G.T. v. Stone

Plaintiff is a patient at the Vermont State Hospital whose release on conditional discharge was revoked in accordance with 18 V.S.A. §§ 8007 and 8008. The sole question raised by plaintiff’s appeal in this declaratory judgment action is the constitutionality of Vermont’s statutory scheme governing such conditional discharges. We hold that a postrevocation hearing under § 8008(e) is insufficient to meet Vermont’s due process standards, and that a prerevocation hearing is required except in an emergency, whether or not requested by the patient. We remand for proceedings consistent with this…