Rights During an Involuntary Psychiatric Hospital Admission

Attorney Answer

You do not have to wait out the three days. Under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 123, § 12(b), a person held on an emergency psychiatric admission can demand an emergency hearing in the district court, and the court must hold that hearing on the day the request is filed or not later than the next business day.

Two things have to be triggered by you or your lawyer — neither happens on its own. First, § 12(b) requires that on admission "the facility shall inform the person that it shall, upon such person's request, notify the committee for public counsel services of the name and location of the person admitted," and that the committee "shall immediately appoint an attorney who shall meet with the person." Ask for that notification now. Second, § 12(b) gives any person admitted under that subsection "who has reason to believe that such admission is the result of an abuse or misuse of this subsection" the right to "request or request through counsel an emergency hearing in the district court in whose jurisdiction the facility is located," and provides that "unless a delay is requested by the person or through counsel, the district court shall hold such hearing on the day the request is filed with the court or not later than the next business day." That hearing is the only step that can shorten this hold, and it does not depend on the hospital filing anything first.

Your point that you have no medical condition is the argument you make at that hearing. Section 12 permits a hold only where a physician, advanced practice registered nurse, qualified psychologist or licensed independent clinical social worker — or, in an emergency when none of them is available, a police officer — has reason to believe that failure to hospitalize you would create a likelihood of serious harm by reason of mental illness. That is a clinical risk judgment rather than a diagnosis, so having no known condition does not by itself make the hold unlawful. It is, however, exactly what a § 12(b) emergency hearing exists to test, and you are entitled to test it today rather than three days from now.

Two more provisions matter while you are inside. Section 12(c) required the facility to give you an opportunity to apply for voluntary admission under § 10(a) and to tell you that the period of hospitalization "cannot exceed 3 days" — if that never happened, say so at the hearing. Section 12(d) then provides that "a person shall be discharged at the end of the 3-day period unless the superintendent applies for a commitment under sections 7 and 8 or the person remains on a voluntary status." The last sentence of § 12 computes that period under Rule 6 of the Massachusetts Rules of Civil Procedure, which excludes intermediate Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays from any period shorter than seven days — so a Friday admission can run into the middle of the following week.

What you can do:

1. Tell staff now, out loud and in writing, that you request notification of the Committee for Public Counsel Services under G.L. c. 123, § 12(b), and write down the date and time you asked.

2. Tell the appointed attorney you want a § 12(b) emergency hearing in the district court for the area where this facility is located. If no attorney has reached you yet, § 12(b) lets you request that hearing yourself.

3. Ask in writing for the § 12 application and the admitting clinician's stated reasons — the finding that failure to hospitalize you would create a likelihood of serious harm by reason of mental illness is what the hearing examines.

4. Ask whether you were offered voluntary admission under § 10(a), as § 12(c) requires, and note the answer.

5. Keep a dated log of every request and every response; it is your evidence at the hearing.

⏱ Time limits apply. The § 12(b) emergency hearing must be held on the day your request is filed with the district court or not later than the next business day — but only if the request is actually made. Separately, § 12(d) requires your discharge at the end of the 3-day hold unless the superintendent applies for commitment under §§ 7 and 8 or you remain voluntarily. Get a Massachusetts attorney involved today, not at the end of the three days.