In re Gross

• Decision Date: 26 January 1978
• Citation: 476 Pa. 203,382 A.2d 116
• Parties: In re Christopher J. F. GROSS, Appellant.
• Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court

382 A.2d 116

476 Pa. 203

In re Christopher J. F. GROSS, Appellant.

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

January 26, 1978

Argued March 9, 1976.

Michael L. Rosenfield, Pittsburgh, David Ferleger Philadelphia, for appellant.

John Edward Wall, Wilbur McCoy Otto, Stewart M. Flam, John M Duff, Wm. C. O'Toole, Pittsburgh, for appellee.

Before JONES C. J., and EAGEN, O'BRIEN, ROBERTS, POMEROY, NIX and MANDERINO, JJ.

OPINION

NIX, Justice.

This is an appeal from a decree of the Orphans' Court Division of the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County dismissing appellant's exceptions to an earlier decree denying appellant's petition for injunctive relief. ^[1] The lower court's dismissal of exceptions was based upon its holding that the legal issue upon which appellant based his prayer for injunctive relief had been rendered moot. Because we also conclude that the issue is moot, for the reasons set forth herein, we affirm the decree.

The material facts, as found in the record and stipulation of facts by counsel for the parties, are as follow: On or about March 24, 1974, appellant, then age 18, was involuntarily committed to Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic (W.P.I.C.), appellee, pursuant to the then applicable involuntary civil commitment provisions of Section 406 of the Mental Health and Mental Retardation Act of 1966 (Mental Health Act). ^[2] Act of October 20, 1966, Special Sess. No. 3, P.L. 96, art. IV, § 406, 50 P.S. § 4406 (1969). Appellant remained in treatment at W.P.I.C. until June 19, 1974, at which time he was released. ^[3] On February 28, 1975, appellant, then age 19, was again involuntarily committed to W.P.I.C. under the provisions of Section 406 of the Mental Health Act.

On both occasions appellant was diagnosed as suffering from an acute paranoid schizophrenic psychosis. During his periods of treatment as an inpatient at W.P.I.C., appellant was administered an anti-psychotic, psychotropic tranquilizer called trilafon and a second medication, cogentin, designed to mitigate certain side-effects of the trilafon. On numerous occasions appellant indicated to W.P.I.C. staff members that he did not wish to take the medication. On these occasions appellant was informed by W.P.I.C. staff members that the physicians in charge of his treatment had the authority to compel him to take the medication and that if he did not take the medication orally, the usual method of administration, it would be administered via intramuscular injection. According to the stipulation of facts, only once was appellant given the medication by injection. Appellant later complained of blurred vision, inability to read without magnifying glasses, dryness of the mouth, and tremors, all of which appellant attributed to the medication. ^[4] The parties agreed that the use of the medications in question was, in the judgment of the W.P.I.C. physicians, the best medically indicated treatment and the most generally accepted method of treatment, although not the only acceptable method.

On May 1, 1975, appellant, while still an inpatient at W.P.I.C., filed a petition for injunctive relief in the Orphans' Court Division of the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County seeking to restrain W.P.I.C. from administering medication against his will. The petition was denied on the same date, but the court granted appellant leave to amend the petition, which he did on the following day, alleging in the amended petition that Section 417 of the Mental Health Act, ^[5] upon which W.P.I.C. relies for its authority to administer the medication, was unconstitutional. In a decree nisi dated May 2, 1975, the lower court dismissed appellant's amended petition for injunctive relief. ^[6] Appellant, on May 2, 1975, filed exceptions to this dismissal. On May 28, 1975, appellant was released from W.P.I.C. ^[7] After oral argument on June 2, 1975, the lower court en banc, in an opinion dated August 25, 1975, dismissed appellant's exceptions, holding that appellant's release from W.P.I.C. rendered the underlying issue moot. On appeal to this Court, appellant, in addition to contending that the questions presented are not moot, claims that Section 417 is overly broad and thus violative of due process and further asserts that involuntarily committed mental patients have a common law right to refuse treatments, which right cannot, in the absence of judicially declared incompetence, be negated by the state. Since we find, for the reasons set forth below, that the appeal is moot, we need not address the merits of appellant's latter claims.

An accurate description of those circumstances which raise the issue of mootness is provided by Professor Gunther, who writes:

The cases presenting mootness problems involve litigants who clearly had standing to sue at the outset of the litigation. The problems arise from events occurring after the lawsuit has gotten under way changes in the facts or in the law which allegedly deprive the litigant of the necessary stake in the outcome. The mootness doctrine requires that "an actual controversy must be extant at all stages of review, not merely at the time the complaint is filed." G. Gunther, Constitutional Law 1578 (9th ed. 1975).

