Opinion ID: 2762420
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Tyler’s Involuntary Commitment

Text: Tyler is a seventy-three-year-old resident of Hillsdale County, Michigan. On January 2, 1986, a state probate court committed Tyler to a mental institution. Tyler alleges that he underwent an emotionally devastating divorce in 1985 and that he was involuntarily committed because of a risk that he might be suicidal. Tyler submitted a 2012 substance-abuse evaluation containing additional information about his 1985 depression. In 1985, when Tyler was forty-five years old, Tyler’s wife of twentythree years served him divorce papers. Prior to filing for divorce, Tyler’s ex-wife allegedly ran away with another man and depleted Tyler’s finances. Tyler felt “overwhelmed” and “sat in the middle of the floor at home pounding his head.” According to a mental-health evaluation submitted by Tyler, Tyler was crying non-stop, not sleeping, depressed, and suicidal at this time. Tyler’s daughters became scared and contacted the police. The police transported Tyler to the sheriff’s department, where they contacted Tyler’s eighteen-year-old daughter to assist them with the necessary steps to have Tyler receive a psychological evaluation. Probate-court documents indicate that a Dr. Tamara Marie Tyler filed a petition asserting that Tyler required treatment.4 Tyler was represented by counsel at his probate-court commitment hearing. The probate court found by “clear and convincing evidence” that Tyler was “a person requiring treatment because [he was] mentally ill.”5 The court further found that Tyler, as a result of his “mental illness,” could be “reasonably expected within the near future to intentionally or unintentionally seriously physically injure [himself] or others, and has engaged in an act or acts or made significant threats that are substantially supportive of the expectation.” Additionally, the probate court found no “treatment program other than hospitalization adequate to meet [Tyler’s] treatment needs.” The probate court ordered that Amendments Act of 2007, http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=tp&tid=491#promising (last visited December 12, 2014). 4 There is no indication that this individual, though sharing the plaintiff’s last name, has any relation to the plaintiff. 5 In Michigan, “[a] judge or jury shall not find that an individual is a person requiring treatment unless that fact has been established by clear and convincing evidence.” Mich. Comp. Laws § 330.1465. No. 13-1876 Tyler v. Hillsdale Cnty. Sheriff’s Dep’t, et al. Page 6 Tyler undergo a treatment program “for a period not to exceed 90 days” and committed Tyler to Ypsilanti Regional Center “for a period not to exceed 30 days.” Tyler’s 2012 substance-abuse evaluation indicates that Tyler was transported to Ypsilanti Regional Center for a psychological evaluation. He purportedly had bruises on his head and face. He also purportedly had suicidal thoughts, was depressed, sobbing, shaking, and had not been sleeping. Tyler reported that he remained at the Center for two to four weeks. He declined prescribed medications for fear they would alter his “thinking.” Tyler subsequently returned home and remained in the workforce for another eighteen to nineteen years. Tyler’s 2012 substance-abuse evaluation determined that Tyler has no substance-abuse problem. It also indicates that Tyler did not report any “past legal involvement.” In 2012, Tyler underwent a psychological evaluation. Tyler informed the psychologist that he had never experienced a “depressive episode” other than his 1985 incident. The psychologist’s report indicated that Tyler has no criminal history. The psychologist contacted Tyler’s physician who also reported that she had not detected evidence of mental illness in Tyler. The psychologist determined that Tyler’s prior involuntary commitment “appeared to be a brief reactive depressive episode in response to his wife divorcing him.” The psychologist determined that there was no evidence of mental illness. In about 1999, Tyler remarried, and he maintains a close relationship with his two daughters from his first marriage.