269 Conn. 802 | Conn. | 2004
Opinion
The principal issue in this appeal is whether the trial court properly determined that the
This appeal arises out of the following factual background. On November 17, 1999, twenty-eight year old Bryant Wiseman died while he was incarcerated at the Gamer correctional institution (Gamer). The decedent was mentally ill, and at the time of his death, he had been diagnosed as suffering from paranoid schizophrenia. On December 10, 2002, the plaintiff, Elaine Wiseman, as administrator of the decedent’s estate, filed a twelve count complaint against the defendants,
With these principles in mind, we turn to the defendants’ claims. “As with all issues of statutory interpretation, we look first to the language of the statute.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Spears v. Garcia, 263 Conn. 22, 28-29, 818 A.2d 37 (2003). A “ ‘[facility’ ”
As an initial matter, we note that the trial court improperly circumscribed its analysis to an interpretation of the term “other facility” in the abstract, rather than properly analyzing that term within the context of the statute in which it is contained. A statute is enacted as a whole and must be read as a whole rather than as separate parts or sections. Badolato v. New Britain, 250 Conn. 753, 760, 738 A.2d 618 (1999). Further, “[w]ordsin a statute must be given their plain and ordinary meaning . . . unless the context indicates that a different meaning was intended.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Gelinas v. West Hartford, 225 Conn. 575, 584, 626 A.2d 259 (1993). While the term “other facility” might be very broad in the abstract, within the context of § 17a-540 (a), the legislature narrowed its meaning by modifying it with the words ‘for the diagnosis, observation or treatment of persons with psychiatric disabilities . . . .” (Emphasis added.) The word “for” requires that any “other facility” subject to the patients’ bill of rights must be one for which the main purpose is “diagnosis, observation or treatment.”
The dictionary references the entry for “correctional institution” to the entry for “prison,” which is defined as “ [a] state or federal facility of confinement for convicted criminals, especially] felons.” Black’s Law Dictionary (7th Ed. 1999); see also Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (10th Ed. 1993) (defining “prison” as, inter alia, “a place of confinement”). Furthermore, “correction,” the root of the word “correctional,” is defined as “the treatment and rehabilitation of offenders through a program involving penal custody, parole, and probation . . . .” Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (10th Ed. 1993). We are aware that correctional institutions
This conclusion is buttressed when the term “other facility” is interpreted alongside the two other terms
The patients’ bill of rights provides that “[n]o patient may be placed involuntarily in seclusion or a mechanical restraint unless necessary because there is imminent physical danger to the patient or others and a physician so orders. A written memorandum of such order, and the reasons therefor, shall be placed in the patient’s permanent clinical record within twenty-four horns.” (Emphasis added.) General Statutes § 17a-544 (a). In comparison, department of correction administrative directive 6.5, § 4 (B), provides that “staff may immediately use force and/or apply restraints when an inmate’s behavior constitutes an immediate threat to self, others, property or to the safety and security of the institution.” See also id., § 8 (detailing procedures for authorized use of restraints). As administrative directive 6.5 illustrates, it simply is not always possible
Count ten of the plaintiffs complaint alleges that the defendants violated the patients’ bill of rights by failing to provide the decedent with a specialized treatment plan. More specifically, the plaintiff claims that the patients’ bill of rights requires that each patient be treated in accordance with a special treatment plan that includes “(1) reasonable notice to the patient of his impending discharge, (2) active participation by the patient in planning for his discharge and (3) planning for appropriate aftercare to the patient upon his discharge.” General Statutes § 17a-542. This statute is in direct contradiction to other statutes that govern the movement of individuals in the custody of the department of correction,
This contradiction between the rights provided by the patients’ bill of rights and those expressly denied to inmates by other statutes and regulations is not limited to the previous two examples. Compare General Statutes § 17a-541 (no patient shall be deprived of any personal, property or civil rights, including right to vote, unless first having been declared incapable)
This conclusion gains additional support when the provisions of the patients’ bill of rights are interpreted in the context of the entire statutory scheme of this
Moreover, the legislature’s very enactment of General Statutes §§ 17a-513 through 17a-520 strongly suggests a legislative expectation that inmates with psychiatric disabilities would be better served in a hospital for psychiatric disabilities, rather than in a correctional institution. See, e.g., General Statutes § 17a-513 (allowing inmate to petition for voluntary admittance to hospital for psychiatric disability pursuant to provisions of § 17a-506); General Statutes § 17a-514 (permitting emergency confinement in hospital for psychiatric disabilities of inmates of correctional institutions); General Statutes § 17a-515 (extending notice and hearing requirements to inmates committed under §§ 17a-513 and 17a-514; noting that “if the court revokes the order of commitment, the person shall be returned to any institution administered by the [department of [correction” [emphasis added]); General Statutes § 17a-516 (any inmate that was committed to hospital for psychiatric disabilities, and subsequently discharged pursuant to General Statutes § 17a-510, shall be returned to any institution administered by department of correction).
