing Sell, this Article analyzes an array of Texas legislative enactments from 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2009, all of which have addressed the issue of a defendant’s refusal to take antipsychotic medication after having been adjudicated incompetent to stand trial, but prior to the criminal trial on the merits.