News Archive
Professor Schumm, '98, Discusses Commitment Case with Indiana Lawyer
01/27/2021
A woman diagnosed with anorexia so severe she weighed 40 pounds less than doctors would consider normal for her height and size had her involuntary commitment extended by the Indiana Court of Appeals. The woman’s doctors said her eating disorder was causing severe malnutrition and threatening her life. Professor Joel Schumm, ’98, who directs IU McKinney’s Appellate Clinic, said he had “not seen other commitment cases grounded solely in anorexia.” He made the comment for a story on the case that appeared in Indiana Lawyer.
The trial court found the woman to be suffering from a mental illness, a danger to herself, and gravely disabled. “Part of the grave disability determination may involve an inability to provide food, which comes up occasionally in commitment cases, often coupled with other concerns,” Professor Schumm said.
Professor Schumm is a magna cum laude graduate of IU McKinney who directs the Judicial Externship Program in addition to the Appellate Clinic.
