Court Opinion

ID: 9431924
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 23:33:34.475446+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:23:30.951879
License: Public Domain

Justice Stevens,
with whom Justice Brennan and Justice Marshall join, concurring in part and dissenting in part.
While I join the Court’s explanation of why this case is not moot, I disagree with its evaluation of the merits. The Court has undervalued respondent’s liberty interest; has misread the Washington involuntary medication Policy and misapplied our decision in Turner v. Safley, 482 U. S. 78 (1987); and has concluded that a mock trial before an institutionally biased tribunal constitutes “due process of law.” Each of these errors merits separate discussion.
I
The Court acknowledges that under the Fourteenth Amendment “respondent possesses a significant liberty interest in avoiding the unwanted administration of antipsychotic drugs,” ante, at 221, but then virtually ignores the several dimensions of that liberty. They are both physical and intellectual. Every violation of a person’s bodily integrity is an invasion of his or her liberty. The invasion is particularly intrusive if it creates a substantial risk of permanent injury and premature death.1 Moreover, any such action is degrading if it overrides a competent person’s choice to reject a specific form of medical treatment.2 And when the purpose *238or effect of forced drugging is to alter the will and the mind of the subject, it constitutes a deprivation of liberty in the most literal and fundamental sense.
“The makers of our Constitution undertook to secure conditions favorable to the pursuit of happiness. They recognized the significance of man’s spiritual nature, of his feelings and of his intellect. They knew that only a part of the pain, pleasure and satisfactions of life are to be found in material things. They sought to protect Americans in their beliefs, their thoughts, their emotions and their sensations. They conferred, as against the Government, the right to be let alone — the most comprehensive of rights and the right most valued by civilized men.” Olmstead v. United States, 277 U. S. 438, 478 (1928) (Brandéis, J., dissenting).
The liberty of citizens to resist the administration of mind altering drugs arises from our Nation’s most basic values.3
*239The record of one of Walter Harper’s involuntary medication hearings at the Special Offense Center (SOC) notes: “Inmate Harper stated he would rather die th[a]n take medication.”4 That Harper would be so opposed to taking psychotropic drugs is not surprising: as the Court acknowledges, these drugs both “alter the chemical balance in a patient’s brain” and can cause irreversible and fatal side effects.5 *240The prolixin injections that Harper was receiving at the time of his statement exemplify the intriisiveness of psychotropic drugs on a person’s body and mind. Prolixin acts “at all levels of the central nervous system as well as on multiple organ systems.”6 It can induce catatonic-like states, alter electroencephalographic tracings, and cause swelling of the brain. Adverse reactions include drowsiness, excitement, restlessness, bizarre dreams, hypertension, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, salivation, dry mouth, perspiration, headache, constipation, blurred vision, impotency, eczema, jaundice, tremors, and muscle spasms. As with all psychotropic drugs, prolixin may cause tardive dyskinesia, an often irreversible syndrome of uncontrollable movements that can prevent a person from exercising basic functions such as driving an automobile, and neuroleptic malignant syndrome, which is 30% fatal for those who suffer from it.7 The risk of side effects increases over time.8
The Washington Supreme Court properly equated the intrusiveness of this mind-altering drug treatment with electroconvulsive therapy or psychosurgery. It agreed with the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts’ determination that the drugs have a “ ‘profound effect’ ” on a person’s “ ‘thought *241processes’ ” and a “ ‘well-established likelihood of severe and irreversible adverse side effects,”’ and that they therefore should be treated “‘in the same manner we would treat psychosurgery or electroconvulsive therapy.’” 110 Wash. 2d 873, 878, 759 P. 2d 358, 362 (1988) (quoting In re Guardianship of Roe, 383 Mass. 415, 436-437, 421 N. E. 2d 40, 53 (1981)). There is no doubt, as the State Supreme Court and other courts that have analyzed the issue have concluded, that a competent individual’s right to refuse such medication is a fundamental liberty interest deserving the highest order of protection.9
II
Arguably, any of three quite different state interests might be advanced to justify a deprivation of this liberty interest. The State might seek to compel Harper to submit to a mind-altering drug treatment program as punishment for the crime he committed in 1976, as a “cure” for his mental illness, or as a mechanism to maintain order in the prison. The Court today recognizes Harper’s liberty interest only as against the first justification.
Forced administration of antipsychotic medication may not be used as a form of punishment. This conclusion follows inexorably from our holding in Vitek v. Jones, 445 U. S. 480 (1980), that the Constitution provides a convicted felon the protection of due process against an involuntary transfer from the prison population to a mental hospital for psychiatric treatment. We explained:
*242“Appellants maintain that the transfer of a prisoner to a mental hospital is within the range of confinement justified by imposition of a prison sentence, at least after certification by a qualified person that a prisoner suffers from a mental disease or defect. We cannot agree. None of our decisions holds that conviction for a crime entitles a State not only to confine the convicted person but also to determine that he has a mental illness and to subject him involuntarily to institutional care in a mental hospital. Such consequences visited on the prisoner are qualitatively different from the punishment characteristically suffered by a person convicted of crime. Our cases recognize as much and reflect an understanding that involuntary commitment to a mental hospital is not within the range of conditions of confinement to which a prison sentence subjects an individual. Baxstrom v. Herold, 383 U. S. 107 (1966); Specht v. Patterson, 386 U. S. 605 (1967); Humphrey v. Cady, 405 U. S. 504 (1972); Jackson v. Indiana, 406 U. S. 715, 724-725 (1972). A criminal conviction and sentence of imprisonment extinguish an individual’s right to freedom from confinement for the term of his sentence, but they do not authorize the State to classify him as mentally ill and to subject him to involuntary psychiatric treatment without affording him additional due process protections.” Id., at 493-494.
