Mary Doe, under a pseudonym, was a married, twenty-two year old mother living in Georgia. At the time of this case, she already had three children, two in foster care and the third given up for adoption due to her inability to provide for them. She sought an abortion from the Grady Memorial Hospital Abortion …Read more

Petitioners brought this challenge to provisions of the Texas Penal Code, which prohibited anyone from procuring or attempting an abortion, except on “medical advice for the purpose of saving the life of the mother.” Petitioner Jane Roe was an unmarried, pregnant woman who sought to terminate her pregnancy by an abortion “performed by a competent, …Read more

The Respondent was convicted under chapter 272 of the Massachusetts General Laws (Crimes Against Chastity, Morality, Decency and Good Order) (the Act) for exhibiting contraceptive articles while presenting a lecture on contraception to a group of university students, and for providing a contraceptive article to a young woman after the lecture. Section 21 of the …Read more

Plaintiffs, the guardians of patients confined at Bryce Hospital, Alabama (the Hospital) and certain employees of the Alabama Mental Health Board assigned to the Hospital, requested an order of reference for an authoritative determination of standards of the adequacy of the current and future mental treatment employed by the Hospital in effecting the right to …Read more

Applicant, a stateless person with a Swedish alien’s passport, was arrested in Scotland on suspicion of committing murder in Ireland. Applicant was taken to Ireland, convicted of murder, and sentenced to penal servitude for life. Applicant claimed that his trial was “rigged and fixed” as a result of a conspiracy between the judge, his own …Read more

The Appellants, who had opened a birth control clinic, were convicted under the General Statutes of Connecticut of 1958 (the Act) as accessories in crime for providing information and medical advice on contraception and prescribing contraceptives to married individuals. The Act criminalized the use of “any drug, medicinal article or instrument” by any person “for …Read more

Hugo Tunkl filed suit to recover damages for personal injuries alleged to have resulted from the negligence of two physicians at the University of California Los Angeles Medical Center, a non profit charitable institution. Tunkl died after suit was brought, and his wife was substituted as plaintiff. Tunkl was admitted to the UCLA Medical Center …Read more

Petitioner, Lynch, was committed to the District of Columbia General Hospital under D.C. Code § 24-301(a) for a mental examination to determine his competence to stand trial. Petitioner faced charges related to drawing and negotiating checks ($50 each) with the knowledge of insufficient funds and entered a plea of not guilty in the Municipal Court. …Read more

Plaintiff, Darius M. Manlove, as administrator, brought suit against defendant, Wilmington General Hospital, a private hospital, to recover damages for the wrongful death of his infant, Darien E. Manlove, who was refused treatment at the emergency ward of the hospital.  On January 4, 1959, four month old Darien E. Manlove developed diarrhea and a fever. …Read more

The Petitioner was an accused seeking bail on the grounds of ill health. In the meantime, he had filed a motion asking for permission to be confined and treated in a hospital while the bail petition was being considered. The People’s Court ordered that the Petitioner be temporarily confined and treated in the Quezon Institute, …Read more