Winnebago County v. J.M., 2018 WI 37, 381 Wis. 2d 28, 911 N.W.2d 41

Wisconsin law allows counties to forcibly commit people who are mentally ill and dangerous for inpatient or outpatient treatment. These people have a statutory right to counsel during their commitment proceedings. Abrahamson, writing for a unanimous court, held that people undergoing commitments also have the right to the effective assistance of counsel. The legal standard for evaluating whether defense counsel in a mental commitment case was ineffective is the same as in criminal cases: Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984).