Civil Commitment of the Mentally Ill in Nebraska

Nebraska\u27s procedures for the civil commitment of the mentally ill are lacking in protections for the rights of those individuals who become involved in the process and thus are constitutionally suspect. The statutes are loosely drafted and unclear as to procedural steps within the commitment proceedings. It is true that such procedures are subject to unique problems that are not readily adaptable to normal judicial processes. It is submitted, however, that individual liberties need not be subordinate to a workable commitment process. While medical and legal views of the process are to a certain extent conflicting, they are by no means mutually exclusive. An attempt should be made to reconcile the views in a more suitable code for the state