Fhagen v. Miller

OPINION

EDWARD WEINFELD, District Judge.

This three-judge court was convened to consider plaintiff’s challenge to the constitutionality of section 72 (two-physician admission) and section 78 (emergency admission) of the New York Mental Hygiene Law. The challenged sections, part of a sweeping change in the then-existing Mental Hygiene Law, were enacted after extensive investigation and exhaustive study and research by the members of the legal and medical professions and other public groups. The new law, the product of these studies, sought to achieve a balanced approach to the interests of the…