The patients’ bill of rights was enacted in 1971, and it represents “the breadth of the legislative concern
Lastly, any doubt we may have about the proper interpretation of the term “other facility” is dispelled by our review of the relevant legislative history. More specifically, we find nothing in the legislative history of the patients’ bill of rights that contradicts our interpretation of “other facility,” or that suggests that the legislature intended for the rights provided therein to apply to correctional institutions. Indeed, our review of sources
In September, 1997, moreover, the commissioner of correction requested an opinion from the attorney gen
“Although an opinion of the attorney general is not binding on a court, it is entitled to careful consideration and is generally regarded as highly persuasive.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Velez v. Commissioner of Correction, 250 Conn. 536, 545, 738 A.2d 604 (1999); State Medical Society v. Board of Examiners in Podiatry, 208 Conn. 709, 720, 546 A.2d 830 (1988).
Furthermore, as noted by the attorney general, § 17a-548 (a) provides patients with the right to possess, inter alia, clothing, money and other personal possessions. See footnote 26 of this opinion. Within § 17a-548 (a), the legislature also provided that patients, “except for patients hospitalized in Whiting Forensic Division . . . [shall be permitted] to be present during any search of his personal possessions . . . .” (Emphasis added.) We agree with the attorney general’s conclusion that, by providing an exception for Whiting, and not providing a similar exception for correctional institu
The plaintiff and several amici curiae
Although unmentioned by the plaintiff in this section of her brief, we begin our analysis of prior cases addressing the patients’ bill of rights by reviewing Mahoney v. Lensink, supra, 213 Conn. 548. In Mahoney, this court was called upon to address, inter alia, the certified question of whether “the enactment of General Statutes § 17-206k [an earlier version of § 17a-550]
Turning to the cases actually cited by the plaintiff, the plaintiff first claims that acceptance of the defendants’ interpretation would force this court to “overrule its recent decision in Phoebe G. v. Solnit, [252 Conn. 68, 743 A.2d 606 (2000)] . . . .” We disagree with the plaintiffs characterization of the relevance of Phoebe G. to the present case. In Phoebe G., the plaintiff appealed, through her next friend, from the trial court’s dismissal of her complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Id., 70. In her complaint, the plaintiff sought both monetary and injunctive relief. Id. On appeal, the only two issues before this court were: “(1) whether the Superior Court has subject matter jurisdiction over a complaint brought pursuant to the patients’ bill of rights or whether the Probate Court has exclusive jurisdiction;
To begin with, the defendant’s appeal in Garcia was not based upon the patients’ bill of rights, but rather the federal and state constitutions. Indeed, prior to addressing the merits of the defendant’s appeal, we first determined that the defendant had standing to bring an interlocutory appeal because he was claiming a “liberty interest, protected by the due process clause of the
In attempting to establish a violation of his constitutional rights, the defendant claimed that the patients’ bill of rights and our case law “arguably [define] the personal interest to refuse antipsychotic medication more expansively than simply a significant liberty interest.” (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Id., 77. We disagreed, and concluded that the defendant’s claim arising under state law was not any broader than his claim arising as a matter of federal substantive due process. Id. Thus, although the patients’ bill of rights helped inform our analysis of the defendant’s constitutional claims, our opinion in Garcia does not represent, as characterized by the amicus, a judicial determination that it applies to psychiatrically disabled prisoners.
