California Senate Backs Forced Mental Care
By Kevin Yamamura -- Bee Capitol Bureau
Published 2:15 a.m. PDT Thursday, August 29, 2002
In a move that some call a civil rights infringement, the state Senate on
Wednesday approved a measure allowing courts to force mentally ill patients into
treatment.
The bill, AB 1421, moves to the Assembly, where it is likely to pass and head to
Gov. Gray Davis, who has taken no position.
AB 1421 would enable county courts to mandate outpatient treatment for those who
refuse it and are considered dangerous. Law enforcement and families of the
mentally ill, who would have a say in such decisions, are backing the measure.
The bill has been dubbed "Laura's Law" for Laura Wilcox, 19, who was killed in
2001 while working in a Nevada County mental health facility. Accused killer
Scott Harlan Thorpe, 41, was found incompetent to stand trial and committed to
Napa State Hospital.
In an impassioned Senate debate, lawmakers weighed the rights of the mentally
ill against the benefits of treatment that could help the most desperate
patients.
Sen. Ray Haynes, R-Riverside, said the measure erodes the freedom of such
patients, emphasizing that individuals who have not committed crimes could be
forced into treatment by a judge.
"This is how (Cuban leader Fidel) Castro deals with his dissidents," Haynes
said. "When you have not committed a crime and you pose no threat to the public
health and you pose no threat to the public order, if the government can still
lock you away, it is still a very dangerous, dangerous precedent to set."
Sen. Wes Chesbro, D-Arcata, said the state has failed to provide sufficient
voluntary care programs, and that expanding those services is a better answer
than mandating treatment.
But other lawmakers said the measure would provide numerous patients with
necessary medical care that could save them from landing in jail or living on
the streets.
"None of us want to see mental health treatment as a disguise for repression,"
said Sen. Ross Johnson, R-Irvine. "But that's not what this bill is about. It's
about avoiding countless tragedies with people who are ill and need help and
today aren't getting that help."
Supporters said AB 1421 would help not only the mentally ill but also their
families, some of whom suffer because they cannot force sick relatives into
needed treatment.
The Senate's 27-8 passage of AB 1421 marked the latest step in a four-year push
by Assemblywoman Helen Thomson, D-Davis, for stricter "involuntary care"
procedures.
Thomson's measure had fewer civil liberties protections when it left the
Assembly last year, but she took several amendments in Senate committees that
led to its passage.
Those did not suffice for groups representing mental health patients. Sally
Zinman, executive director of the California Network of Mental Health Clients,
said strengthening existing mental care programs would be a better solution.
"We think it's the wrong policy direction," Zinman said. "We think it's driven
by discrimination, and driven by stereotypes of patients being violent."
