Drummer v. State

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Drummer v. State

GLORIA DRUMMER v. STATE OF
CONNECTICUT ET AL.
(AC 47461)
Elgo, Moll and Flynn, Js.

Syllabus

The plaintiff, who had been involuntarily civilly committed to a psychiatric
hospital pursuant to statute (§ 17a-498), appealed from the trial court’s
judgment for the defendants in her action seeking declaratory and injunctive
relief in connection with her continued confinement. She claimed, inter alia,
that the court improperly granted the defendants’ motion for summary
judgment. Held:

This court, having concluded that the plaintiff did not have a specific personal
and legal interest that had been specially and injuriously affected in order
to have standing to assert her claims for declaratory and injunctive relief,
reversed the trial court’s judgment and remanded the case with direction
to dismiss the action.

This court, having concluded that the plaintiff lacked individual standing
to raise her claims in the underlying action, determined that she also lacked
the requisite typicality to raise those same claims on behalf of a class as
required by the rule of practice (§ 9-7) for class certification.

Argued March 10—officially released July 1, 2025

Procedural History

Action seeking, inter alia, permanent injunctive relief
regarding the obligation of the state to conduct certain
periodic reviews of individuals who have been involun-
tarily civilly committed, and other relief, brought to
the Superior Court in the judicial district of Middlesex,
where the court, Hon. Edward S. Domnarski, judge
trial referee, denied the plaintiff’s motion for class certi-
fication; thereafter, the court, Hon. Edward S. Domnar-
ski, judge trial referee, denied the plaintiff’s motion for
summary judgment, granted the defendants’ motion for
summary judgment and rendered judgment thereon,
from which the plaintiff appealed to this court. Reversed
only as to form of judgment; judgment directed.
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Drummer v. State

Kirk W. Lowry, with whom were Kathleen Flaherty
and Karyl Lee Hall, for the appellant (plaintiff).
Shawn L. Rutchick, assistant attorney general, with
whom, on the brief, were William Tong, attorney gen-
eral, and Michael K. Skold, deputy solicitor general, for
the appellees (defendants).
Opinion

FLYNN, J. In this action for a declaratory judgment
and injunctive relief, the plaintiff, Gloria Drummer,
appeals from the judgment of the trial court denying
her motion for summary judgment and granting the
motion for summary judgment filed by the defendants,
the state of Connecticut, the Department of Mental
Health and Addiction Services, Connecticut Valley Hos-
pital, Whiting Forensic Hospital, Greater Bridgeport
Community Mental Health Center, Connecticut Mental
Health Center, and Capital Region Mental Health Cen-
ter. On appeal, the plaintiff claims that the court improp-
erly (1) rendered summary judgment in favor of the
defendants and (2) denied her motion for class certifica-
tion. We do not reach the merits of these claims
because, for reasons that follow, we conclude that the
plaintiff lacked the requisite standing to assert her
claims before the trial court. Accordingly, we reverse
the judgment of the trial court only as to the form of
the judgment and remand the case with direction to
dismiss the action.
At the outset, we provide a brief overview of the
statutory scheme governing civil commitment, which
is set forth in General Statutes § 17a-495 et seq. Applica-
tions for civil commitment may be filed with the probate
court for the district in which the potential committee
resides. See General Statutes § 17a-497 (a); see also
State v. Long, 268 Conn. 508, 529, 847 A.2d 862, cert.
denied, 543 U.S. 969, 125 S. Ct. 424, 160 L. Ed. 2d 340
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Drummer v. State

(2004). After civil commitment proceedings are com-
menced, the individual who is the subject of the pro-
ceedings has a right to a hearing before the probate
court. See General Statutes § 17a-498 (a). ‘‘If the court
finds by clear and convincing evidence that the respon-
dent has psychiatric disabilities and is dangerous to
himself or herself or others or gravely disabled, the
court shall make an order for his or her commitment,
considering whether or not a less restrictive placement
is available, to a hospital for psychiatric disabilities to
be named in such order, there to be confined for the
period of the duration of such psychiatric disabilities
or until he or she is discharged or converted to voluntary
status pursuant to section 17a-506 in due course of law.
. . .’’ General Statutes § 17a-498 (c) (3).

Section 17a-498 (g) requires periodic review for
patients who have been civilly committed. Specifically,
§ 17a-498 (g) provides in relevant part that ‘‘[t]he hospi-
tal shall notify each patient at least annually that such
patient has a right to a further hearing pursuant to this
section. . . . If the patient’s last annual review did not
result in a hearing, and in any event at least every two
years, the Probate Court shall, within fifteen business
days, proceed with a hearing in the manner provided
in subsections (a), (b), (c) and (f) of this section. . . .’’
The review process set forth in § 17a-498 (g) addresses
the concerns articulated by our Supreme Court in
Fasulo v. Arafeh, 173 Conn. 473, 378 A.2d 553 (1977).
In Fasulo, our Supreme Court considered the proce-
dural due process claims of two individuals committed
indefinitely to a state hospital and who had been con-
fined, respectively, for periods of twenty-six years and
thirteen years. Id., 477. The court held that the due
process clause in article first, § 8, of the Connecticut
constitution ‘‘mandates that involuntarily confined civ-
illy committed individuals be granted periodic judicial
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Drummer v. State