The Court does not suggest that psychotropic drugs, any more than transfer for medical treatment, may be forced on prisoners as a necesssary condition of their incarceration or as a disciplinary measure. Rather, it holds:
“[Gjiven the requirements of the prison environment, the Due Process Clause permits the State to treat a prison inmate who has a serious mental illness with anti-psychotic drugs against his will, if the inmate is dangerous to himself or others and the treatment is in the inmate’s medical interest. Policy 600.30 comports with *243these requirements; we therefore reject respondent’s contention that its substantive standards are deficient under the Constitution.” Ante, at 227 (emphasis added).
Crucial to the Court’s exposition of this substantive due process standard is the condition that these drugs “may be administered for no purpose other than treatment,” and that “the treatment in question will be ordered only if it is in the prisoner’s medical interests, given the legitimate needs of his institutional confinement.” Ante, at 226, 222. Thus, although the Court does not find, as Harper urges, an absolute liberty interest of a competent person to refuse psychotropic drugs, it does recognize that the substantive protections of the Due Process Clause limit the forced administration of psychotropic drugs to all but those inmates whose medical interests would be advanced by such treatment.
Under this standard the Court upholds SOC Policy 600.30, determining that this administrative scheme confers, as a matter of state law, a substantive liberty interest coextensive with that conferred by the Due Process Clause. Ante, at 221-222, 227. Whether or not the State’s alleged interest in providing medically beneficial treatment to those in its custody who are mentally ill may alone override the refusal of psychotropic drugs by a presumptively competent person, a plain reading of Policy 600.30 reveals that it does not meet the substantive standard set forth by the Court. Even on the Court’s terms, the Policy is constitutionally insufficient.
Policy 600.30 permits forced administration of psychotropic drugs on a mentally ill inmate based purely on the impact that his disorder has on the security of the prison environment. The provisions of the Policy make no reference to any expected benefit to the inmate’s medical condition. Policy 600.30 requires:
“In order for involuntary medication to be approved, it must be demonstrated that the inmate suffers from a mental disorder and as a result of that disorder constitutes a likelihood of serious harm to himself or others *244and/or is gravely disabled.” Lodging, Book 9, Policy 600.30, p. 1.
“Likelihood of serious harm,” according to the Policy,
“means either (i) A substantial risk that physical harm will be inflicted by an individual upon his own person, as evidenced by threats or attempts to commit suicide or inflict physical harm on one’s self, (ii) a substantial risk that physical harm will be inflicted by an individual upon another as evidenced by behavior which has caused such harm or which places another person or persons in reasonable fear of sustaining such harm, or (iii) a substantial risk that physical harm will be inflicted by an individual upon the property of others as evidenced by behavior which has caused substantial loss or damage to the property of others.”10
Thus, the Policy authorizes long-term involuntary medication not only of any mentally ill inmate who, as a result of a mental disorder, appears to present a future risk to himself, but also of an inmate who presents a future risk to other people or mere property.
Although any application of Policy 600.30 requires a medical judgment as to a prisoner’s mental condition and the cause of his behavior, the Policy does not require a determination that forced medication would advance his medical interest.11 Use of psychotropic drugs, the State readily admits, *245serves to ease the institutional and administrative burdens of maintaining prison security and provides a means of managing an unruly prison population and preventing property damage.12 By focusing on the risk that the inmate’s mental condition poses to other people and property, the Policy allows the State to exercise either parens patriae authority or police authority to override a prisoner’s liberty interest in refusing psychotropic drugs. Thus, most unfortunately, there is simply no basis for the Court’s assertion that medication under the Policy must be to advance the prisoner’s medical interest.13
Policy 600.30 sweepingly sacrifices the inmate’s substantive liberty interest to refuse psychotropic drugs, regardless of his medical interests, to institutional and administrative *246concerns. The State clearly has a legitimate interest in prison security and administrative convenience that encompasses responding to potential risks to persons and property. However, to the extent that the Court recognizes “both the prisoner’s medical interests and the State’s interests” as potentially independent justifications for involuntary medication of inmates,14 it seriously misapplies the standard announced in Turner v. Safley, 482 U. S. 78 (1987). In Turner, we held that a prison regulation that impinges on inmates’ constitutional rights is valid “if it is reasonably related to legitimate penological interests.” Id., at 89. Under this test, we determined that a regulation barring inmate-to-inmate correspondence was adequately supported by the State’s institutional security concerns. Id., at 93. We also unanimously concluded that a regulation prohibiting inmate marriage, except with consent of the prison superintendent made upon proof of compelling circumstances, was an “exaggerated response” to the prison’s claimed security objectives and was not reasonably related to its articulated rehabilitation goal. Id., at 97-98.
