Guardianship of Brandon

The appeals by the Department of Mental Retardation (department) and counsel for the ward, Brandon, arise from a Probate Court judge’s review of a treatment plan proposed by the Judge Rotenberg Educational Center, Inc. (JRC),1 for Brandon. The proposed plan, like previous plans authorized for Brandon, included the use of certain “Level III” aversive treatments.2 The judge entered his findings and an order authorizing the treatment plan on February 10, 1995, after a substituted judgment hearing held over portions *484of five days from October 31, 1994, through December 21, 1994.3 After the hearing…