reviews of the propriety of their continued confine-
ment’’ and that the state must bear the burden of proof
with respect to the necessity of recommitment under
our constitution.1 Id., 479–81.
In the present case, the trial court set out the follow-
ing relevant undisputed facts in its memorandum of
decision. The plaintiff was involuntarily civilly commit-
ted to Connecticut Valley Hospital by the Middletown
Probate Court on October 14, 2016.2 The medical team
at Connecticut Valley Hospital deemed her clinically
‘‘discharge ready’’ on August 2, 2017. See footnote 11
of this opinion. Less than two months later, on Septem-
ber 26, 2017, the plaintiff’s social worker was informed
by staff at Capital Region Mental Health Center that
1
Article first, § 8, of the Connecticut constitution provides in relevant
part: ‘‘No person shall be . . . deprived of life, liberty or property without
due process of law . . . .’’
Fasulo held that ‘‘[t]here can be no doubt that involuntary commitment
to a mental hospital, like involuntary confinement of an individual for any
reason, is a deprivation of liberty which the [s]tate cannot accomplish with-
out due process of law.’’ (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Fasulo v.
Arafeh, supra, 173 Conn. 476. ‘‘Once the purpose of the commitment no
longer exists, there is no constitutional basis for the state to continue to
deprive the individual of his liberty. . . . To satisfy due process, the proce-
dure for releasing a civilly committed patient must be adequate to assure
release of those who may no longer constitutionally be confined.’’ (Citation
omitted.) Id., 476–77.
In State v. Long, supra, 268 Conn. 508, our Supreme Court explained that
the ‘‘[d]ue process analysis requires balancing the government’s interest in
existing procedures against the risk of erroneous deprivation of a private
interest inherent in those procedures.’’ (Internal quotation marks omitted.)
Id., 524; see also Fasulo v. Arafeh, supra, 173 Conn. 477 (‘‘the thoroughness
of the procedure by which [a] deprivation is effected must be balanced
against the gravity of the potential loss and the interests at stake’’ (internal
quotation marks omitted)). The court also explained that ‘‘a validly enacted
statute carries with it a strong presumption of constitutionality, [and] . . .
those who challenge its constitutionality must sustain the heavy burden
of proving its unconstitutionality beyond a reasonable doubt.’’ (Internal
quotation marks omitted.) State v. Long, supra, 521.
2
The plaintiff was civilly committed pursuant to § 17a-498 (c) after she
was found not competent to stand trial and not restorable for certain criminal
charges in the Superior Court.
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Drummer v. State

staff had not yet discussed an alternative placement for
the plaintiff if she were to be discharged. On October
13, 2017, less than three weeks later, the Middletown
Probate Court conducted an annual commitment
review hearing of the plaintiff’s case, issued an order
that the plaintiff still met the standard for civil commit-
ment, and continued the hearing until February 2, 2018.
On November 21, 2017, approximately five weeks after
the Probate Court’s continuance order, the plaintiff’s
social worker wrote in her chart that Capital Region
Mental Health Center staff had indicated that there was
no appropriate residential placement available in the
community at that time to meet the plaintiff’s continuing
clinical needs.3
On or about January 25, 2018, the plaintiff com-
menced this action by serving a summons and com-
plaint on the Attorney General. In her complaint, the
plaintiff alleged, inter alia, that she had not been given
a periodic review required by Fasulo v. Arafeh, supra,
173 Conn. 473, she no longer met commitment stan-
dards, and she was unnecessarily institutionalized in a
state operated inpatient psychiatric facility because of
a lack of community supports and services, including
supportive housing.
In her complaint, the plaintiff sought declaratory and
injunctive relief. Specifically, the plaintiff requested,
inter alia, that the court: (1) enter a declaratory judg-
ment that the periodic review provided by § 17a-498
(g), which mandates review of a patient’s commitment
at least every two years, violates the Connecticut consti-
tution because it does ‘‘not meet the minimum due
As set forth previously in this opinion, § 17a-498 (c) (3) requires the
3