The State advances security concerns as a justification for forced medication in two distinct circumstances. A SOC Policy provision not at issue in this case permits 72 hours of involuntary medication on an emergency basis when “an inmate is suffering from a mental disorder and as a result of that disorder presents an imminent likelihood of serious harm to himself or others.” Lodging, Book 9, Policy 600.30, p. 2 (emphasis added). In contrast to the imminent danger of injury that triggers the emergency medication provisions, a general risk of illness-induced injury or property damage— evidenced by no more than past behavior — allows long-term, involuntary medication of an inmate with psychotropic drugs *247under Policy 600.30. This ongoing interest in security and management is a penological concern of a constitutionally distinct magnitude from the necessity of responding to emergencies. See Whitley v. Albers, 475 U. S. 312, 321-322 (1986). It is difficult to imagine what, if any, limits would restrain such a general concern of prison administrators who believe that prison environments are, “‘by definition,’ . . . made up of persons with ‘a demonstrated proclivity for antisocial criminal, and often violent, conduct.’” Ante, at 225 (quoting Hudson v. Palmer, 468 U. S. 517, 526 (1984)). A rule that allows prison administrators to address potential security risks by forcing psychotropic drugs on mentally ill inmates for prolonged periods is unquestionably an “exaggerated response” to that concern.
In Turner we concluded on the record before us that the marriage “regulation, as written, [was] not reasonably related to . . . penological interests,” and that there were “obvious, easy alternatives” that the State failed to rebut by reference to the record. 482 U. S., at 97-98. Today the Court concludes that alternatives to psychotropic drugs would impose more than de minimis costs on the State. However, the record before us does not establish that a more narrowly drawn policy withdrawing psychotropics from only those inmates who actually refuse consent15 and who do not pose *248an imminent threat of serious harm16 would increase the marginal costs of SOC administration. Harper’s own record reveals that administrative segregation and standard disciplinary sanctions were frequently imposed on him over and above forced medication and thus would add no new costs. Lodging, Book 1. Similarly, intramuscular injections of psychotropics, such as those frequently forced on Harper, id., Book 7, entail no greater risk than administration of less dangerous drugs such as tranquilizers.17 Use of psychotro*249pic drugs simply to suppress an inmate’s potential violence, rather than to achieve therapeutic results, may also undermine the efficacy of other available treatment programs that would better address his illness.18
The Court’s careful differentiation in Turner between the State’s articulated goals of security and rehabilitation should be emulated in this case. The flaw in Washington’s Policy 600.30 — and the basic error in the Court’s opinion today — is the failure to divorce from each other the two justifications for forced medication and to consider the extent to which the Policy is reasonably related to either interest. The State, and arguably the Court, allows the SOC to blend the state interests in responding to emergencies and in convenient prison administration with the individual’s interest in receiving beneficial medical treatment. The result is a muddled rationale that allows the “exaggerated response” of forced psychotropic medication on the basis of purely institutional concerns. So serving institutional convenience eviscerates *250the inmate’s substantive liberty interest in the integrity of his body and mind.19
Ill
The procedures of Policy 600.30 are also constitutionally deficient. Whether or not the State ever may order involuntary administration of psychotropic drugs to a mentally ill person who has been committed to its custody but has not been declared incompetent, it is at least clear that any decision approving such drugs must be made by an impartial professional concerned not with institutional interests, but only with the individual’s best interests. The critical defect in Policy 600.30 is the failure to have the treatment decision made or reviewed by an impartial person or tribunal. See Vitek, 445 U. S., at 495.20
The psychiatrists who diagnose and provide routine care to SOC inmates may prescribe psychotropic drugs and recommend involuntary medication under Policy 600.30. The Policy provides that a nonemergency decision to medicate for up *251to seven consecutive days must be approved by a special committee after a hearing. The committee consists of the Associate Superintendent of SOC, a psychologist, and a psychiatrist. Neither of the medical professionals may be involved in the current diagnosis or treatment of the inmate. The approval of the psychiatrist and one other committee member is required to sustain a 7-day involuntary medication decision. Lodging, Book 9, Policy 600.30, p. 2, § 3.B. A similarly composed committee is required to authorize “long term” involuntary medication lasting over seven days. Policy 600.30 does not bar current treating professionals or previous committee members from serving on the long-term committee. This committee does not conduct a new hearing, but merely reviews the inmate’s file and minutes of the 7-day hearing. Long-term approval, if granted, allows medication to continue indefinitely with a review and report by the treating psychiatrist every 14 days. Id., Book 9, Policy 600.30, p. 2, §3.C.21
These decisionmakers have two disqualifying conflicts of interest. First, the panel members must review the work of treating physicians who are their colleagues and who, in turn, regularly review their decisions. Such an in-house system pits the interests of an inmate who objects to forced medication against the judgment not only of his doctor, but often his doctor’s colleagues.22 Furthermore, the Court’s *252conclusion that “[n]one of the hearing committee members may be involved in the inmate’s current treatment or diagnosis,” ante, at 233, overlooks the fact that Policy 600.30 allows a treating psychiatrist to participate in all but the initial 7-day medication approval. This revolving door operated in Harper’s case. Dr. Petrich treated Harper through 1982 and recommended involuntary medication on October 27, 1982. Lodging, Book 8, Oct. 27, 1982. Dr. Loeken, staff psychologist Giles, and Assistant Superintendent Stark authorized medication for seven days after a 600.30 hearing on November 23, 1982. Dr. Petrich then replaced Dr. Loeken on the committee, and with Giles and Stark approved long-term involuntary medication on December 8, 1982. Solely under this authority, Dr. Petrich prescribed more psychotropic medication for Harper on December 8,1982, and throughout the following year.23
