Yesterday, AB 1421 prevailed in the Judiciary Committee, 7-0.

That it did is a credit to you. Forty family members, consumers, and treatment providers stood before the committee and behind rational treatment laws for California. Most of them will be getting this message.

And then there were your letters. The Committee Chair, Darrell Steinberg, was an opponent of our bill of last year, AB 1800. At the hearing, he not only voted for but even praised AB 1421. We can only assume that it was the power of your words and the weight of your letters that caused this dramatic change of heart.

Our only concern is that three of the committee's members did not vote on the bill. If your assemblymember was one of these three, please call, write, or -- by far best -- set up an appointment with him or her. And if yours was one of the "lucky seven" with us, please send or call-in a thank you. Please feel free to thank our new convert, Chairman Steinberg, even if you are not a constituent. Remember, when AB 1421 comes to a floor vote these committee members will be looked to by other legislators as especially knowledgeable about AB 1421.

Could we owe more to the Los Angeles Times and the San Francisco Chronicle? Those two papers have become our champions almost as much as Assemblywoman Helen Thomson is. They have generated so much press on AB 1421 that we--fearing to overburden you--now have a backlog of items to send.

The Times and the Chronicle are not just for AB 1421 -- they are pushing it. Both papers published editorials calling for our bill's passage the day before the Judiciary Hearing!

Next up--the Appropriations Committee. There the battle will be to secure the funds we need to create a viable outpatient program, one that can serve as a model for future ones throughout California. The date is not yet scheduled, but we will let you know when it is.

Again, Thank you.

==================================

MAY 7, 2001, MONDAY
EDITORIAL

An ounce of prevention

A WOMAN SUFFERS from severe depression and quietly commits suicide in her home. A schizophrenic man murders a child, believing he has just killed the devil. In a manic phase of bipolar disorder, an executive spends all his money, fires his staff, loses his business, family and friends and finds himself homeless.

Later, others ask: "Why did it happen? Why didn't someone prevent it? Why did we have to wait until they harmed themselves or others?"

We know the reason. In 1967, California passed the well-intentioned, but misguided, Lanterman-Petris-Short Act that made it practically impossible for doctors or judges to compel treatment for the severely mentally ill.

Tomorrow, the Assembly Judiciary Committee will consider a key piece of legislation that could prevent such tragedies from recurring. Introduced by Assemblywoman Helen Thomson, D-Davis, AB 1421 would permit court-ordered outpatient treatment for those who suffer from severe mental illness, but are unaware that they need medical treatment.

AB 1421 includes $50 million (less than one day's state outlay on energy) to provide for "the delivery of community-based care by multidisciplinary teams of highly trained mental health professionals with staff-to-client ratio of not more than 1 to 10." If a county cannot provide such comprehensive services, no court order may be issued.

Under this law, a court order for outpatient treatment would require that a person is suicidal, or has threatened or committed violent acts against other people. Rather than being hospitalized as a psychiatric inpatient, the person would be given the option of being treated as an outpatient and provided intensive and comprehensive services.

Naturally, many people are concerned about protecting the civil rights of the mentally ill. Fortunately, AB 1421 addresses this important issue by guaranteeing due process rights. No medication can be compelled unless family members and a range of mental health professionals are consulted.

In our previous editorials on the shameful neglect of the severely mental ill, we have consistently emphasized the fiscal and human costs of ignoring the needs of the untreated mentally ill.

We strongly urge members of the Assembly Judiciary Committee to pass this legislation. The cost of warehousing the mentally ill in prisons or hospitals is exorbitant. Equally important, anyone who suffers severe mental disease deserves treatment and the opportunity to live a normal life.

==================================

May 7, 2001 Monday Home Edition
Editorial

A Case Against Liberty

Forty years of good intentions have left California's mentally ill in desperate--sometimes tragic--circumstances. You can see the desperate ones on the streets every day. If you haven't seen the tragic ones, consider the case of Scott Harlan Thorpe.

Thorpe, a former janitor, thought the FBI was ordering cooks to poison his meat and forcing him to see an incompetent psychiatrist.

If there had been a way for the state to compel him to take his medications and accept therapy, Thorpe might be living a relatively normal life. Instead, on Jan. 10 he marched into the only public mental health clinic in the Northern California town of Nevada City and, according to eyewitnesses, opened fire. The fusillade killed two clinic employees, including 19-year-old Laura Wilcox, a high school valedictorian who was working at the clinic during college break.

Boasting that he was "the toughest man the FBI had ever tried to break," Thorpe, 41, drove to a nearby restaurant, where he allegedly shot to death its 24-year-old manager.

Thorpe's rampage, which left three other people seriously wounded, offers an extreme but pertinent illustration of why legislators must pass AB 1421, a sensible mental health bill that is working its way through Sacramento this week.

Thorpe's family saw his paranoia deepening and sought help for him. But no one could force Thorpe to accept treatment and stick with it, so the deck was stacked against his relatives. The bill is aimed at such cases, getting treatment to people when their actions suggest that they pose a threat to themselves or others. The legislation would give judges power to force people like Thorpe to take medications to modify their behavior or face confinement.

For two generations, California has been applying what now seems an extreme emphasis on the civil liberties of unfortunate people who cannot refrain from harming themselves and, occasionally, others. Thorpe's is an extreme case, but you'll find less violent (though still troubling) examples on the streets of every city in the state.

It's time to stop averting our eyes, because there's something we can do about it. But doing something means a reduction in the civil liberties of some of the mentally ill and a corresponding increase in the authority of the state. As a general rule, we like to see things go the other way. In this rare instance, Californians should proceed with eyes open and calibrate the adjustment very carefully.

If the Legislature and Gov. Gray Davis approve the bill--and provide enough money to make it work--AB 1421 would be a good first step toward a more balanced public policy.

With that goal in mind, the measure now needs fine-tuning. We commend the bill's author, Assemblywoman Helen Thomson (D-Davis), for persevering against civil liberty absolutists whose well-meaning resistance to the measure works against positive change.

We must not pretend, however, that what Thomson proposes is anything less than a significant widening of the state's authority. As such, it deserves the closest scrutiny. This week, Thomson should listen closely to mental health advocates who contend that the bill, as worded, is too broad in defining those on whom a judge could impose treatment. We encourage her to once again take full measure of the bill's civil rights protections. Then, with reasonable protections adopted, the bill should go forward. California owes it to Amanda and Nick Wilcox, Laura's mom and dad.

They saw in Laura an energetic and compassionate young woman. She was running for student body president at Haverford College and planned to work for a Quaker group after graduation. She might still be rushing toward that promising future had Thorpe's family been able to compel him to get help.

"Amanda and I understand that our daughter was a random victim in this tragedy," Nick Wilcox said. "We also believe that the events of that day were predictable and preventable."

Therein lies a revolting twist: Now, three deaths later, Scott Thorpe is locked up awaiting trial and the state can finally force him to take his medications. There is a better way, and Sacramento must make the start.

==========================================

You can find out who your Assemblyperson is at:

==========================================
California Treatment Advocacy Coalition
To receive future updates on LPS Reform or to leave
this list contact [email protected]