Two police officers picked up Mrs. Alberta Leesard on the 29th of October, 1971from in front of her home in West Allis in Wisconsin. She was then moved to the Mental Health Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin for detainment. The treatment that she was meted out over the following months formed the base of her civil action. In essence, she was stripped of all the rights that citizen of the country holds In 1971, mental illness was not really understood, and the law presumed that such people were helpless and in need of protection. IN case any mentally ill person was arrested and brought to the court, the outcome for almost every case was having the person committed to a mental institution. Leesard challenged the civil commitment procedures of Wisconsin