*253Second, the panel members, as regular staff of the Center, must be concerned not only with the inmate’s best medical interests, but also with the most convenient means of controlling the mentally disturbed inmate. The mere fact that a decision is made by a doctor does not make it “certain that professional judgment in fact was exercised.” Youngberg v. Romeo, 457 U. S. 307, 321 (1982). The structure of the SOC committee virtually ensures that it will not be. While the initial inquiry into the mental bases for an inmate’s behavior is medical, the ultimate medication decision under Policy 600.30 turns on an assessment of the risk that an inmate’s condition imposes on the institution. The prescribing physician and each member of the review committee must therefore wear two hats. This hybrid function disables the independent exercise of each decisionmaker’s professional judgment.24 The *254structure of the review committee further confuses the objective of the inquiry; two of the committee members are not trained or licensed to prescribe psychotropic drugs, and one has no medical expertise at all. The trump by institutional interests is dramatized by the fact that appeals of committee decisions under the Policy are made solely to the SOC Superintendent.25
The Court asserts that “[tjhere is no indication that any institutional biases affected or altered the decision to medicate respondent against his will” and that there is no evidence that “antipsychotic drugs were prescribed not for medical purposes, but to control or discipline mentally ill patients.” Ante, at 233, and 234, n. 13. A finding of bias in an individual case is unnecessary to determine that the structure of Policy 600.30 fails to meet the due process requirements of the Fourteenth Amendment. In addition, Harper’s own record illustrates the potential abuse of psychotropics under Policy 600.30 for institutional ends. For example, Dr. Petrich added Taractan, a psychotropic drug, to Harper’s medication around October 27, 1982, noting: “The goal of the increased medication to sedate him at night and relieve the residents and evening [sic] alike of the burden of supervising him as intensely.”26 A 1983 examination by non-SOC physicians *255also indicated that Harper was prophylactically medicated absent symptoms that would qualify him for involuntary medication.27
The institutional bias that is inherent in the identity of the decisionmakers is unchecked by other aspects of Policy 600.30. The committee need not consider whether less intrusive procedures would be effective, or even if the prescribed medication would be beneficial to the prisoner, before approving involuntary medication. Findings regarding the severity or the probability of potential side effects of drugs and dosages are not required. And, although the Policy does not prescribe a standard of proof necessary for any factual determination upon which a medication decision rests, the Court gratuitously advises that the “clear, cogent, and convincing” standard adopted by the State Supreme Court would be unnecessary.28
*256Nor is the 600.30 hearing likely to raise these issues fairly and completely. An inmate recommended for involuntary medication is no more capable of “‘speaking effectively for himself”’ on these “issues which are ‘complex or otherwise difficult to develop or present’ ” than an inmate recommended for transfer to a mental hospital. Vitek, 445 U. S., at 498 (Powell, J., concurring in part). Although single doses of some psychotropic drugs are designed to be effective for a full month, the inmate may not refuse the very medication he is contesting until 24 hours before his hearing.29 Policy 600.30 also does not allow the inmate to be represented by counsel at hearings, but only to have present an adviser, who is appointed by the SOC. Lodging, Book 9, Policy 600.30, pp. 3-4. These advisers, of questionable loyalties and efficacy, cannot provide the “independent assistance” required for an inmate fairly to understand and participate in the hearing process. 445 U. S., at 498.30 In addition, although the Policy gives the inmate a “limitable right to present testimony through his own witnesses and to confront and cross-examine witnesses,” in the next paragraph it takes that right away for reasons that “include, but are not limited to such *257things as irrelevance, lack of necessity, redundancy, possible reprisals, or other reasons relating to institutional interests of security, order, and rehabilitation.” Lodging, Book 9, Policy 600.30, p. 3. Finally, because Policy 600.30 provides a hearing only for the 7-day committee, and just a paper record for the long-term committee, the inmate has no opportunity at all to present his objections to the more crucial decision to medicate him on a long-term basis.
In sum, it is difficult to imagine how a committee convened under Policy 660.30 could conceivably discover, much less be persuaded to overrule, an erroneous or arbitrary decision to medicate or to maintain a specific dosage or type of drug. See Mathews v. Eldridge, 424 U. S. 319, 335 (1976). Institutional control infects the decisionmakers and the entire procedure. The state courts that have reviewed comparable procedures have uniformly concluded that they do not adequately protect the significant liberty interest implicated by the forced administration of psychotropic drugs.31 I agree with that conclusion. Although a review procedure administered by impartial, nonjudicial professionals might avoid the constitutional deficiencies in Policy 600.30, I would affirm the decision of the Washington Supreme Court requiring a judicial hearing, with its attendant procedural safeguards, as a remedy in this case.
*258I continue to believe that “even the inmate retains an unalienable interest in liberty — at the very minimum the right to be treated with dignity — which the Constitution may never ignore.” Meachum v. Fano, 427 U. S. 215, 233 (1976) (dissenting opinion). A competent individual’s right to refuse psychotropic medication is an aspect of liberty requiring the highest order of protection under the Fourteenth Amendment.32 Accordingly, with the exception of Part II, I respectfully dissent from the Court’s opinion and judgment.

