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Leonard Roy Frank

Released
Date of birth:15. 07. 1932
Date of death:15. 01. 2015
Age:82 Deceased
Gender:Male
Race:White
Era:1960s
State:California
Time Imprisoned:
1 Month 28 Days
Support
Civil Liberties
Leonard Roy Frank

Biography

Leonard Roy Frank was a writer and civil liberties activist who was involuntarily committed to the California state mental hospital system because of his participation in the 1960s counterculture. In his hospital records, doctors cited his Beatnik lifestyle, his long beard, and his vegetarianism as evidence of abnormal behavior, which they used to justify institutionalizing him. During the seven months he was confined, he was subjected to medical experiments that included 50 insulin-induced comas and 35 electroshock treatments.

Cases

Mt. Zion Hospital
Charges: None — involuntary civil commitment. The three days where the commitment began, before transfer into the state system.
Incarcerated: Oct 17, 1962
Released: Oct 20, 1962
Convicted: No — never charged or tried; held by involuntary civil commitment
Institution State: California
Napa State Hospital
Charges: None — involuntary civil commitment, continued in the California state mental hospital system after transfer from Mt. Zion.
Incarcerated: Oct 20, 1962
Released: Dec 15, 1962
Convicted: No — never charged or tried; held by involuntary civil commitment
Institution State: California
Twin Pines Hospital
Charges: None — involuntary civil commitment, continued. The longest of the three confinements, ending with his release in June 1963.
Incarcerated: Dec 15, 1962
Released: June 1963
Convicted: No — never charged or tried; held by involuntary civil commitment
Institution State: California