UNDER THE MICROSCOPE

NEW SPECIMENS OLD SPECIMENS THE SCIENTIST MY LOG CONTACT ME
2002-04-29 - 9:38 p.m.

WAITING

When I was in school, I was the girl looking to go out the night before a final. Most other students did not understand this behavior. A few of them were just beginning to study. More of them were cramming. Cramming never worked for me, though. I needed a more long-term approach. Studying the night before never worked either. It just made me anxious as I figured out all the things I didn�t know.

I don�t take exams any more but some things don�t change. I have an oral argument before the Wisconsin Supreme Court on Wednesday. I�ve put a lot of hours into preparing over the past few days. What am I doing tomorrow? It�s not more preparation. Instead, I�m going on an all-day prison trip to Supermax. I had scheduled the trip before I knew of the oral argument but I didn�t change it after I knew. Why? Because preparation the day before oral argument is bad for me. It just makes me anxious as I figure out all the things I don�t know.

What I do know for sure is that I will feel much more relaxed at 10:15 on Wednesday. I�ve done a fair amount of oral arguments before and I don�t usually suffer from performance anxiety. Many attorneys have trouble with a hot bench that throws questions at them a lot, pulling them off their prepared presentation. I long ago learned that I do better at answering the questions then at the prepared presentation. The Wisconsin Supreme Court usually is a hot bench.

This oral argument is not about criminal law. Instead, it�s about mental health law. I�ve done some mental health law over the years but not a lot. There are few appeals in mental health law. While I have the same depth of understanding of my issues as I would in a criminal case, I am aware that I lack the same breadth of understanding. I�m also aware that there are multiple amiciae curiae (friend of the court) briefs from various organizations on each side. This case is considered important.

At issue is what level of danger the state must show that a mentally ill person poses to himself or others before committing and forcibly medicating him. Is it enough to say that he might deteriorate without medication and that, if he does, he might eventually become a danger? At least one amicus brief argues that it should be enough that he might deteriorate without medication. While I don�t dispute that many people here have good motives, it would make me very nervous to have a standard that low. Personally, I get a bit nervous when I hear, �I�m from the government and I only want to help you.�

On some level, I�m sure I�ll do fine on Wednesday. Still, it would be nice to have it be Wednesday at 10:15 and know I�ve done as well as I could.

If there is a hell, I suspect no flames are necessary. Making people wait forever probably would do the trick.

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