Conservatorship of Eric B.

Opinion of the Court by Corrigan, J.

Justice Kruger filed a concurring opinion, in which Justices Liu and Groban concurred. Conservatorship of ERIC B.

S261812

Opinion of the Court by Corrigan, J.

The Lanterman-Petris-Short (LPS) Act authorizes one- year conservatorships for those gravely disabled by a mental disorder or chronic alcoholism. (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 5350.) Conservatorship proceedings are civil in nature, so the constitutional protections afforded criminal defendants do not directly apply. However, the Legislature has extended many of the same rights by statute to the commitment of persons found not guilty of crimes by reason of insanity (NGI’s). (Pen. Code, § 1026.5, subd. (b)(7).) Among those is the right not to give compelled testimony at trial. (See Hudec v. Superior Court (2015) 60 Cal.4th 815, 826 (Hudec).) The question here is whether those facing conservatorship due to an inability to care for themselves should enjoy the same protection. We conclude that, for purposes of the right against compelled testimony, the groups are sufficiently similar that equal protection principles require the government to justify its disparate treatment of these proposed…