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Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: stsimon who wrote (211783)	12/16/2012 10:33:33 AM
From: epicure	1 Recommendation Respond to of 541116

It's unfortunate that the ACLU freed the mentally ill, rather than focusing on getting them better care. There are many mentally ill people who I am sure are no danger to others, who are sleeping out tonight in the cold, and are targets for violence themselves. I've always thought we should be doing more to help these people, many of them ex-service people, but now we'd be accomplishing two goals- we could be more humane and helpful to the mentally ill, and perhaps prevent some of these kinds of tragedies. There are ways to help the mentally ill that would probably be compatible with the ACLU's goals. And there were horrendous abuses back in the day- but now those horrendous abuses are inflicted not by the government, but by the outside world, so the ACLU doesn't get involved. It's unfortunate. And we need to do something. Even if it never prevented a single tragedy, helping the mentally ill would be the right thing to do. But my guess is that more mental health resources would prevent at least some tragedies.

To: stsimon who wrote (211783)	12/16/2012 11:53:30 AM
From: JohnM	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 541116

Now that the severely mentally ill roam freely among us, what do we do as a society to protect the rights of the sick without exposing the rest of us to unspeakable crimes? I haven't seen studies which suggest that the "mentally ill" are more likely to engage in these crimes than the "not mentally ill." Obviously, that depends on just how broad the term "mentally ill" is construed. My own somewhat educated guess is that, using a proper, clinically drawn definition, they are no more likely than the "mentally not ill." Perhaps even less so.

To: stsimon who wrote (211783)	12/16/2012 4:53:32 PM
From: NAG1	Respond to of 541116

In the 1960's the ACLU helped empty the Insane Asylums because they were considered to be treating the mentally ill in inhumane ways. Now that the severely mentally ill roam freely among us, what do we do as a society to protect the rights of the sick without exposing the rest of us to unspeakable crimes? From everything that I had read in the past, the state hospitals(at least those in NYS) that used to house people with psychiatric illnesses were very bad places and were inhumane. In their place, the states were supposed to be opening up residential facilities that would allow these people to get treatment in a much smaller, much more humane environment. It was very difficult to get these places opened. Nobody wanted them in their areas. The few that opened were very difficult to get into. I think the states looked at closing the hospitals without opening up other facilities as windfalls since it saved them money. Used to see many of the mentally ill riding the NYC subways when I lived in NY. I am sure another large amount end up in prison for a spell before getting streeted again. Neal