(May 19, 2016) "Hospitals, not jail, for the mentally ill," rail the editors of the Denver Post against recently proposed legislation that would place people with mental illness in jail for treatment even if they haven't committed a crime.
"You know Colorado has a serious problem taking care of people experiencing a mental health emergency when the legislature passes a bill to extend the period they can be involuntarily warehoused in a jail," the editors write.
Senate Bill 169 would allow the state to detain a person suffering from an acute psychiatric crisis who has not committed a crime for 48 hours.
"Under ideal conditions, someone detained during a mental health crisis will be taken to a designated facility where appropriate evaluation and treatment can occur. The facility will respect patient rights, adhere to the proper standard of care and comply with relevant laws."
But the facilities to treat people who need it the most don't exist in Colorado - the editors say. The state has only 23 percent of the necessary beds to treat its population with serious mental illness. It has over 4 times more people with mental illness in jails and prisons than receiving treatment in a hospital.
Colorado isn't the only state that has proposed such abhorrent human rights violations as a solution to the lack of appropriate treatment facilities. Maine proposed similar legislation earlier this year. And several years ago, the New Hampshire legislature actually managed to pass legislation that does the same.
The practice of warehousing innocent people who are suffering from untreated mental illness in jails and prisons is unconscionable.
People with severe mental illness deserve #aBedInstead of jail.
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