THE MENTAL HYGIENE LEGAL SERVICE ON BEHALF OF ALIZA K., RESPONDENT, v.
MICHAEL FORD, M.D., &C., APPELLANT.
92 N.Y.2d 500, 705 N.E.2d 1191, 683 N.Y.S.2d 150 (1998).
December 3, 1998
1 No. 150
(98 NY Int. 0159)
Decided December 3, 1998
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This opinion is uncorrected and subject to revision before publication
in the New York Reports.
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Thomas D. Hughes, for appellant.
Karen Gomes Andreasian, for respondent.
LEVINE, J.:
Aliza K. is an involuntarily committed civil patient hospitalized at
Manhattan Psychiatric Center (MPC), a civil mental health facility of
the State Office of Mental Health(OMH). She was charged with
aggravated harassment after having already served two sentences for
stalking, threatening and harassing her former employer (with whom she
apparently at one time had a romantic involvement) and the staff of
his business. The new charges were dismissed after she was found unfit
to proceed to trial. Aliza K. was then transferred from the criminal
detention facility at Riker's Island pursuant to Criminal Procedure
Law § 730.40. On March 14, 1994, she was admitted into MPC pursuant to
Mental Hygiene Law § 9.33. She was diagnosed as suffering from an
erotomanic delusional disorder, which caused her to believe that her
former employer still loved her and to compulsively seek contact with
him. The employer had to obtain an order of protection against her,
and despite the order, at MPC Aliza K. repeatedly stated that she
would never stop pursuing him. Following some physical altercations
with hospital staff, she was transferred to the Intensive Psychiatric
Service unit of MPC, a locked ward which is reserved for the most
violent patients.
On May 3, 1995, MPC requested that Aliza K. be transferred to Kirby
Forensic Psychiatric Center (Kirby), one of the two secure OMH
facilities in the State ( see, 14 NYCRR 57.1). Aliza K.%s treating
psychiatrist prepared a clinical summary giving the medical reasons
for the transfer application. According to that summary, Aliza K. had
SNIPPETS:
Aliza K. is an involuntarily committed civil patient hospitalized at Manhattan Psychiatric
She was charged with aggravated harassment after having already served two sentences for
On March 14, 1994, she was admitted into MPC pursuant to Mental Hygiene Law § 9.33.
On May 3, 1995, MPC requested that Aliza K. be transferred to Kirby Forensic Psychiatric
On May 5, 1995, the OMH Commissioner authorized the transfer to Kirby and, as required by 14
On May 10, 1995, Aliza K. commenced this proceeding byserving MPC with a writ of habeas
Supreme Court converted the proceeding into a declaratory judgment action and consolidated
The court, after enjoining the transfer, granted her motion for summary judgment on both due
The Appellate Division rejected petitioner's equal protection argument but agreed on due
The Appellate Division concluded that since the primary motivation for the transfer was not a
That statute and its implementing regulations require frequent periodic review of a patient's
Under those regulations, the director of the transferring hospital is required to submit a
Also, because a high percentage of the patients at Kirby aretransferred from the criminal
In Savastano v Nurnberg, the Court reviewed the regulatory criteria for a transfer under 14
Whether security concerns also play a role in the transfer decision is irrelevant since "such
Patients whose behavior is such as to raise the likelihood of their causing harm to others
Here, as in Savastano, we conclude that shifting from mental health professionals to judges
As the Supreme Court has noted, "ommon human experience and scholarly opinions suggest that
As already noted, the report of the treating psychiatrist in support of the transfer
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