LANDMARK CASES IN FORENSIC PSYCHIATRY:
Drugs & Alcohol
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Robinson v. California, 1962
Case Summary:
Robinson was convicted of a misdemeanor charge of “addiction to narcotics” after police witnessed track marks on his arms despite no evidence of active use or withdrawal.
US Supreme Court found that 8th Amendment protections from Cruel & Unusual Punishment apply to states, and that CA’s statute criminalizing the status of addiction was unconstitutional. They described addiction as “an illness which may be contracted innocently or voluntarily,” drawing a comparison to the cruelty of imprisoning someone for the common cold.
Key Concepts:
Criminalization of the status of addiction (not usage) is unconstitutional under the 8th Amendment.
Powell v. Texas, 1968
Case of Summary:
Powell was convicted of public intoxication. He appealed, arguing that the behavior leading to the charge arose from chronic alcoholism, a chronic disease for which punishment would violate 8th Amendment protections.
US Supreme Court upheld the guilty verdict as the conviction was for the act of public intoxication, not the status of chronic alcoholism.
Key Concepts:
While the criminalization of the status of addiction is unconstitutional, criminalization of public intoxication, a behavior, is not.