Elder Law Section Submits Request to File Amicus Brief in Alzheimer’s Case

Pursuant to Article VII, Section 2(a) of the State Bar of Wisconsin Bylaws, the Elder Law Section of the State Bar of Wisconsin has submitted a request to the Board of Governors for authorization to file an amicus curiae brief in the pending Wisconsin Supreme Court case of Fond du Lac County v. Helen E.F., 2011 WI App 72, on Appeal from the District II Wisconsin Court of Appeals.

This case involves the appropriateness of the use of Wis. Stat. ch. 51 mental commitment proceedings for a person with Alzheimer’s dementia. Helen E.F. is an elderly woman with Alzheimer’s dementia. Her condition has regressed to the point that “she is very limited in any verbal communication.”

Helen was taken to St. Agnes Hospital on April 12, 2010, because she was exhibiting aggressive behavior in the nursing home where she had been residing for the last six years. Various procedural issues ensued. Ultimately, Helen was detained as the result of the second of two ch. 51 proceedings. She appealed the decision.

Issues related to the court’s competency to proceed were raised but not ultimately addressed by the court of appeals, which decided the question as to whether an individual whose affliction is Alzheimer’s qualifies as an individual with a treatable mental illness for purposes of ch. 51.

Appeals court
The District II Wisconsin Court of Appeals reversed the finding that Helen was not a proper subject for detainment or treatment under ch. 51 because Alzheimer’s disease is not a qualifying mental condition under that chapter.

At the court of appeals level, amici briefs were filed by Disability Rights Wisconsin and the Coalition of Wisconsin Aging Groups in support of Helen E.F.’s position, and the Wisconsin Counties Assoc. in support of Fond du Lac County.

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Elder Law Section Submits Request to File Amicus Brief in Alzheimer’s Case