In addition, the defendant in Garcia was not a convicted felon, but rather was an individual in the custody of the commissioner of mental health after being found
The plaintiff also claims that the defendants’ interpretation of the patients’ bill of rights is improper because: (1) it would be confusing and pose extreme practical difficulties to require mental health practitioners to abide by the patients’ bill of rights generally, yet not when inside a correctional institution; and (2) it is wrong as a matter of public policy. Both of these arguments essentially ask this court to ignore the language and structure of the patients’ bill of rights, its relation to other statutes, and the relevant legislative history, and conclude that this state would be better served with a patients’ bill of rights that applies to correctional institutions providing mental health services. “For the reasons that we already have articulated, however, we are not persuaded that [the patients’ bill of rights] is susceptible to the interpretation urged by the plaintiff. The determination of whether reasons of public policy exist to expand the reach of [the patients’ bill of rights] to encompass [correctional institutions] is for the legislature, not this court, to make.” Ames v. Commissioner of Motor Vehicles, 267 Conn. 524, 538, 839 A.2d 1250 (2004); see also Hayes v. Smith, 194 Conn. 52, 65, 480
The judgment is reversed and the case is remanded to the trial court with direction to grant the defendants’ motion to dismiss the ninth, tenth and eleventh counts of the plaintiffs complaint, and for further proceedings according to law.
In this opinion the other justices concurred.
The defendants named in the complaint were: John J. Armstrong, the commissioner of correction; Jack Tokarz, the deputy commissioner of correction; the state of Connecticut; the department of correction; the University of Connecticut health center (health center); Gamer; Michael A. Pace, Kevin Cowser, James E. Reilly, Donald J. Hebert, Robert G. Stack, Jose Zayas, Kevin J. Dandolini, Angelo P. Gizzi, Edwin Myers, William Smith, Vaughn Willis, Brian C. Bradway and Frank Mirto, who were officers, supervisors and other officials at Garner; Iris Prescott, Roberta C. Leddy, Clo Barsotti, Ginger Bochicchio, Gail N. Fredette and Mingzer Tung, who were medical workers assigned to Gamer; William Joughin, Reginald Hoffler and Oscar Maldonado, who were employees of the department of correction assigned to monitor the decedent’s mental illness; Andre Chouinard and William Scott, who were lieutenants in the department of correction; Steven Sanelli, Jimmy Guerrero, Jeffery Howes, Maurellis Powell, Dennis Camp, Raymond Brodeur and Moisés Padilla, who were correction officers with the department of correction; and Ann Marie Storey, who was a nurse for the health center. On February 27, 2003, the fourth count of the plaintiffs complaint, which alleged deliberate indifference to the decedent’s safety under 42 U. S. C. § 1983, against Chouinard, Scott, Sanelli, Guerrero, Howes, Powell, Camp, Brodeur, Padilla and Storey, was dismissed by the trial court. The propriety of that dismissal is not before us in the present appeal.
On August 29, 2002, the state claims commissioner had granted the plaintiff, as administrator of the estate of the decedent, permission to bring an action against the state for medical malpractice.
Count nine of the plaintiff’s complaint alleged that the defendants failed to provide humane and dignified treatment to the decedent in violation of General Statutes § 17a-542, which provides in relevant part: “Every patient treated in any facility for treatment of persons with psychiatric disabilities shall receive humane and dignified treatment at all times, with full respect for his personal dignity and right to privacy. . . .”
Count ten of the plaintiff’s complaint alleged that the defendants failed to provide a specialized treatment plan for the decedent in violation of General Statutes § 17a-542, which provides in relevant part: “Each patient shall be treated in accordance with a specialized treatment plan suited to his disorder. Such treatment plan shall include a discharge plan which shall include, but not be limited to, (1) reasonable notice to the patient of his impending discharge, (2) active participation by the patient in planning for his discharge and (3) planning for appropriate aftercare to the patient upon his discharge.”
Count eleven of the plaintiffs complaint alleged that the defendants failed to conduct psychiatric examinations of the decedent in violation of General Statutes § 17a-545, which provides: “Every patient hospitalized under any of sections 17a-540 to 17a-550, inclusive, shall receive a physical examination within five days of his hospitalization, and at least once each year thereafter. Every patient shall be examined by a psychiatrist within forty-eight hours of his hospitalization, and at least once each six months thereafter. Reports of all physical and psychiatric examinations shall be completed and signed by the examining physicians and made a part of the patient’s permanent clinical record.”
General Statutes § 17a-540 (a) defines “ ‘[facility’ ” as “any inpatient or outpatient hospital, clinic, or other facility for the diagnosis, observation or treatment of persons with psychiatric disabilities . . . .” (Emphasis added.)
The trial court did grant the defendants’ motion to dismiss the fourth count of the plaintiffs complaint. See footnote 1 of this opinion. The propriety of that ruling is not before this court in the present appeal.