 Cf., e. g., Winston v. Lee, 470 U. S. 753 (1985) (surgery); Youngberg v. Romeo, 457 U. S. 307 (1982) (use of physical “soft” restraints for the arms and “muffs” for hands).

 See Mills v. Rogers, 457 U. S. 291, 294, n. 4, 299, n. 16 (1982) (recognizing common-law battery for unauthorized touchings by a physician and assuming liberty interests are implicated by involuntary administration of psychotropic drugs); United States v. Stanley, 483 U. S. 669, 710 (1987) (O’Connor, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part) (the Constitution’s promise of due process of law guarantees at least compensation *238for violations of the principle stated by the Nuremberg Military Tribunals “that the ‘voluntary consent of the human subject is absolutely essential ... to satisfy moral, ethical and legal concepts’ ”); Doe v. Bolton, 410 U. S. 179, 213 (1973) (Douglas, J., concurring) (the Fourteenth Amendment protects the “freedom to care for one’s health and person” (emphasis deleted)). Harper was not adjudged insane or incompetent. 110 Wash. 2d 873, 882, 759 P. 2d 358, 364 (1988).

 See also Stanley v. Georgia, 394 U. S. 557, 565 (1969) (“Our whole constitutional heritage rebels at the thought of giving government the power to control men’s minds”).
“It is obligatory that Helsinki signatory states not manipulate the minds of their citizens; that they not step between a man and his conscience or his God; and that they not prevent his thoughts from finding expression through peaceful action. We are all painfully aware, furthermore, that governments which systematically disregard the rights of their own people are not likely to respect the rights of other nations and other people.” Hearings on Abuse of Psychiatry in the Soviet Union before the Subcommittee on Human Rights and International Organizations of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, 98th Cong., 1st Sess., 106 (1983) (Remarks by Max Kampelman, Chair of the U. S. Delegation, to the Plenary Session of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe).

 Lodging filed by Kenneth O. Eikenberry, Attorney General of Washington (hereinafter Lodging), Book 8, Jan. 5, 1984, Hearing (Harper testified: “Well all you want to do is medicate me and you’ve been medicating me. . . . Haldol paral[y]zed my right side of my body. . . . [Y]ou are burning me out of my life . . . [Y]ou are burning me out of my freedom”).
The Lodging includes “books” of discovery material that the parties stipulated “could be considered by the [Trial] Court as substantive evidence and the [Trial] Court. . . considered those documents.” App. to Pet. for Cert. B-l. They are hereinafter referred to by Book number and the date of the entry, where applicable. I use the Lodging not to “engage in a debate” over the assessment of Harper’s treatment, ante, at 228, n. 11, but simply to illustrate the boundaries of Policy 600.30 in operation.

 Ante, at 229. The Court relies heavily on the Brief for American Psychiatric Association et al. as Amici Curiae (Psychiatrists’ Brief), see ante, at 214, 226, and n. 9, 227, and n. 10, 230, to discount the severity of these drugs. However, medical findings discussed in other briefs support the conclusions of the Washington Supreme Court and challenge the reliability of the Psychiatrists’ Brief. For example, the Brief for American Psychological Association as Amicus Curiae (Psychologists’ Brief) points out that the observation of tardive dyskinesia has been increasing “at an alarming rate” since the 1950-1970 data relied on by the Psychiatrists’ Brief 14-16, and that “the chance of suffering this potentially devastating disorder is greater than one in four.” Psychologists’ Brief 8. See also Brief for Coalition for Fundamental Rights and Equality of Ex-Patients as Amicus Curiae 16-18 (court findings and recent literature on side effects); Brief for National Association of Protection and Advocacy Systems et al. as Amici Curiae 7-16 (same). Psychiatrists also may not be entirely disinterested experts. The psychologists charge: “As a psychiatrist has written, ‘[litigation from patients suffering from TD [tardive dyskinesia] is expected to explode within the next five years. Some psychiatrists and other physicians continue to minimize the seriousness of TD . . . [despite] continual warnings.’ ” Psychologists’ Brief 4 (quoting R. Simon, Clinical Psychiatry and the Law 74 (1987)).

 Physician’s Desk Reference 1639 (43d ed. 1989).

 Id., at 1640; Trial Court Finding 9, App. to Pet. for Cert. B-7 to B-8; Guzé & Baxter, Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome, 313 New England J. Med. 163, 163-164 (1985).

 Physician’s Desk Reference, supra, at 1639. Harper voluntarily took psychotropic drugs for six years before involuntary medication began in 1982, by which time he had already exhibited dystonia (acute muscle spasms) and akathesia (physical-emotional agitation). E. g., Lodging, Book 2, May 28, 1982, Aug. 4, 1982; see also Trial Court Findings 9-10, App. to Pet. for Cert. B-7 to B-8. Although avoidance of akathesia and the risk of tardive dyskinesia require reduction or discontinuance of psychotropics, ibid., Harper’s involuntary medication was continuous from November 1982 to June 1986, except for one month spent at Washington State Reformatory. Lodging, Book 8; Trial Court Findings 4-6, 9, App. to Pet. for Cert. B-4 to B-8.