probate court to consider whether or not a less restrictive placement is
available. Pursuant to § 17a-498 (c) (1), the court shall require certificates
from at least two physicians that include, inter alia, information about
‘‘whether or not less restrictive placement is recommended and available
and whether or not the respondent is incapable of understanding the need
to accept the recommended treatment on a voluntary basis.’’
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process requirements laid out in Fasulo’’; (2) ‘‘[e]nter a
declaratory judgment that the state’s failure to establish
and maintain a mental health system that provides ade-
quate community supports and services so that patients
in state operated inpatient psychiatric facilities may
be discharged within a reasonable time of no longer
meeting commitment standards violates the Connecti-
cut Patients’ Bill of Rights’’;4 (3) ‘‘[o]rder that the defen-
dants discharge [the plaintiff] to the most integrated
setting, presuming that supportive housing is the most
integrated setting, and provide adequate supports and
services to [the plaintiff] in her supportive housing’’;
and (4) enter permanent injunctive relief ordering the
state to provide periodic review of patients who are
involuntarily civilly committed in a manner that
includes, inter alia,5 that ‘‘[a]t each monthly treatment
4
The Connecticut Patients’ Bill of Rights provides in relevant part that
‘‘[n]o patient hospitalized or treated in any public or private facility for the
treatment of persons with psychiatric disabilities shall be deprived of any
personal, property or civil rights, including the right to vote, hold or convey
property, and enter into contracts, except in accordance with due process
of law, and unless such patient has been declared incapable pursuant to
sections 45a-644 to 45a-662, inclusive. Any finding of incapability shall specif-
ically state which civil or personal rights the patient is incapable of exercis-
ing’’; General Statutes § 17a-541; and ‘‘[e]very patient treated in any facility
for treatment of persons with psychiatric disabilities shall receive humane
and dignified treatment at all times, with full respect for his personal dignity
and right to privacy. Each patient shall be treated in accordance with a
specialized treatment plan suited to his disorder. Such treatment plan shall
include a discharge plan which shall include, but not be limited to, (1)
reasonable notice to the patient of his impending discharge, (2) active partici-
pation by the patient in planning for his discharge and (3) planning for
appropriate aftercare to the patient upon his discharge.’’ General Statutes
§ 17a-542.
5
Specifically, with respect to the plaintiff’s request for injunctive relief,
the plaintiff requested that the court ‘‘[e]nter permanent injunctive relief
ordering the state to provide periodic review of patients who are involun-
tarily civilly committed as follows:
‘‘A. At each involuntary civil commitment hearing, the treating psychiatrist
will testify within a reasonable degree of medical certainty when it is likely
that the patient will stabilize and no longer be a danger to self or others or
gravely disabled or be able to receive community supports and services in
a less restrictive setting.
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team meeting, the attending psychiatrist will assess the
present mental status of the patient and determine
within a reasonable degree of medical certainty whether
the patient no longer meets commitment standards. If
the patient likely does not meet commitment standards,
the unit director or social worker shall immediately
request a periodic review of the patient’s commitment
with the probate court having jurisdiction of the mat-
ter’’; that ‘‘[t]he state shall establish and maintain a
mental health system that has the capacity at all levels
of care’’; and that the state ‘‘enact laws that authorize
the probate court to order discharge to the most inte-
grated setting . . . .’’
‘‘B. At each monthly treatment team meeting, the attending psychiatrist
will assess the present mental status of the patient and determine within a
reasonable degree of medical certainty whether the patient no longer meets
commitment standards. If the patient likely does not meet commitment
standards, the unit director or social worker shall immediately request a
periodic review of the patient’s commitment with the probate court having
jurisdiction of the matter.
‘‘C. The treatment team shall designate and document in the patient’s
chart that each patient is ready for discharge as soon as the patient is likely
to no longer be a danger to self or others or gravely disabled or is able
adequately to receive services in a less restrictive setting. The fact that the
state does not have a less restrictive setting readily available shall not be
a factor in the determination of whether the patient meets commitment
standards.
‘‘D. The state and the treatment team shall presume that supportive hous-
ing, community housing with services wrapped around the individual based
on the individual’s preferences and needs, is the most integrated setting.
The team may rebut the presumption of supportive housing only with docu-
mented facts and evidence based evaluations and tests.
‘‘E. As soon as a patient is declared ready for discharge, the state and
the facility shall discharge the patient to the most integrated setting within
a reasonable period of time. The state shall establish and maintain a mental
health system that has the capacity at all levels of care, with a priority
for supportive housing, so that institutionalized patients in state operated
psychiatric facilities may be discharged within a reasonable period of time.
‘‘F. The state shall enact laws that authorize the probate court to order
discharge to the most integrated setting, subject to contempt proceedings,
if patients are not discharged within a reasonable period of time.
‘‘G. Appoint a court monitor, paid for by the defendant, to ensure that
the state is in compliance with this court’s orders for injunctive relief.’’
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At a February 2, 2018 probate hearing, shortly after
the present action was commenced, representatives of
the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Ser-
vices, Connecticut Valley Hospital, and Capital Region
Mental Health Center informed the Middletown Probate
Court that the plaintiff could be accommodated at Lotus
Home, a residential living facility, and could be released
there on March 14, 2018. The Middletown Probate Court
continued the hearing until March 14, 2018, and, on that
date, the plaintiff was discharged and released to the
Lotus Home facility.6
In May, 2018, on the basis of the plaintiff’s release
to the Lotus Home facility, the defendants filed a motion
to dismiss the plaintiff’s action in the Superior Court.
They argued that, because the plaintiff was no longer
civilly committed, her claims were moot and the court,
as a result, lacked subject matter jurisdiction over her
complaint.
In June, 2018, the plaintiff filed a motion for class
certification. The plaintiff moved to certify two pro-
posed classes, consisting of (1) ‘‘[a]ll psychiatric inpa-
tients involuntarily civilly committed to a state operated
psychiatric facility who are likely to not meet commit-
ment standards before their annual or biennial review
and who have not had a probate court periodic review
requested by the facility’’ (periodic commitment review
class), and (2) ‘‘[a]ll psychiatric inpatients involuntarily
civilly committed to a state operated psychiatric facility
who have been declared discharge ready by their treat-
ment teams or not meeting commitment standards by
6
The record reflects that the Lotus Home facility is an ‘‘intensive program’’
funded by the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services for
‘‘challenging, high-risk female clients that require on-site, 24 hours a day, 7
days a week (24/7), supervision.’’ The plaintiff was at the Lotus Home facility
for more than two years, until June, 2020, when she was discharged to state
funded senior housing, where she continues to receive daily residential care
and outpatient care.
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Drummer v. State

