[NYAPRS Enews] PJ: Pass Extension Of Kendra's Law

[Harvey Rosenthal]

Editorial: Pass Extension Of Kendra's Law (highlighted formatting by
NYAPRS)

  May 29, 2010

 

A little more than a decade ago, New Yorker Kendra Webdale was killed
when a schizophrenic man pushed her in front of a subway train. It was
later discovered that man, Andrew Goldstein, had a history of
hospitalizations for mental illness and had gone off his medications.

It led to a hue and cry - and, ultimately, to Kendra's Law, which forces
mentally ill people to take their medication or face hospitalization.

That law is up for renewal again, and the state should to do precisely
what it did when it was up for renewal in 2005 - it should extend the
law but not make it permanent.

This would allow time for much-needed research on the effectiveness of
court involvement vs. voluntary treatment. Mental health experts have
differing views on the subject, and the law has always had its critics.
Some have argued the law is tantamount to forced drugging and may
violate people's constitutional rights.

The courts, however, have upheld the constitutionality of the statute,
saying, in part, that the law helped individuals who have a history of
forgoing needed treatment to safely survive in the community, while
protecting society at large.

In fact, Kendra's Law has established a legitimate procedure for
obtaining court orders to determine whether certain individuals with
mental illness should be receiving and accepting outpatient treatment.

Some mental-health advocacy groups also take issue with how the law has
been implemented around the state, noting that about two-thirds of those
under court order are black or Hispanic. This, too, deserves more
scrutiny. Extending the statute won't impede the program's main goals -
to ensure those who need treatment are getting it and to protect others
from possible threats - but it will give lawmakers more time to evaluate
the true worth of the program. Letting the law expire doesn't make
sense, but putting it on the books permanently isn't necessary either,
at this point. 

Lawmakers can make use so-called "sunset'' provisions to keep the law in
place for another five years to gain a better understanding of how it is
truly working. And that is precisely what they should do in this case.

 

http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20100529/OPINION01/5290305/Ed
itorial-Pass-extension-of-Kendra-s-Law

 

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