 110 Wash. 2d, at 878, 759 P. 2d, at 362. See, e. g., Large v. Superior Court, 148 Ariz. 229, 714 P. 2d 399 (1986) (en banc); Riese v. St. Mary’s Hospital and Medical Center, 209 Cal. App. 3d 1303, 243 Cal. Rptr. 241 (1st Dist. 1988), review granted but dism’d, 774 P. 2d 698 (1989); People v. Medina, 705 P. 2d 961 (Colo. 1985) (en bane); Rogers v. Commissioner of Dept. of Mental Health, 390 Mass. 489, 458 N. E. 2d 308 (1983); Rivers v. Katz, 67 N. Y. 2d 485, 495 N. E. 2d 337 (1986); In re Mental Health of K. K. B., 609 P. 2d 747 (Okla. 1980). Cf. In re Schuoler, 106 Wash. 2d 500, 723 P. 2d 1103 (1986) (right to refuse electroconvulsive therapy).

 Lodging, Book 9, Policy 600.30, p. 1. Revised Policy 620.200, effective February 18, 1985, retained these substantive definitions. Lodging, Book 9, Policy 620.200, p. 1.

 The Court’s reliance on the Hippocratic Oath to save the constitutionality of Policy 600.30 is unavailing. Ante, at 223, n. 8. Whether or not the Oath binds treating physicians with a “medical interest” requirement in prescribing medications, it has no bearing on the SOC review committees, which are governed solely by the administrative criteria of Policy 600.30 in authorizing involuntary medication. Nor can the Court possibly believe that any “treatment” is talismanically in a patient’s “medical interest.” Treatment of a condition with medication facilitates a specific physiological result, which may or may not be in the overall medical interest of the patient. For example, the patient’s medical interest in reducing his own vio*245lence or in altering his mental condition may be often outweighed by the risk or onset of severe medical side effects. See supra, at 239-241. Finally, the qualitative judgment of what is a patient’s best interest cannot be made without reference to his own preferences. The Policy does not account for either a physician’s determination of medical interest or the inmate’s wishes.

 See, e. g., Brief for Petitioners 29 (“Harper’s history of assaultive behavior requires that the state exercise its police power to appropriately medicate him for the protection of others”); id., at 17 (“The policy assists prison administrators in meeting their ‘unquestioned duty to provide reasonable safety for all residents and personnel within the institution’”). See also Brief for United States as Amicus Curiae 17 (“The paramount concerns in running a prison or a prison mental health facility are maintaining institutional security, preserving internal order, and establishing a therapeutic environment. . . . [I]t goes without saying that the interest in preventing violence and maintaining order is significantly amplified when an entire ward consists of mentally ill prisoners, as at the SOC”).

 The trial court did not attempt to separate the medical and institutional objectives of Policy 600.30. Nor did it construe the Policy’s terms to require that an inmate’s best medical interests be served by medication. The trial court’s findings were limited to Harper’s case. Findings 11-12, App. to Pet. for Cert. B-8. They shed no light on whether Harper’s doctors did — or “a reasonably prudent psychiatrist in the State of Washington, acting in the same or similar circumstances” as a SOC psychiatrist could — order medication for any combination of therapeutic or institutional concerns. Finding 12, App. to Pet. for Cert. B-8.

 Ante, at 223. The Court further conflates its analysis by suggesting that “[t]he State has undertaken the obligation to provide prisoners with medical treatment consistent not only with their own medical interests, but also with the needs of the institution.” Ante, at 225.

 There is no evidence that more than a small fraction of inmates would refuse drugs under a voluntary policy. Harper himself voluntarily took psychotropics for six years, and intermittently consented to them after 1982. Lodging, Books 2 and 8. See, e. g., Rogers v. Okin, 478 F. Supp. 1342, 1369 (Mass. 1979) (only 12 of 1,000 institutionalized patients refused psychotropic drugs for prolonged periods during the two years that judicial restraining order was in effect), modified, 634 F. 2d 650 (CA1 1980), vacated and remanded sub nom. Mills v. Rogers, 457 U. S. 291 (1982). The efficacy of forced drugging is also marginal; involuntary patients have a poorer prognosis than cooperative patients. See Rogers & Webster, Assessing Treatability in Mentally Disordered Offenders, 13 Law and Human Behavior 19, 20-21 (1989).

 As the Court notes, properly used, these drugs are “one of the most effective means of treating and controlling” certain incurable mental illnesses, ante, at 226, but they are not a panacea for long-term care of all patients.
“[T]he maintenance treatment literature . . . shows that many patients (approximately 30%) relapse despite receiving neuroleptic medication, while neuroleptics can be withdrawn from other patients for many months and in some cases for years without relapse. Standard maintenance medication treatment strategies, though they are indisputably effective in group comparisons, may be quite inefficient in addressing the treatment requirements of the individual patient.” Lieberman et ah, Reply to Ethics of Drug Discontinuation Studies in Schizophrenia, 46 Archives of General Psychiatry 387 (1989) (footnotes omitted).
Indeed, the drugs appear to have produced at most minor “savings” in Harper’s case. Dr. Petrich reported that “medications are not satisfactory in containing the worst excesses of his labile and irritable behavior. He is uncooperative when on medication,” Lodging, Book 2, Nov. 10, 1982, and a therapy supervisor reported before Harper’s involuntary medication began:
“[D]uring the time in which he assaulted the nurse at Cabrini he was on neuroleptic medication yet there is indication that he was psychotic. However, during his stay at SOC he has been off of all neuroleptic medications and at times has shown some preoccupation and appearance of psychosis but has not become assaultive. His problems on medication, such as the paradoxical effect from the neuroleptic medications, may be precipitated by increased doses of neuroleptic medications and may cause an exacerbation of his psychosis. Though Mr. Harper is focused on psychosomatic problems from neuroleptic medications as per the side effects, the real problem may be that the psychosis is exacerbated by neuroleptic medications.” Id.., Book 3, May 6, 1982, p. 6.

