Powell v. Risser

Dissenting Opinion by

Mr. Justice Musmanno :

The assumed therapeutics administered to the plaintiff in this case read like the chronicle of a medieval torture. This does not say that the plaintiff’s condition might not have warranted such treatment. The *70care of mental patients sometimes requires the application of physical restraint which must seem cruel and brutal to those unfamiliar with the routine of mental institutions. However, the unnecessary or reckless use of violent measures which steal away physical assets from one already robbed of the treasures of a sound mind constitutes a misdeed…