A proposed bill in Washington State would allow family members to put individuals in an involuntary treatment facility even if a mental health professional deems it unnecessary. Dubbed “Joel’s Law,” the bill would enable spouses, children or parents to approach a judge for permission in lieu of a mental health expert declaring involuntary treatment unwarranted.
House Bill 2725 says that immediate family members who believe that a mentally ill person could cause harm, and is unlikely to seek treatment voluntarily, can petition a mental health professional for an initial detention. However, if the professional conducts a through investigation and does not see reason for involuntary treatment, the family can petition a court instead. A judge would then review a written explanation from the mental health expert about why the initial petition was declined, after which he or she can order the detention of the individual in question.
Joel’s Law was conceived by the parents of Joel Reuter in 2013. Reuter had a history of mental illness, and was involved in a police standoff that resulted in his shooting death. Before the incident occurred, Doug and Nancy Reuter asked for their son to be hospitalized, but were told that he did not qualify for the treatment they sought. This is the second time the parents pushed for lawmakers to enact the bill. Previously, the bill made it through the state House but not the senate.
According to the Komo News Network, the ACLU has reservations about the bill, claiming that it could lead to abuses of mentally ill persons “whose interested may not be aligned with those of the family members.”
Law professor Samuel Bagenstos believes that a more effective policy would expand access to crisis centers and investment in communities’ mental health resources that are proven to be effective. “At a policy level, commitment means every one of your liberties is taken away. You’re locked up, watched constantly, and have movements and actions controlled 24/7,” he told ThinkProgress. “Multidisciplinary treatment teams going into the community, and establishing a crisis system that doesn’t make law enforcement the first line of response can avoid these types of confrontations. Those are the kinds of things we should focus on fixing.”
Indeed, after a 2012 study found that 50 percent of all people killed by police officers every year have histories of mental illness, there have been national calls to address the discrepancy and implement new policing strategies. Last year alone, a number of widely publicized deaths — including those of Tanesha Anderson and Keith Vidal — occurred when family members called police to help with individuals who were having an episode.
The Supreme Court agreed to hear a case about the use of deadly police force when officers are called upon to assist a person who is mentally ill. That case concerns whether cops must take special precautions when entering the home of someone they know to be mentally ill, but it also presents much broader questions about whether the federal Americans with Disabilities Act applies to arrests at all.