 Because most psychotropic drugs do induce lethargy, drowsiness, and fatigue, e. g., Physician’s Desk Reference 1126, 1236, 1640, 1755, 1788, *2491883 (43d ed. 1989), this form of “medical treatment” may reduce an inmate’s dangerousness, not by improving his mental condition, but simply by sedating him with a medication that is grossly excessive for that purpose.

 For example, although psychotropic drugs were of mixed value in treating Harper’s condition, supra, at 248, n. 16, they became the primary means of dealing with him. E. g., Lodging, Book 8, Nov. 7,1984, Hearing (Dr. Petrich reports: “The patient is still not able to negotiate with the treatment staff or work collectively with them. We have no idea as to the extent of his psychosis nor do we have any working relationship upon which to build internal and external controls”); id., Book 8, Feb. 26, 1985 (Dr. Loeken reports: “because of his lack of participation in therapy it is recommended that the involuntary medication policy continue in use”).
Forcing psychotropics on Harper also provoked counterproductive behavior. E. g., id., Book 8, Dec. 16, 1982 (Report of Dr. Petrich that Harper’s assault on a male nurse and damage to a television were “in the context of his complaining about medication side effects. Overall the issue of involuntary medications and side effects is a major issue in his management”); id., Book 8, Oct. 7, 1983 (therapist’s report that Harper has indicated “that he is going to destroy unit property until the medications are stopped. He has recently destroyed the inmates!’] stereo as an example of this”).

 Youngberg v. Romeo, 457 U. S. 307 (1982), and Parham v. J. R., 442 U. S. 584 (1979), are inapposite. Neither involved care of a presumptively competent individual; Romeo, a profoundly retarded adult with the mental capacity of an 18-month-old child, had been committed by the court to a state hospital for treatment, 457 U. S., at 309, and J. R. and appellees were children, 442 U. S., at 587. In addition, the deprivations of liberty at issue in both cases — use of physical restraints in Youngberg and institutionalization in Parham — fall far short of Harper’s interest in refusing mind-altering drugs with potentially permanent and fatal side effects. Cf. Bee v. Greaves, 744 F. 2d 1387, 1395-1397 (CA10 1984) (forcible medication with psychotropics is not reasonably related to prison security), cert. denied, 469 U. S. 1214 (1985).

 It is not necessary to reach the question whether the decision to force psychotropic drugs on a competent person against his will must be approved by a judge, or by an administrative tribunal of professionals who are not members of the prison staff, in order to conclude that the mechanism of Policy 600.30 violates procedural due process. The choice is not between medical experts on the one hand and judges on the other; the choice is between decisionmakers who are biased and those who are not.

 Revised Policy 620.200 authorizes up to 14 consecutive days of involuntary medication before long-term committee approval is required, and adds a committee hearing to review continuing involuntary medication every 180 days thereafter. It also bars current treating personnel from sitting on the long-term committee. Lodging, Book 9, Policy 620.200, pp. 3-4.

 As regular SOC staff, 600.30 committee members are
“susceptible to implicit or explicit pressure for cooperation (‘If you support my orders, I’ll support yours’). It is instructive that month after month, year after year, this ‘review’ panel alivays voted for more medication — despite the scientific literature showing that periodic respites from drugs are advisable and that prolonged use of antipsychotic drugs is proper only *252when the medical need is clear and compelling.” Psychologists’ Brief 26-27 (footnote omitted).
Rates of approval by different review bodies are of limited value, of course, because institutions will presumably adjust their medication practices over time to obtain approval under different standards or by different reviewing bodies. However, New Jersey’s review of involuntary psychotropic medication in mental institutions is instructive. In 1980 external review by an “independent psychiatrist” who was not otherwise employed by the Department of Human Services resulted in discontinuation or reduction of 59% of dosages. After the Department moved to an internal peer review system, that percentage dropped to 2.5% of eases. Brief for New Jersey Department of Public Advocate as Amicus Curiae 38-54.

 All of Harper’s prescription entries from November 20, 1982, through December 8, 1982, were made “per Dr. Petrich.” Lodging, Book 7, primary encounter reports of Nov. 20, 1982, Dec. 2, 1982, Dec. 8, 1982. After Harper’s return to the SOC in December 1983, Dr. Loeken became his primary physician, and committees again approved 7-day, then long-term, involuntary medication. Although Dr. Petrich was not on these committees, he sat on the next three 180-day review committees, voting to authorize forced medication through January 1986. Trial Court Finding 7, App. to Pet. for Cert. B-7.