the probate court but who remain in the facility unnec-
essarily institutionalized and segregated for an unrea-
sonable period of time because of a lack of appropriate
placements, supports and services in the community’’
(less restrictive setting class). The defendants filed an
objection to the plaintiff’s motion, arguing that the
plaintiff failed to satisfy the requirements for class certi-
fication set forth in Practice Book §§ 9-7 and 9-8, includ-
ing the requirements for typicality and numerosity set
forth in § 9-7.
On July 12, 2019, the court, Frechette, J., issued a
memorandum of decision denying the defendants’
motion to dismiss and denying the plaintiff’s motion
for class certification. With respect to the defendants’
motion to dismiss, the court determined that the plain-
tiff’s claims fell within the exception to the mootness
doctrine for issues capable of repetition, yet evading
review.
With respect to the plaintiff’s motion for class certifi-
cation, the court concluded that the plaintiff failed to
satisfy certain requirements set forth in Practice Book
§§ 9-7 and 9-8.7 Specifically, the court determined that
the plaintiff failed to satisfy the numerosity requirement
set forth in § 9-7, and, even assuming arguendo that
the plaintiff met the requirements of § 9-7, the plaintiff
7
Practice Book § 9-7 provides: ‘‘One or more members of a class may sue
or be sued as representative parties on behalf of all only if (1) the class is
so numerous that joinder of all members is impracticable, (2) there are
questions of law or fact common to the class, (3) the claims or defenses of
the representative parties are typical of the claims or defenses of the class,
and (4) the representative parties will fairly and adequately protect the
interests of the class.’’
Practice Book § 9-8 provides in relevant part: ‘‘An action may be main-
tained as a class action if the prerequisites of Section 9-7 are satisfied, and
in addition . . . (2) the party opposing the class has acted or refused to
act on grounds generally applicable to the class, thereby making appropriate
final injunctive relief or corresponding declaratory relief with respect to the
class as a whole . . . .’’
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failed to establish that the defendants ‘‘acted or refused
to act on grounds generally applicable to the class[es],’’
as required by § 9-8 (2).
On February 1, 2023, the plaintiff again filed a motion
for class certification. The plaintiff moved to certify the
same two classes previously proposed, specifically, the
periodic commitment review class and the less restric-
tive setting class. The defendants filed an objection to
the plaintiff’s motion.
The court, Hon. Edward S. Domnarski, judge trial
referee, denied the plaintiff’s motion for class certifica-
tion on July 5, 2023. The court determined that the
plaintiff failed to satisfy the numerosity requirement
for the same reasons that Judge Frechette denied the
initial motion and that the plaintiff also failed to satisfy
the typicality and commonality requirements set forth
in Practice Book § 9-7.
On August 21, 2023, the parties filed motions for
summary judgment. The plaintiff claimed that she was
entitled to judgment as a matter of law on her requests
for declaratory and injunctive relief. In their motion
and accompanying memorandum, the defendants main-
tained that the plaintiff’s claims were moot on the basis
that she was clinically discharged to the Lotus Home
facility, and, in the alternative, they argued that the
plaintiff’s claims failed on their merits, as a matter of
law. The parties filed objections to each other’s respec-
tive motions and submitted documentary evidence in
support thereof.
On February 28, 2024, the court, Hon. Edward S.
Domnarski, judge trial referee, issued a memorandum
of decision denying the plaintiff’s motion for summary
judgment and granting the defendants’ motion for sum-
mary judgment. The court first dealt with the defendants’
argument that the plaintiff’s claims were moot because
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Drummer v. State

she had already been discharged from Connecticut Val-
ley Hospital. The court rejected that argument because
it largely adopted the reasoning of Judge Frechette,
who had previously held that, because, inter alia, given
the plaintiff’s lengthy psychiatric history, the same fac-
tual scenario of which she complains could likely arise
again, and, therefore, the plaintiff’s claims qualified for
review under the capable of repetition, yet evading review
exception and met the requirements set forth by our
Supreme Court in Loisel v. Rowe, 233 Conn. 370, 382,
660 A.2d 323 (1995).8
The court proceeded to review the plaintiff’s claims
to determine whether the plaintiff or the defendants
were entitled to judgment as a matter of law. As an
initial matter, the court noted that, in the plaintiff’s
objection to the defendants’ motion for summary judg-
ment, she abandoned her claims pertaining to the Con-
necticut Patients’ Bill of Rights. The court, therefore,
considered them withdrawn and concluded that the
plaintiff limited her claim to substantive due process
arguments afforded by article first, § 8, of the Connecti-
cut constitution and the statutory authority of the pro-
bate courts of Connecticut to order timely discharge
of patients to less restrictive settings.
The court further concluded that the plaintiff failed
to establish that § 17-498 (g) violates the due process
8
‘‘Our cases reveal that for an otherwise moot question to qualify for
review under the ‘capable of repetition, yet evading review’ exception, it
must meet three requirements. First, the challenged action, or the effect of
the challenged action, by its very nature must be of a limited duration so
that there is a strong likelihood that the substantial majority of cases raising
a question about its validity will become moot before appellate litigation
can be concluded. Second, there must be a reasonable likelihood that the
question presented in the pending case will arise again in the future, and
that it will affect either the same complaining party or a reasonably identifi-
able group for whom that party can be said to act as surrogate. Third, the
question must have some public importance.’’ Loisel v. Rowe, supra, 233
Conn. 382.
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Drummer v. State

