Parham v. J. R. - The Due Process Argument

The original claim filed by J. R. and J. L. with Georgia's federal district court asserted that confinement to Central State Hospital violated their Fourteenth Amendment rights to due process, which states in part that no state may "deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law." A panel of three judges agreed, and ordered Georgia's Department of Family and Children Services to come up with a "non-hospital" facility for such minors. A recent National Institute for Mental Health study cited in the case found that most of the elderly patients had been committed as children, supporting the feeling that such "untreatable" minors were "dumped" there because the state, or their family, had no other options--and sadly, might remain there the rest of their natural lives.

Georgia authorities, represented by its commissioner for its Department of Human Resources, appealed, and the case was first argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in December of 1977. It was re-argued in October of 1978, and decided on 20 June 1979. The first minor named in the case, J. L., died before it was heard.