Doe ex. rel. Tarlow v. District of Columbia

rdf:langString Doe ex. rel. Tarlow v. District of Columbia

rdf:langString Remanded to District Court

rdf:langString The District Court granted injunctive relief from D.C.'s 2003 statute.

rdf:langString File:District_of_Columbia_Court_of_Appeals_Seal.svg

rdf:langString Jane Doe, I, by her next friend Linda J. Tarlow, et al., Appellees v. District of Columbia and Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Administration, Appellants.

rdf:langString Upheld the constitutionality of D.C.'s 2003 statute

rdf:langString Circuit Judge Thomas B. Griffith; Circuit Judge Brett Kavanaugh; and Senior Circuit Judge Stephen F. Williams

rdf:langString Doe ex. rel. Tarlow v. District of Columbia, 489 F.3d 376 (D.C. Cir. 2007), is a unanimous decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, written by Circuit Judge Brett Kavanaugh, in which the Court upheld a 2003 District of Columbia statute that stated the conditions for authorizing a non-emergency surgical procedure on a mentally incompetent person. This case developed out of an appeal to a district court decision that was brought on behalf of a mentally incompetent patient who was subjected to an abortion without her consent and another patient who was subjected to an eye surgery without the patient's consent. Under the appellate court's interpretation of the statute, a court located in the District of Columbia must apply the "best interest of the patient" standard to a person who was never competent, and the court must apply the "known wishes of the patient" standard to a person who was once competent. The appellate decision was remanded to the District Court.