clause of the Connecticut constitution and failed to
demonstrate that she was entitled to the injunctive relief
she requested. Specifically, the court concluded that
§ 17-498 (g)’s requirement that the state initiate a recom-
mitment hearing at least every two years complies with
due process and our Supreme Court’s decision in
Fasulo. The court also concluded that the plaintiff’s
request for the court to enter an order to ensure that
a less restrictive placement is always available is an
‘‘enormous and consequential request for which the
plaintiff has provided no authority’’ and there was noth-
ing in the holding of Fasulo that mandated a discharge
to ‘‘a less restrictive placement.’’ As a result, the court
determined that the defendants were entitled to judg-
ment as a matter of law. This appeal followed.
I
The plaintiff first claims that the court improperly
rendered summary judgment in favor of the defendants
because (1) it erred in concluding that the two year
review process set forth in § 17a-498 (g) does not violate
the due process clause of article first, § 8, of the Con-
necticut constitution, and (2) it erred in concluding that
Fasulo does not provide the probate court with the
authority to discharge a patient ‘‘who no longer meets
the legal standard for commitment’’ to a less restrictive
setting.9 The defendants argue that the court’s decision
9
The plaintiff also claims, in a footnote, that the trial court erred in finding
that she withdrew her claims under the Connecticut Patients’ Bill of Rights.
Our review of the plaintiff’s objection to the defendants’ motion for summary
judgment reflects that the plaintiff made conflicting statements about
whether she was withdrawing her claims. She first stated that ‘‘the plaintiff’s
arguments regarding whether the Patients’ Bill of Rights incorporates a right
to discharge to the most integrated setting have been withdrawn’’ but then
stated that ‘‘the plaintiff’s claims regarding discharge to a less restrictive
setting are now only claims based on the due process clause of the Connecti-
cut constitution, article first, § 8, Fasulo . . . and the plain language of
[General Statutes] § 17a-541, civil rights, and [General Statutes] § 17a-542,
right to a discharge plan.’’ Sections 17a-541 and 17a-542 fall within the
Connecticut Patients’ Bill of Rights. Regardless of whether the plaintiff
withdrew those claims, however, the plaintiff’s related prayers for relief in
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Drummer v. State