In Courchesne, this court rejected the plain meaning rule, and restated the process of statutory interpretation as “involvpng] a reasoned search for the intention of the legislature. ... In other words, we seek to determine, in a reasoned manner, the meaning of the statutory language as applied to the facts of [the] case .... In seeking to determine that meaning, we look to the words of the statute itself, to the legislative history and circumstances surrounding its enactment, to the legislative policy it was designed to implement, and to its relationship to existing legislation and common law principles governing the same general subject matter.” (Citation omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) State v. Courchesne, supra, 262 Conn. 577.
General Statutes § 52-265a provides in relevant part: “(a) Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 52-264 and 52-265, any party to an action who is aggrieved by an order or decision of the Superior Court in an action which involves a matter of substantial public interest and in which delay
“(b) The Chief Justice shall, within one week of receipt of the appeal, rule whether the issue involves a substantial public interest and whether delay may work a substantial injustice. . . .” See also Practice Book § 83-1 (addressing appeals brought pursuant to § 52-265a).
Public Acts 2003, No. 03-154, § 1, provides: “The meaning of a statute shall, in the first instance, be ascertained from the text of the statute itself and its relationship to other statutes. If, after examining such text and considering such relationship, the meaning of such text is plain and unambiguous and does not yield absurd or unworkable results, extratextual evidence of the meaning of the statute shall not be considered.” We note that, in the present case, the relevant statutory text and the relationship of that text to other statutes is not plain and unambiguous. Accordingly, our analysis does not involve this new legislation.
Neither party in the present case contends that a correctional institute could properly be classified as either a “hospital” or “clinic” under § 17a-540 (a). Accordingly, our analysis will focus solely on whether a correctional institute is an “other facility” under § 17a-540 (a).
The word “for” is “used as a function word to indicate purpose . . . [or] to indicate an intended goal . . . .” Memara-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (10th Ed. 1993).
We also note that General Statutes § 17a-542 provides that “[e]very patient treated in any facility for treatment of persons with psychiatric disabilities shall receive humane and dignified treatment at all times, with full respect for his personal dignity and right to privacy. ...” (Emphasis added.) Thus, within the patients’ bill of rights in § 17a-540 (a), not only is the scope of the secondary term “other facility” restricted by the words that follow it; “for the diagnosis, observation or treatment of persons with psychiatric disabilities”; but the main statutory word “facility” is similarly restricted by the terms that follow it: “for treatment of persons with psychiatric disabilities . . . .” (Emphasis added.) See Phoebe G. v. Solnit, 252 Conn. 68, 70 n.2, 743 A.2d 606 (2000) (“[i]f the trial court on remand determines that the plaintiffs present residential placement qualifies as a 'private facility for the treatment of persons with psychiatric disabilities, she can continue to make claims under the patients’ bill of rights” [emphasis added]). This restriction on the term “facility” further counsels against the interpretation urged by the plaintiff in the present case.
Because we reject the trial court’s finding that the term “other facility,” on its face, clearly encompasses correctional institutions, we need not address the plaintiffs claim that there is insufficient evidence in the legislative history of the patients’ bill of rights to overcome this plain meaning.
We note further that in General Statutes § 17a-512, the legislature provided: “As used in sections 17a-499, 17a-509, 17a-512 to 17a-517, inclusive, 17a-520 and 17a-521, the term ‘hospital’ shall mean a hospital for psychiatric disabilities or a mental hospital or institution which is administered by the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.” Thus, within the previously identified sections, the legislature defined “hospital” more narrowly than the common and ordinary meaning. Put another way, in § 17a-512, the legislature limited the term “ ‘hospital’ ” to those hospitals specifically dealing with psychiatric disabilities. Although the definition set forth in § 17a-512 does not apply to the patients’ bill of rights, we nevertheless find that it strongly counsels against interpreting the term “other facility” in a manner that would include correctional institutions.
As we noted in Washington v. Meachum, 238 Conn. 692, 733-34, 680 A.2d 262 (1996), “ ‘[pjrison administrators are responsible for maintaining internal order and discipline, for securing their institutions against unauthorized access or escape, and lor rehabilitating, to the extent that human nature and inadequate resources allow, the inmates placed in their custody. The Herculean obstacles to effective discharge of these duties are too apparent to warrant explication. Suffice it to say that the problems of prisons in America are complex and intractable, and, more to the point, they are not readily susceptible of resolution by decree. Most require expertise, comprehensive planning, and the commitment of resources, all of which are peculiarly within the province of the legislative and executive branches of government. For all of those reasons, courts are ill equipped to deal with the increasingly urgent problems of prison administration and reform. Judicial recognition of that fact reflects no more than a healthy sense of realism.’ Procunier v. Martinez, [416 U.S. 396, 404-405, 94 S. Ct. 1800, 40 L. Ed. 2d 224 (1974)].”
