Tourette's syndrome and the law

The Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences
Joseph JankovicRichard Frankoff

Abstract

Diminished legal responsibility and mental capacity have been used in defense of individuals with neurological disorders charged with legal misdemeanors, including criminal behavior. The purpose of this report is to 1) critically examine the mechanisms that may predispose patients with Tourette's syndrome (TS) to potentially, legally liable behaviors; 2) report the results of a nation-wide review of state, federal, and appellate cases involving TS; and 3) instigate awareness within the professional legal community regarding unrecognized organically-based behaviors that may predispose TS patients to unwanted legal disciplinary action. TS is a common neurological movement disorder of childhood onset associated with behavioral comorbidities, including impulse control problems, exhibition of obscene language or gestures, rage attacks, inappropriate obsessions, and other behaviors. To our knowledge, there are no studies (to date) addressing the potential impact of TS on the legal system. A comprehensive review of the neurobehavioral mechanisms underlying comorbid issues in TS is outlined. A comprehensive review of all cases tried in state and federal courts between 1985 and 2003, in which TS was somehow implicated, was conducted usi...Continue Reading

Citations

Aug 23, 2008·Medical Anthropology Quarterly·Andrew Buckser
Jul 23, 2008·Postgraduate Medical Journal·A Ashoori, J Jankovic
Jun 15, 2007·Movement Disorders : Official Journal of the Movement Disorder Society·Min-Yuen Cynthia CheungJoseph Jankovic
Apr 13, 2011·Movement Disorders : Official Journal of the Movement Disorder Society·Joseph Jankovic, Roger Kurlan
Aug 1, 2019·Revista brasileira de psiquiatria : orgão oficial da Associação Brasileira de Psiquiatria, Asociación Psiquiátrica de la América Latina·Fernanda T Nunes, Lisieux E B Telles
Jul 30, 2019·Continuum : Lifelong Learning in Neurology·Harvey S Singer
Nov 21, 2018·International Journal of Law and Psychiatry·Mauro PortaGuido Carlo Alleva
Jul 3, 2021·Journal of Clinical Medicine·Keisuke Ueda, Kevin J Black

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