was proper and, additionally, they raise the threshold
issue that the trial court lacked jurisdiction to consider
the plaintiff’s claim concerning the probate court’s
authority to compel placement to a less restrictive set-
ting because the plaintiff lacked standing to assert that
claim. Specifically, the defendants argue that, because
that claim relates to patients who ‘‘no longer [meet]
the legal standard for commitment,’’ and the plaintiff
herself continued to meet the standard for civil commit-
ment, ‘‘she is not among the class of individuals
impacted by this hypothetical question and lacks stand-
ing to pursue it.’’ The defendants similarly argue that the
plaintiff’s due process claim was based on the flawed
premise that she no longer met the standard for civil
commitment once she was designated ‘‘discharge
ready’’ by her treatment team. We agree with the defen-
dants and, accordingly, we conclude that the plaintiff
lacked standing to assert her claims.
Where lack of jurisdiction is raised, we must first
address it. See St. Paul Travelers Cos. v. Kuehl, 299
Conn. 800, 816, 12 A.3d 852 (2011) (‘‘Once the question
of lack of jurisdiction of a court is raised, [it] must be
disposed of no matter in what form it is presented. . . .
The court must fully resolve it before proceeding further
with the case.’’ (Internal quotation marks omitted.));
see also PHH Mortgage Corp. v. Cameron, 130 Conn.
App. 238, 241, 22 A.3d 1282 (2011).
‘‘The issue of standing implicates this court’s subject
matter jurisdiction. . . . Standing is the legal right to
set judicial machinery in motion. One cannot rightfully
her complaint relate to the discharge of patients ‘‘within a reasonable time
of no longer meeting commitment standards’’; (emphasis added); and,
accordingly, the plaintiff lacked standing to pursue such claims for the
reasons set forth subsequently in this opinion. As we note, the plaintiff was
adjudicated to have met the statutory civil commitment standards until a
less restrictive placement was available, and her hearing before the probate
court took place only two months after she was declared discharge ready.
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invoke the jurisdiction of the court unless he [or she]
has, in an individual or representative capacity, some
real interest in the cause of action, or a legal or equitable
right, title or interest in the subject matter of the contro-
versy. . . . When standing is put in issue, the question
is whether the person whose standing is challenged is
a proper party to request an adjudication of the issue
. . . .
‘‘Standing is established by showing that the party
claiming it is authorized by statute to bring suit or is
classically aggrieved. . . . The fundamental test for
determining aggrievement encompasses a well-settled
twofold determination: [F]irst, the party claiming
aggrievement must successfully demonstrate a specific,
personal and legal interest in [the subject matter of
the challenged action], as distinguished from a general
interest, such as is the concern of all members of the
community as a whole. Second, the party claiming
aggrievement must successfully establish that this spe-
cific personal and legal interest has been specially and
injuriously affected by the [challenged action]. . . .
Aggrievement is established if there is a possibility, as
distinguished from a certainty, that some legally pro-
tected interest . . . has been adversely affected.’’
(Citations omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.)
State v. Long, supra, 268 Conn. 531–32.
The defendants contend that this issue presents ques-
tions of law over which this court should exercise ple-
nary review, citing Winakor v. Savalle, 343 Conn. 773,
781, 276 A.3d 407 (2022). We agree that our review is
plenary. ‘‘Because standing implicates subject matter
jurisdiction . . . and thus raises a question of law, our
review is plenary.’’ (Citation omitted; internal quotation
marks omitted.) Wisniewski v. Palermino, 351 Conn.
390, 399, 330 A.3d 857 (2025).
The defendants argue that the plaintiff seeks ‘‘an
abstract declaration that probate courts ‘have authority
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to order the discharge of a patient who no longer meets
the legal standard for commitment to a less restrictive
setting.’ ’’ (Emphasis altered.) The defendants further
contend that the Middletown Probate Court held that
the plaintiff continued to meet that standard for contin-
ued civil commitment set forth in § 17a-498 (g) by hav-
ing ‘‘psychiatric disabilities’’ and being ‘‘gravely dis-
abled’’ but that the plaintiff chose not to appeal the
rulings of the Middletown Probate Court. They argue
that the plaintiff is not among the class of individuals
impacted by this ‘‘hypothetical question’’ and, therefore,
that she lacks standing to pursue it.
To this argument, the plaintiff responds that she did
not appeal from the Middletown Probate Court’s orders
because she was aggrieved by being unnecessarily insti-
tutionalized due to the conduct of the defendants, not
the conduct or rulings of the Probate Court, and that
she did not appeal from the Probate Court’s rulings
because ‘‘an appeal would do no good without a place
to discharge to’’ and she did not seek a discharge to
homelessness. She further contends that her
aggrievement ‘‘was the defendants’ violation of her con-
stitutional and statutory rights under the due process
clause and the Connecticut Patients’ Bill of Rights to
liberty and to not be unnecessarily institutionalized due
to a failure to timely provide community residential
services and support’’ and ‘‘the [trial] court’s repeated
findings of standing should be upheld.’’10
In his oral argument before this court, appellate coun-
sel for the plaintiff stated: ‘‘The problem [the plaintiff]
seeks to address is that civilly committed patients are
held in state psychiatric hospitals after they are
10
We note that, although the trial court addressed the issue of whether
the plaintiff’s claims were moot as a result of her release to the Lotus Home
facility, it did not consider whether the plaintiff lacked standing as a result
of the Probate Court’s finding that she continued to meet the standard for
civil commitment.
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declared to be ready for discharge by the treatment
team and they’re held there unnecessarily both because
they are not given a timely probate court due process
hearing and because there are insufficient community
mental health resources for them to be discharged to.’’
We note the following relevant facts from the record.
The plaintiff was declared ‘‘discharge ready’’11 by her
treatment team on August 2, 2017. Just two months
later, on October 13, 2017, the Probate Court promptly
held a state initiated annual commitment review hear-
ing, although none was required by law until two years
after the plaintiff’s initial commitment.12 Two orders
entered regarding the plaintiff’s continued hospitaliza-
tion, on October 13, 2017, finding that the plaintiff con-
tinued to meet the standard for civil commitment, and,
on February 2, 2018, continuing the plaintiff’s commit-
ment until a less restrictive placement was available.
11
In support of their motion for summary judgment, the defendants submit-
ted deposition testimony from Charles Dike, the medical director for the
Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. In explaining what
‘‘discharge ready’’ means, he stated: ‘‘There are people, for example, who
might still have risks attached to them, but the risks are manageable risks.
. . . We are not discharging them completely . . . . We still worry that
something bad might happen in those risks, but we still discharge them if
we think that that’s what they need. . . . [I]t’s not straightforward. The
case for which we are here today is a prime example of that. It’s not a
casual, you are ready to move. The history of significant violence and the
consequences of that cannot be ignored or pushed under the rug. So the
question will become while you are in the hospital, you might look like
you’re fine, but unless and until we’re able to figure out what additional
resources you’re going to need in order to be fine in the community, the
answer is not straightforward, because, as I said, there are people who
might need a highly restrictive stay in the community.’’
12
The plaintiff’s initial commitment hearing was held on October 14, 2016.
Pursuant to § 17a-498 (g), the probate court must hold a review at least
every two years, and each patient has a right to an annual hearing upon
her request.
At oral argument before this court, the plaintiff’s counsel acknowledged
that a review hearing could have been held even sooner if the hospital had
requested one, because ‘‘[u]sually hearings get scheduled within two weeks
in Middletown Probate Court.’’
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Drummer v. State

The plaintiff did not appeal from either judgment.13 Both
the October 13, 2017 and February 2, 2018 judgments
became final. The plaintiff did not file the present
declaratory judgment action in the Superior Court until
February 14, 2018.
To address the defendants’ argument concerning
standing, which all parties have briefed on appeal, we
first must address the judgments of the Middletown
Probate Court relating to whether it found that the
plaintiff met the statutory standards for continued com-
mitment. On March 21, 2025, we ordered the parties to
augment the record on appeal to include any orders or
memoranda of decision issued by the Probate Court in
connection with the hearings it held on October 13,
2017, and February 2, 2018. In a response dated March
27, 2025, the parties promptly provided this court with
a stipulation including the decree regarding the October
13, 2017 proceeding and relayed the Probate Court’s
response that there was no formal memorandum for
the February 2, 2018 hearing.
The October 13, 2017 probate order tracks the govern-
ing statute, § 17a-498 (c) (3) and (g), regarding the con-
tinuance of civil commitments in a hospital for psychiat-
ric disabilities. That statute provides that, to continue
13
The state claims that the plaintiff was under a conservatorship at all
relevant times pursuant to General Statutes § 45a-644 (b) and her conservator
had the authority to act on her behalf with respect to authorizing an appeal
from a decree of probate affecting her. We do not find evidence of that in the
record, as the reference to the plaintiff’s conservator cited by the defendants
mentions the conservator only in the context of developing the plaintiff’s
plan of care for her discharge to the Lotus Home facility.
However, in addition, the state claims that the plaintiff was being assisted
by an attorney through the Connecticut Legal Rights Project on October
24, 2017, which was well within the forty-five day period in which she could
appeal from the Probate Court’s October 13, 2017 decision. We do find
evidence in the record of that. In the filings in connection with the trial
court’s adjudication, Connecticut Valley Hospital’s integrated progress notes
indicate that the ‘‘CLRP . . . advocates’’ had been present at an October
24, 2017 conference held on the plaintiff’s behalf. CLRP is an acronym for
the Connecticut Legal Rights Project.
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such commitment, the probate court must make a find-
ing by clear and convincing evidence:

