Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California (1976)

[Page 1012]The Supreme Court of California decided the case of Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California in 1976. This is a seminal case in privacy rights, primarily concerning the right to warn. The court held in this case that mental health professionals have a duty to warn individuals who are being threatened with bodily harm by a patient. This is known as the duty to warn, or the duty to protect. The court found that in a balancing test between the privacy rights of a patient and the safety interests of members of the public, the public safety wins. Based on this, the court allowed for the statements of the defendant to be admissible in court. This entry reviews the facts of the ...