ABSTRACT
In Sell v. United States, 539 US 166, a six–three decision authored by Justice Stephen G. Breyer, the US Supreme Court held that an individual's Fifth Amendment liberty interest precluded the government from involuntarily administering antipsychotic drugs simply for the purpose of rendering the defendant capable of standing trial for nonviolent offenses. The defendant, Dr. Charles Sell, a dentist, had suffered with mental illness for almost twenty years. He was charged with a variety of offenses, from making fictitious insurance claims to attempting to murder an agent of Federal Bureau of Investigation, and a psychiatrist where Sell was institutionalized had authorized the administration of drugs to enable him to stand trial. The medical center, a US federal magistrate, a US District Court, and a US Court of Appeals had all approved this decision. Justice Breyer accepted jurisdiction in the case prior to trial on ground that the harm Sell sought to prevent could otherwise be addressed only after it occurred.