A “person in the custody of the [cjommissioner of [correction or confined in any institution or facility of the [department of [c]orrection” is defined as both an “ ‘inmate’ ” and a “ ‘prisoner.’ ” General Statutes § 18-84.
A finding of incapability is to be made pursuant to General Statutes §§ 45a-644 to 45a-662. Under those statutes, before the aforementioned rights may be denied to an individual involuntarily, the court must set a hearing and give the subject individual notice of, inter alia, the time and place of the hearing, the facts alleged in the application for involuntary representation, and the legal consequences of the representation sought by the petitioner. General Statutes § 45a-659. Additionally, the court shall receive either written or testimonial evidence from a physician who has examined the subject individual, as well as other evidence that may be available and relevant. General Statutes § 45a-650 (a). These extensive notice and hearing requirements are simply incompatible with the inherent nature of a correctional institution, where an inmate may need to be deprived of a property or personal right upon sudden notice or in accordance with a general prison regulation.
For example, “[i]nmate communications by mail and by telephone may be inspected, reviewed, read, listened to, recorded, restricted, or prohibited in accordance with [other department of correction regulations] . . . .” Regs., Conn. State Agencies § 18-81-29.
We recognize that our conclusion in the present case could create a disparity between inmates with psychiatric disabilities who are housed in a correctional institution, and not subject to the patients’ bill of rights, and inmates with psychiatric disabilities who are transferred to a facility that is subject to the patients’ bill of rights. See General Statutes §§ 17a-513 through 17a-520 (addressing transfer of inmates to hospitals for psychiatric disabilities). To what extent the patients’ bill of rights applies to inmates in the custody of the department of correction, yet who are housed in a facility that is subject to the patients’ bill of rights, however, is not before us in the present appeal.
In Baugh, the issue before the court was whether the term “treatment facility,” as used in the North Carolina patients’ bill of rights, included correctional institutions. Baugh v. Woodward, supra, 56 N.C. App. 183. “ ‘[T]reatment facility’ ” was defined as “any hospital or institution operated by the State of North Carolina and designated for the admission of any person in need of care and treatment due to mental illness.” Id.; see also Volden v. Koenig, 249 Wis. 2d 284, 291, 638 N.W.2d 906 (2001) (concluding that prisoner was not in “ ‘treatment facility’ ” when in custody of sheriff for transport to, from and during involuntary commitment hearing).
The plaintiff presents one additional case in support of her claim that the patients’ bill of rights should apply to correctional institutions. More specifically, the plaintiff cites Hines v. Anderson, 439 F. Sup. 12, 16 (D.
General Statutes § 17a-513 provides: “The provisions of subsection (a) of section 17a-506 shall apply to any person who is in the custody of the Commissioner of Correction provided that no such person shall be received in a hospital for observation and treatment unless a physician designated by the Commissioner of Correction notifies in writing both the Commissioner of Correction and the Commissioner of Mental Health and Addiction Services that such person is in need of observation and treatment in a hospital for psychiatric disabilities. No such person shall be confined in any such hospital for more than ten days after he has given written notice of his desire to leave, without commitment, pursuant to the provisions of section 17a-498, by the court of probate for the district wherein such person is hospitalized. In the absence of such commitment, such person, if in the custody of the Commissioner of Correction, shall be returned to any institution administered by the Department of Correction as the Commissioner of Correction shall designate, unless his custody in the Commissioner of Correction has terminated, in which case he shall be discharged.”
See also General Statutes § 18-96 (providing that “[a]ny mentally ill male prisoner, transferred from [a state correctional facility] to a state mental hospital, who has completed his maximum sentence and is ready for discharge from such hospital shall be referred to the Connecticut [pjrison [association” for assistance with reinstatement to society). This statute, which was enacted in 1949, demonstrates that even before the passage of the patients’ bill of rights, the legislature expected that prisoners with psychiatric disorders would be transferred to a hospital for psychiatric disabilities, rather than remain in a correctional institution.
