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This section contains the nature of the case and procedural background.

In 1971, Lessard (P) was subjected to a period of involuntary commitment under a state mental health statute. P filed suit in the District Court on behalf of all persons 18 years or older who had been held under this statute alleging that the statute was violative of Due Process and the Fourteenth Amendment. Jurisdiction was predicated under 28 USC 1343(3) and 42 USC 1983. The District Court declared the statute unconstitutional and held that P and class members were entitled to declaratory relief and injunctive relief against further enforcement of the statute and that no further extensions of the invalid order that held P subject to the control of hospital authorities could be made. The judgment that was made nine months after the opinion was written in the case merely stated that the opinion had force of law. D appealed the judgment and order.

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Legal analysis from Dean's Law Dictionary will be displayed here.