The US legal system has developed a number of methods by which the state or
private parties may intervene to protect persons, including those with dem
entia, who lack sufficient cognitive or emotional capacity to make and expr
ess autonomous choices about various aspects of their lives. These interven
tions may be planned and voluntary or unplanned and involuntary. This artic
le explores the ethical and cultural values underlying legal alternatives i
n the United States and their strengths and weaknesses when measured agains
t those values. The article poses issues about which US policy makers, heal
th and human service practitioners, and attorneys might seek wisdom from th
e various strategies that other countries have devised to deal with the cha
llenge of protecting, but not overprotecting, their own citizens with demen
tia.