For example, Samuel S. Goldstein, an attorney, speaking as a past president of the Connecticut Association for Mental Health, testified: “Dignity and privacy are two fundamental rights that are often overlooked in public institutions and mental hospitals are no exception. It is axiomatic that administrative convenience and hospital routine mean that patients are treated often rudely by hospital staff members—that little provision is made for privacy in bath or toilet facilities. Patients are not afforded the chance to be alone, or given a place to store personal possessions. These routines contribute to the dehumanizing aspects of hospitalization." (Emphasis added.) Conn. Joint Standing Committee Hearings, Judiciary, Pt. 2, 1971 Sess., p. 641.
In Mahoney v. Lensink, supra, 213 Conn. 559 n.15, we noted that the patients’ bill of rights originally passed both houses in 1971 by unanimous consent without recorded discussion, and, therefore, it was appropriate to examine committee testimony for “compelling evidence about the problem, issue or purpose underlying a statute.” Reviewing that testimony once again, we find no indication that the department of correction was involved in the development and enactment of the original patients’ bill of rights.
In 1993, the legislature substantially amended the patients’ bill of rights. See Public Acts 1993, No. 93-369 (P.A. 93-369) (concerning informed consent of patient for treatment of mental illness). While the floor debates concerning P.A. 93-369 are unrevealing, during debate before the judiciary committee, Kenneth Marcus, the deputy commissioner of menial health, testified that the proposed amendment “has been developed in collaboration with the [ojffice of [protection and [ajdvocacy, the Connecticut [pjsychiatric [sjoci-ety, the [ljegal [ajssistance [rjesearch [c]enter of Connecticut, and the Connecticut [ljegal [rjights [pjroject.” Conn. Joint Standing Committee Hearings, Judiciary, Pt. 9, 1993 Sess., pp. 3018. Harold Schwartz, the chairman of the legislativo committee of the Connecticut psychiatric society, also testified that “a number of parties . . . includpng] the [pjsychiatric [sjociety, the [djepartment of [mjental [hjealth, the [pjrotection and [ajdvocacy [ajgency and Connecticut [ljegal [rjights . . . came to an agreement that we thought balanced patients’ rights versus needs for treatment . . . Conn. Joint Standing Committee Hearings, Judiciary, Pt. 8, 1993 Sess., pp. 2755-56. Accordingly, not only is there no indication that the department of correction was involved in the original development and enactment of the patients’
General Statutes § 17a-548 (a) provides: “Any patient shall be permitted to wear his or her own clothes; to keep and use personal possessions including toilet articles; except for patients hospitalized in Whiting Forensic Division; to be present during any search of his personal possessions; to have access to individual storage space for such possessions; and in such manner as determined by the facility to spend a reasonable sum of his or her own money for canteen expenses and small purchases. These rights shall be denied only if the superintendent, director, or his authorized representative determines that it is medically harmful to the patient to exercise such rights. An explanation of such denial shall be placed in the patient’s permanent clinical record.” (Emphasis added.)
General Statutes § 17a-561 provides: “The Whiting Forensic Division of the Connecticut Valley Hospital shall exist for the care and treatment of (1) patients with psychiatric disabilities, confined in facilities under the control of the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, who require care and treatment under maximum security conditions, (2) persons convicted of any offense enumerated in section 17a-566 who, after examination by the staff of the diagnostic unit of the division as herein provided, are determined to have psychiatric disabilities and be dangerous to themselves or others and to require custody, care and treatment at the division and (3) inmates in the custody of the Commissioner of Correction who are transferred in accordance with sections 17a-512 to 17a-517, inclusive,
The plaintiff claims that in the present case, attorney general opinion No. 97-016 is not entitled to “careful consideration” because the commissioner of correction adopted a portion of the patients’ bill of rights into administrative directive 8.5, thereby rejecting that opinion. A review of administrative directive 8.5 reveals that the only mention of the patients’ bill of rights, however, is a citation to § 17a-544 in the introductory section, which was entitled “[ajuthority and [rjeference.” The citation, included in alist of thirty-seven other citations, is not followed by any substantive reference to the patients’ bill of rights in the main body of the directive. Therefore, we disagree with the plaintiffs claim that administrative directive 8.5 constitutes either an adoption of the patients’ bill of rights by the commissioner of correction, or a rejection of attorney general opinion No. 97-016.
