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Jaffe v. Redmond, , a United States Supreme Court case is an important case upholding medical confidentiality as it pertains to patient-psychotherapist privilege.
Background of the case
Mary Lu Redmond was a police officer involved in the shooting death of Ricky Allen, who was represented as the petitioner by Carrie Jaffe. After the shooting, Redmond sought medical care from Karen Beyer, a licensed clinical social worker. Jaffe sought charges against Redmond, claiming that Redmond had violated Allen's constitutional rights. As part of her case, Jaffe sought to procure notes made during the psychotherapy sessions between Redmond and Beyer.
The court's opinion
Justices John Paul Stevens, Sandra Day O'Connor, Anthony Kennedy, David Souter, Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Stephen Breyer joined the majority opinion, ruling that the patient-psychotherapist privilege should be respected, except when the patient's privacy is outweighed by the evidentiary need for disclosure. Antonin Scalia and Chief Justice Rehnquist joined the dissenting opinion.
External links
1996 in law | United States Supreme Court cases | United States Supreme Court cases without an infobox
"Jaffee v. Redmond"