(1) That the person has psychiatric disabilities and
is dangerous to himself or others,

OR

In the alternative to finding that the person is danger-
ous to himself or others, (2) that the patient is ‘‘gravely
disabled.’’
See General Statutes § 17a-498 (c) (3) and (g). Addition-
ally, if the court finds by clear and convincing evidence
that the person has psychiatric disabilities and is dan-
gerous to himself or herself or others or gravely dis-
abled, the court shall make an order for the person’s
commitment, considering whether or not a less restric-
tive placement is available. See General Statutes § 17a-
498 (c) (3).

In its October 13, 2017 decree, the Probate Court
found that the plaintiff ‘‘has psychiatric disabilities’’ and
is ‘‘gravely disabled.’’ Also as required by § 17a-498 (c)
(3), it found that ‘‘a less restrictive placement [was] not
available’’ at that time.

The defendants argue that the plaintiff’s ‘‘entire case
rests on the false premise that she no longer met the
civil commitment standard when her clinicians deemed
her ‘discharge ready’ on August 2, 2017,’’ and that the
trial court lacked jurisdiction to review any claim about
the Probate Court’s authority to compel placement in
a less restrictive setting because, inter alia, the plaintiff
lacks standing. Specifically, because the Probate Court
found that the plaintiff continued to meet the standard
for civil commitment, the defendants argue that, pursu-
ant to the authority of Wilcox v. Webster Ins., Inc., 294
Conn. 206, 982 A.2d 1053 (2009), the plaintiff does not
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Drummer v. State

