In this month’s column, we report on a recent decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in which the Court considered a matter of first impression in this Circuit: the circumstances under which a non-dangerous criminal defendant may be involuntarily medicated for the purpose of rendering him competent to stand trial.
In United States v. Gomes,[1]� the Second Circuit, in an opinion written by Chief Judge John M. Walker Jr. and joined by Judges Jose A. Cabranes and Chester J. Straub, applied a heightened-scrutiny standard to determine when the government’s interest in prosecuting a criminal defendant might outweigh that defendant’s right to be free from forced medication, thus allowing the involuntary medication of that defendant. The Court’s application of a heightened-scrutiny standard aligns the Second Circuit with the Eighth Circuit and the District of Columbia Circuit[2]� and creates a conflict with the Sixth Circuit.[3]�
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