Furthermore, as the defendants’ forthrightly disclosed to this court, department of correction administrative directive 6.5, § 9, regarding the use of therapeutic restraints on inmates, does mirror the language of § 17a-544, even though that statute is not cited as an “[ajuthority or [rjeference” for that directive. Even if the commissioner of correction did borrow language or concepts from the patients’ bill of rights when drafting administrative directive 6.5, however, this would not constitute a wholesale adoption of the patients’ bill of rights by the department, or an admission that it applies to correctional institutions.
See Public Acts, Spec. Sess., June, 1998, No. 98-1, §§ 15, 121 (making technical changes to § 17a-541); Public Acts 1998, No. 98-18 (amending § 17a-548 [c] to include rights to leave, to hearing and to file complaint); and Public Acts 2002, No. 02-105, § 4 (amending § 17a-543 [b] by allowing for informed consent by person designated by patient).
As Senator Kenneth L. Przybysz stated during the legislative debate of Public Acts 1993, No. 93-119, which added the right for a patient to be present during a search of his or her possessions to § 17a-548, “what this bill now does is state that any person except those people that are hospitalized in Whiting . . . any person who is in a [department of [m]ental [h]ealth facility must be present during any search of his personal possessions.” 36 S. Proc., Pt. 6, 1993 Sess., p. 2116.
See Dyous v. Psychiatric Security Review Board, 264 Conn. 766, 771, 826 A.2d 138 (2003) (recognizing Whiting as “a maximum security mental health facility”); Connelly v. Commissioner of Correction, 268 Conn. 374, 406, 780 A.2d 890 (2001) (same).
General Statutes § 17a-562 provides in relevant part: “Whiting . . . shall be within the general administrative control and supervision of the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. . . .”
We emphasize, however, that despite the similarities between Whiting, which is operated by the department of mental health and addiction services, and correctional institutions operated by the department of correction, nothing in this opinion is intended to indicate—or reasonably could be read as indicating—any view regarding the application of the patients’ bill of rights to individuals housed in that facility.
The following parties have submitted amicus curiae briefs in support of the plaintiffs position: the commission on human rights and opportunities; the office of protection and advocacy for persons with disabilities; the
General Statutes § 17a-550, formerly § 17-206k, provides: “Any person aggrieved by a violation of sections 17a-540 to 17a-549, inclusive, may petition the superior court within whose jurisdiction the person is or resides for appropriate relief, including temporary and permanent injunctions, or may bring a civil action for damages.”
The plaintiff cites three Superior Court cases in support of her claim, yet none of those cases offers any persuasive value to her contention that the patients’ bill of rights applies to correctional institutions. See, e.g., Zachmanoglou v. Solnit, Superior Court, judicial district of Danbury, Docket No. 305497 (June 30,1995) (cited for legal proposition that patients’ bill of rights “provides for a civil negligence action . . . where a plaintiff is treated in an inpatient or outpatient hospital or clinic”).
Further, the plaintiff cites to Halloran v. Armstrong, United States District Court, Docket No. 3:01 CV 582 (D. Conn. March 29, 2002), in which the court denied the defendants’ motion to dismiss and held that the commissioner and other department of correction officials may be sued in their individual capacities for violation of the patients’ bill of rights. That opinion is of limited value to this court in the present appeal, however, because the underlying issue of whether a correction facility is even subject to the patients’ bill of rights was not before the court in that motion to dismiss.
In Garcia, this court established a new analytical framework for determining whether compelled medication was appropriate for an incompetent defendant. Included in this framework is the requirement that the state must demonstrate that “the proposed treatment plan is narrowly tailored to minimize intrusion on the defendant’s liberty and privacy interest . . . .” State v. Garcia, supra, 233 Conn. 85. In a footnote attached to that requirement, we noted “[t]his requirement meets the mandate of the patients’ bill of rights that ‘[e]very patient treated in any facility for treatment of persons with a mental illness shall receive humane and dignified treatment at all times, with full respect for this personal dignity and right to privacy. . . .’ General Statutes § 17a-542.” (Emphasis added.) State v. Garcia, supra, 85 n.30. Placing great emphasis on this footnote, the amicus curiae claims that Garcia represents a judicial determination that the patients’ bill of rights applies to correctional institutions. To the contrary, the language of this footnote merely begs the question at issue in the present appeal, namely, whether a correctional institution is a “facility” subject to the provisions of § 17a-542 and the rest of the patients’ bill of rights.
See footnote 32 of this opinion for the text of § 17a-562.