 The Court cites Vitek v. Jones, 445 U. S. 480 (1980), and Parham as “previous cases involving medical decisions implicating similar liberty interests [in which] we have approved use of similar internal decision-makers.” Ante, at 233-234. Aside from the greater liberty interest implicated by forced psychotropic medication, SOC decisionmakers face different demands than their professional counterparts in Vitek and Parham. In Vitek, the Nebraska state transfer policy at issue affected only prisoners determined to be mentally ill who could not “adequately be treated within the penal complex.” 445 U. S., at 489. We found that the determination of the necessity of transfer for treatment, “a question that is essentially medical,” could be made fairly by professionals after a meaningful hearing. Id., at 495. Similarly, we understood the civil commitment decision at issue in Parham to involve examination of the child, review of medical records, and a diagnosis and determination of “whether the child will likely benefit from institutionalized care,” emphasizing that “[w]hat is best for a child is an individual medical decision ... of what the child requires.” 442 U. S., at 614-615, 608. Both of these procedures sought to reach an accurate medical determination of the patient’s treatment needs without reference to the institution’s separate interests. We concluded that, despite their positions inside the Nebraska prison and Georgia hospital, these medical professionals were capable of exercising the independence of professional judgment required by due process. None of the medical professionals at the SOC, charged with making medication decisions in light *254of the inmate’s impact on the institution and its needs, can claim such independence.

 Lodging, Book 9, Policy 600.30, p. 4. The Court notes that an inmate may bring a personal restraint petition or seek an extraordinary writ under Wash. Rules App. Proc. 16.3 to 16.17, ante, at 216, 235. However, a non-emergency involuntary medication decision demands — as the existence of a SOC Policy attests — meaningful administrative review of this deprivation of liberty, not merely the existence of collateral judicial mechanisms. Cf. Ingraham v. Wright, 430 U. S. 651 (1977).

 Lodging, Book 8, Oct. 27,1982. Indeed, a “psychiatric security attendant,” not a doctor, made the first recorded request for involuntary medication after Harper attempted to pull the guard’s hand through a food slot. The guard filed a disciplinary “Infraction Report” which concluded: “Sug*255gestión: This inmate is in need of involuntary medication. He is a threat to the safety + security of the institution.” Id., Book 1-2, Oct. 22, 1982. Five days later, Dr. Petrich, citing the incident, recommended involuntary medication. Id., Book 8, Oct. 27, 1982.

 Harper was transferred on November 16, 1983, to Washington State Reformatory, where a psychiatrist on its Multidisciplinary Advisory Committee found:
“To this date, he has not exhibited behavior in the presence of any committee members or custody staff that would qualify him under involuntary medication policy. He does have a long history of recurrent difficulty and as best as we can tell SOC instituted the involuntary policy and continued it on the basis of'past bad faith; however, we do not have any of that data available to us.” Id., Book 3, Nov. 30, 1983 (emphasis added).
See also id., Book 8, May 1,1985, Hearing (“[T]he inmate[’]s behavior during the committee hearing did not meet the criteria for gravely disabled or self injurious behavior. Involuntary medication is continued on the basis of potential violent behavior towards others which has been well documented in the inmate’s history”).

 Ante, at 235. In Addington v. Texas, 441 U. S. 418 (1979), we held that the medical conditions for civil commitment must be proved by clear and convincing evidence. The purpose of this standard of proof, to reduce *256the chances of inappropriate decisions, id,., at 427, is no less meaningful when the factfinders are professionals as when they are judges or jurors.

 Lodging, Book 9, Policy 600.30, p. 2. Prolixin decanoate, for example, is “a highly potent behavior modifier with a markedly extended duration of effect”; onset is between 24 to 72 hours after injection and effects can last 4-6 weeks. Physician’s Desk Reference 1641-1642 (43d ed. 1989).

 The prisoner is introduced to, and may consult with, his appointed adviser at the commencement of the hearing. Harper’s adviser on November 23, 1982, a nurse practitioner from Washington State Reformatory, asked Harper three questions in the hearing. Lodging, Book 8, Nov. 23, 1982, Hearing. The other five advisers appointed for Harper never spoke in the hearings. All five were apparently staff at the SOC: SOC Psychiatric Social Worker Hyden (who sat for the SOC Assistant Superintendent on the next 180-day committee that reapproved Harper’s medication), a prison chaplain, two registered nurses, and a correctional officer. Id., Book 8, Dec. 8, 1982, Dec. 30, 1983, Jan. 5, 1984, Oct. 31, 1984, and Nov. 7, 1984, Hearings.

 Many States require a judicial determination of incompetence, other findings, or a substituted judgment when a patient or inmate refuses psychotropic drugs. E. g., Riese v. St. Mary’s Hospital and Medical Center, 209 Cal. App. 3d 1303, 243 Cal. Rptr. 241 (1st Dist. 1988), review granted but dism’d, 774 P. 2d 698 (1989); People v. Medina, 705 P. 2d 961 (Colo. 1985) (en banc); In re Boyd, 403 A. 2d 744 (D. C. 1979); In re Mental Commitment of M. P., 510 N. E. 2d 645 (Ind. 1987); Rogers v. Commissioner of Dept. of Mental Health, 390 Mass. 489, 458 N. E. 2d 308 (1983); Jarvis v. Levine, 418 N. W. 2d 139 (Minn. 1988); Opinion of the Justices, 123 N. H. 554, 465 A. 2d 484 (1983); Rivers v. Katz, 67 N. Y. 2d 485, 495 N. E. 2d 337 (1986); In re Mental Health of K. K. B., 609 P. 2d 747 (Okla. 1980); State ex rel. Jones v. Gerhardstein, 141 Wis. 2d 710, 416 N. W. 2d 883 (1987).

 Only Harper’s due process claim is before the Court. Ante, at 218, n. 5. His First Amendment, equal protection, state constitutional, and common-law tort claims have not yet been considered by the Washington state courts.