It is well established in this jurisdiction that this Court will not decide moot questions. Wortex Mills v. Textile Workers, 369 Pa. 359, 85 A.2d 851 (1952). As explained above, a legal question can become moot on appeal as a result of an intervening change in the facts of the case. For example, in Meyer v. Strouse, 422 Pa. 136, 221 A.2d 191 (1966) involving an action in quo warranto, the appellant appealed from the lower court's judgment which ordered his ouster from the office of tax collector. When the appeal reached this Court, the appellant's term of office had already expired, and this Court held that the intervening expiration of the appellant's term of office rendered the appeal moot. Id. See Schuster v. Gilberton Coal Co., 412 Pa. 353, 194 A.2d 346 (1963) (an intervening, superseding contract and separate pending litigation thereunder rendered appeal under original contract moot); Ridley Park Shopping Center v. Sun Ray Drug Co., 407 Pa. 230, 180 A.2d 1 (1962) (declaratory judgment action to establish appellant's right to possession of property made moot an appeal due to appellant's intervening conveyance of subject property).

Similarly, an issue can become moot due to an intervening change in the applicable law. In Conti v. Pa. Dept. of Labor & Industry, 405 Pa. 309, 175 A.2d 56 (1961), this Court held an appeal to be moot where the question involved the validity of a minimum wage order executed by the Secretary of Labor and Industry based upon the then existing statutory authority and thereafter, during the pendency of the action, the General Assembly enacted the Minimum Wage Act of 1961, P.L. 1313. In holding that the appeal was moot, this Court stated:

Since the entry of the lower court's order the Pennsylvania Legislature in the 1961 session, enacted 'The Minimum Wage Act of 1961,' P.L. 1313, to supplement the provisions of the Act of 1937, supra, which initially established the regulation of minimum wages in Pennsylvania. Section 5(a) of the Act of 1961 (effective January 1, 1962), provides for the payment of a minimum wage of $1.00 per hour to every employee in any occupation except 'as may otherwise be prescribed.' Admittedly, none of the occupations dealt with in the instant action are exempt. Hence, the question basically raised by this appeal is moot. It is now impossible to grant relief by deciding the issue involved since no actual controversy exists. It has long been the rule in Pennsylvania that this Court will not decide moot questions. We will do so only in rare instances where exceptional circumstances exist or where questions of great public importance are involved: Id. at 310-11, 175 A.2d at 57 (Citations omitted).

See Salisbury Twp. v. Sun Oil Co., 406 Pa. 604, 179 A.2d 195 (1962) (challenge to ordinance held moot on appeal due to expiration of ordinance); N. Pa. Pwr. Co. v. Pa. P.U.C., 333 Pa. 265, 5 A.2d 133 (1939) (constitutional challenge to statute held moot on appeal due to intervening amendment enacted by legislature), overruled on other grounds, York v. Pa. P.U.C., 449 Pa. 136, 295 A.2d 825 (1972).

This Court is even more reluctant to decide moot questions which raise constitutional issues. Wortex Mills v. Textile Workers, supra. In Wortex Mills this Court was asked to decide, as a constitutional matter, whether peaceful, organizational labor union picketing was legal; in Wortex Mills the strike which caused the picketing had ended by the time the appeal reached this Court. In declining to reach the constitutional question, this Court observed:

" 'Constitutional questions are not to be dealt with abstractly.' "

Id. at 370, 85 A.2d at 857, quoting, Bandini Petroleum Co. v. Superior Ct., 284 U.S. 8, 22, 52 S.Ct. 103, 108, 76 L.Ed. 136 (1931). The United States Supreme Court has described such judicial reluctance as "the exercise of judicial restraint from unnecessary decision of constitutional issues." Kremens v. Bartley, 431 U.S. 119, 136, 97 S.Ct. 1709, 1719, 52 L.Ed.2d 184 (1977), quoting, Regional Rail Reorganization Act Cases, 419 U.S. 102, 138, 95 S.Ct. 335, 356, 42 L.Ed.2d 320 (1974).

The instant appeal presents a situation involving an intervening change in the factual posture of the case as well as an intervening change in the applicable law. Appellant is no longer an inpatient at W.P.I.C. and, therefore, is no longer being administered medication by W.P.I.C. against his will. Appellant is now being treated by his own physician. In short, there was nothing for the lower court to enjoin, nor can this Court now order the injunctive relief sought below. ^[8] See ...