Addington v. Burke was a United States Supreme Court case that addressed the issue of whether a state could require a person to prove their insanity in order to be committed to a mental institution. The case involved a man named Addington who had been committed to a mental institution in Texas. He argued that the state had violated his due process rights by not allowing him to present evidence of his insanity. The Supreme Court held that the state had not violated Addington's due process rights. The Court reasoned that the state had a legitimate interest in protecting the public from dangerous individuals and that the state had a right to require a person to prove their insanity before being committed to a mental institution. The Court also noted that the state had provided Addington with an opportunity to present evidence of his insanity and that he had failed to do so. The Court's decision in Addington v. Burke established that states have the right to require a person to prove their insanity before being committed to a mental institution. This decision has been cited in numerous cases since then and has been used to uphold the rights of individuals to due process when facing involuntary commitment.

Justice Field delivered the dissenting opinion in Addington v. Burke, arguing that a state law which allowed for an indigent person to be committed to an asylum without due process of law was unconstitutional. He argued that this violated the Fourteenth Amendment's guarantee of equal protection under the laws and its prohibition against depriving any person of life, liberty or property without due process of law. Furthermore, he noted that while states had broad powers when it came to protecting public health and safety, they could not do so at the expense of individual rights guaranteed by federal constitutional protections. Justice Field concluded his dissent by noting that if such a practice were allowed then no one would be safe from arbitrary confinement based on poverty alone - something he found unacceptable in light of our nation's commitment to justice for all citizens regardless their economic status.