Manual for the use of the Board of Health, Lunacy and Charity of Massachusetts : containing the general and special statutes under which its authority is exercised.
- Massachusetts
- Date:
- 1880
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Manual for the use of the Board of Health, Lunacy and Charity of Massachusetts : containing the general and special statutes under which its authority is exercised. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.
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![Issues may be framed and sub- mitted to jury. If not in- sane, to be discharged. 1879, 132. Agent of board of state chari- ties to in- vestigate cases, upon complaints of persons confined in hospital, &c. District attorneys to aid. Removal of inmates when hos- pitals are too full. G. S. 71, § 7. 1863, c. 240. Insane mur- derers to be committed insane person may be brought before the judge, at the hearing, upon a writ of habeas corpus, if an}' party so re- quests and the judge deems it proper, and an issue or issues may be framed and submitted to a jury by direction of the judge or on the request of an}* person who appears in the case. The jurors may be those in attendance on said court, if in session at the time of the hearing, or may be summoned for the special purpose on venires issued by the clerk of said court upon the order of the judge sub- stantially in accordance with the provisions of chapter one hundred and thirty-two of the General Statutes. Sect. 5. If it appears upon the verdict of the jury, or in the opinion of the judge, if not submitted to a jury, that the person so confined is not insane, or that he is not dangerous to himself or others and ought not longer to be so confined, he shall be discharged from such confine- ment. Sect. 6. Upon complaint of any person confined in any lunatic hospital or other place for the treatment or custody of insane persons, public or private, or of any other person in his behalf, to the general agent of the board of state charities that such person ought not longer to be so confined, the agent shall have power to investi- gate the case, make report thereof to said board, and if the}* so direct, shall make application for the discharge of the person so confined to a judge of the supreme judicial court, as provided i»; section three of this act; and the proceedings upon suck', amplication shall be as ordered in sections four and five of jthis act. And an}* district attor- ney, upon request of thV agent, shall aid him and conduct the proceedings in hisyoehalf. [The followingstatute is still in force, though it is not often acted upon :] [Statutes 1862, chap. 223.] Sect. 13. If at any time all the state lunatic hospitals shall be so full that the inmates cannot all be suitably accommodated therein, and in the opinion of the trustees of either hospital it is proper that some should be removed, the trustees may remove to their respective homes, or to the places of their legal settlement, or of their residence, so many as may be necessary to afford suitable accommo- dations for the remainder; but only such patients shall be selected for removal as, in the opinion of the trustees and superintendent, are not susceptible of improvement, and can be suitably managed at their homes or in the places to which they may be sent. [In certain cases the governor and council may dis- charge as follows :] [Statutes 1873, chap. 227.] Section 1. When a person indicted for murder or manslaughter is acquitted by the jury by reason of insan-](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21069669_0056.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