have a ‘‘personal and legal interest’’ that has been ‘‘inju-
riously affected.’’ (Internal quotation marks omitted.)
Id., 214–15.
We agree with the defendants that the plaintiff was
adjudicated by the Probate Court in a final judgment
dated October 13, 2017, and that, because she continued
to meet the statutory standard for civil commitment, she
does not have the specific personal and legal standing
to assert her claims for declaratory relief. We also con-
clude that she lacks standing to assert her claim that
she and others are not given timely due process probate
hearings. We conclude that she lacks standing to assert
that claim because she received prompt attention and
docketing of matters relating to her continued commit-
ment by the Middletown Probate Court.
In reaching this conclusion, we reject the premise
underlying all of the plaintiff’s claims that she no longer
met the standard for civil commitment and that there
must be immediacy to a less restrictive alternative to
hospitalization, once she was deemed ‘‘discharge
ready.’’ Section 17a-498, which governs the procedures
for involuntary civil commitment, does not use the term
‘‘discharge ready,’’ and the plaintiff points to no author-
ity that supports the implicit assumption that the con-
cepts are interchangeable. The Probate Court, instead,
found that the plaintiff had psychiatric disabilities and
was ‘‘gravely disabled,’’ in accordance with § 17a-498.
As set forth previously in this opinion, in her com-
plaint, the plaintiff alleged that she was bringing the
present action to, inter alia, ‘‘enforce the substantive
constitutional rights established in [Fasulo v. Arafeh,
supra, 173 Conn. 473]14 to liberty as soon as the person
14
As explained previously in this opinion, Fasulo held that ‘‘the due pro-
cess clause of the Connecticut constitution mandates that involuntarily
confined civilly committed individuals be granted periodic judicial reviews
of the propriety of their continued confinement.’’ Fasulo v. Arafeh, supra,
173 Conn. 479. Our Supreme Court stated: ‘‘Commitment must be justified
on the basis of a legitimate state interest, and the reasons for committing
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does not meet commitment standards’’ and ‘‘to require
the state to measure the need and create capacity for
residential supports and services in the community so
that a person shall be discharged to the most integrated
setting appropriate with their needs within a reason-
able time of not meeting state standards for civil com-
mitment.’’ (Emphasis added.) The plaintiff claimed that
§ 17a-498 (g) violates the state constitution because
‘‘the vast majority of patients committed to state oper-
ated inpatient psychiatric facilities stabilize and no
longer meet commitment standards long before the
mandatory two year review, resulting in significant
numbers of patients being unnecessarily institutional-
ized and segregated.’’ (Emphasis added.) She also
claimed that patients ‘‘have a constitutional right to be
discharged as soon as they no longer meet commitment
standards’’ and ‘‘as soon as their present mental status
indicates that they are not a danger to self or others
or gravely disabled.’’
On appeal, the plaintiff continues to premise her
claims on her contention that she and other patients
like her no longer meet the standard for civil commit-
ment, or likely no longer meet that standard, after being
declared discharge ready. For instance, in her brief to
this court, the plaintiff argues that, pursuant to Fasulo,
‘‘the due process clause of the Connecticut constitution
a particular individual must be established in an appropriate proceeding.
Equally important, confinement must cease when those reasons no longer
exist. . . . To satisfy due process, the procedure for releasing a civilly
committed patient must be adequate to assure release of those who may
no longer constitutionally be confined. Due process is a flexible concept,
the content of which must be renewed each time it is used to measure the
adequacy of challenged procedures.’’ (Citations omitted; internal quotation
marks omitted.) Id., 476–77. Subsection (g) of § 17a-498, which went into
effect after the Fasulo decision was released, addressed these concerns by
providing the opportunity for an annual review and a hearing at least every
two years, with the patient’s continued commitment being evaluated based
on the same standard as the initial commitment. See id., 481–82; see also
Public Acts 1976, No. 76-227, § 3; Public Acts 1977, No. 77-595, § 3.
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creates a liberty interest not to be held in a state psychi-
atric hospital when their present mental status indi-
cates that they no longer meet commitment standards,’’
and ‘‘the probate court must have authority to order
the discharge of a patient who no longer meets the legal
standard for commitment to a less restrictive setting.’’
(Emphasis added.) In addition, she claims that she and
her proposed classes’ right to constitutional liberty ‘‘is
violated by state actors when they are held in a state
operated inpatient psychiatric hospital without a timely
commitment review hearing after they no longer meet
the legal standard for civil commitment.’’ (Emphasis
added.)
In reviewing the plaintiff’s claims, it appears that the
plaintiff incorrectly assumes that her classification as
‘‘discharge ready’’ meant that she no longer met, or
likely no longer met, commitment standards. However,
pursuant to the Probate Court’s October 13, 2017 find-
ing, the plaintiff had ‘‘psychiatric disabilities’’ and was
still considered ‘‘gravely disabled,’’ and, therefore, she
still met the legal standard for civil commitment. The
plaintiff did not appeal from the Probate Court’s judg-
ment within the forty-five day period set forth in General
Statutes § 45a-186 (b). Furthermore, in Fasulo, the court
held that, to satisfy due process concerns, ‘‘[t]he state’s
power to confine terminates when the patient’s condi-
tion no longer meets the legal standard for commitment.
Since the state’s power to confine is measured by a
legal standard, the expiration of the state’s power can
only be determined in a judicial proceeding which tests
the patient’s present mental status against the legal
standard for confinement.’’ (Emphasis added.) Fasulo
v. Arafeh, supra, 173 Conn. 479.
Moreover, the plaintiff continues to take issue with
the two year review period set forth in § 17a-498 (g).
She has not shown that she has standing to assert that
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claim. She received an annual review and prompt sched-
uling for hearings thereafter. She has not shown that
she has been injuriously and specifically harmed. She
personally had promptly received a state initiated
annual hearing in October, 2017, only two months after
she was designated ‘‘discharge ready.’’ The Probate
Court held another hearing in February, 2018, only four
months after the annual hearing, and the plaintiff was
expeditiously released to the Lotus Home facility in
March, 2018, once that placement became available to
meet her continuing clinical needs. As previously noted,
Lotus Home is a facility for ‘‘challenging, high-risk
female clients that require on-site, 24 hours a day, 7
days a week (24/7), supervision,’’ where the plaintiff
remained for two years. Accordingly, we conclude that
the plaintiff does not have the specific personal and
legal interest that has been ‘‘specially and injuriously
affected’’; (internal quotation marks omitted) State v.
Long, supra, 268 Conn. 532; in order to have standing
to assert her claims for declaratory and injunctive relief.
II
The plaintiff also requests this court to review the
trial court’s denial of her February 1, 2023 motion for
class certification with respect to her claims. We have
concluded, however, in part I of this opinion, that the
claims underlying the plaintiff’s putative class action
fail because she lacks the specific, personal and legal
interest in the subject matter of the challenged action
as distinguished from a general interest of the commu-
nity as a whole and has not shown that any such interest
has been specially and injuriously harmed and affected
by the challenged action. Because the plaintiff’s claims
fail, her request for class certification fails with it.
Practice Book § 9-7 contains four elements for class
certification, namely, numerosity, commonality, typi-
cality, and adequacy of representation. See Rodriguez
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v. Kaiaffa, LLC, 337 Conn. 248, 254, 253 A.3d 13 (2020).
The typicality element requires that ‘‘the claims or
defenses of the representative parties are typical of the
claims or defenses of the class . . . .’’ Practice Book
§ 9-7 (3).
‘‘[T]here cannot be adequate typicality between a
class and a named representative unless the named
representative has individual standing to raise the legal
claims of the class. . . . [T]ypicality measures whether
a sufficient nexus exists between the claims of the
named representatives and those of the class at large.
Without individual standing to raise a legal claim, a
named representative does not have the requisite typi-
cality to raise the same claim on behalf of a class.’’
(Internal quotation marks omitted.) Macomber v. Trav-
elers Property & Casualty Corp., 277 Conn. 617, 633,
894 A.2d 240 (2006).
Accordingly, in the present case, because the plaintiff
lacks standing to raise her claims; see part I of this
opinion; she also lacks the requisite typicality to raise
those same claims on behalf of a class.
The judgment is reversed only as to the form of the
judgment and the case is remanded with direction to
render a judgment of dismissal.
In this opinion the other judges concurred.