Commitment

Benjamin M. Turnage, John Rubin, and Dorothy T. Whiteside

Designed to assist attorneys representing respondents or minors in civil commitment proceedings, the North Carolina Civil Commitment Manual (second edition) reviews North Carolina mental health and substance abuse laws pertaining to inpatient and outpatient commitments and admissions. It analyzes in depth the relevant statutes in Chapter 122C of the North Carolina General Statutes and applicable case law. It also discusses the collateral consequences resulting from commitment and the special provisions on commitment of respondents involved with the criminal justice system. The manual's focus is on commitments and admissions requiring judicial review and thus on proceedings requiring the appointment of counsel. It replaces the first edition, dated 2006. It is available for purchase as a soft-bound book here.

Second Edition, 2011

About the Authors


Benjamin M. Turnage

Benjamin (Ben) M. Turnage is Special Counsel at Cherry Hospital in Goldsboro, North Carolina. Ben has practiced law in Wayne, Greene, and Lenoir Counties for sixteen years, working primarily in the area of indigent defense. He has represented indigent defendants in district and superior courts in addition to representing parents in abuse, neglect, and dependency cases, juveniles alleged to be delinquent, and respondents in guardianship proceedings. His duties include serving as a resource for appointed counsel for respondents in civil commitment cases.

John Rubin

John Rubin joined the School of Government faculty in 1991. He specializes in criminal law and procedure and indigent defense education. Before joining the School, he practiced law for nine years in Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles, California. He has written extensively on criminal law and procedure and teaches and consults with indigent defenders, judges, magistrates, prosecutors, and others who work in the court system. He earned a B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley and a J.D. from UNC-Chapel Hill. In 2008, he received the Albert and Gladys Coates Term Award for Faculty Excellence. In 2012, he was named Albert Coates Professor of Public Law and Government.

Dorothy T. Whiteside

Dorothy (Dolly) T. Whiteside is Special Counsel Supervising Attorney for the Office of Special Counsel of the North Carolina Office of Indigent Defense Services. She has practiced in the civil commitment field since 1979 and is responsible for overseeing the provision of legal representation for respondents by Special Counsel attorneys and appointed counsel in civil commitment proceedings.