Pros And Cons Of Involuntary Commitment

The Necessity of Less Restrictive Involuntary Commitment Laws

It was October 1, 2017, at the Country Music Festival in Las Vegas, Nevada that Stephen Paddock fired upon a concert, resulting in hundreds killed and wounded altogether (Fox). Going back further to 2011, Jared Lee Loughner killed six and injured twelve, including Congresswoman Gabrielle Gifford (Moon 209). As more and more mass shootings emerge, it’s unfortunate to think such tragedies could have easily been avoided if the perpetrators were involuntarily committed. As of 2017, involuntary commitment, also known as civil commitment, is a law where the court can order the mentally ill to get treatment against their consent so long as they pose a danger to self or other (Evans and

This raises the questions of whether it is ethical to commit someone against their will. The U.S. Bill of Rights addresses that it is up to the individual states to decide upon rights that are not covered in the constitution, such as severity and criteria of involuntary commitment. In the present, the requirement in most states is a danger to others or self, although it’s argued that difficulty lies in determining if one is dangerous, what classifies as dangerous before a violent act, and that it eliminates the possibility of treatment for many people who pose little threat. News stations often spread the word of how shooters showed signs before the act. While they are present, a lack of a defining statement on what classifies as dangerous behavior leads there to be no

This is similar to Florida law, where the patient can be committed if they are unable or refuse to be committed, unable to live on their own, or pose a danger to themselves or others due to mental illness (“Florida”). This will allow a person to be committed before violent outbreaks or complete self-destruction. In the case of reasonable suspicion, the patient should not be held longer than two weeks before the court date. This amount of time is enough to get the patient assessed by a professional without infringing on a large amount of their time before they have been tried by a jury. If the jury decides the patient must be committed, they should be held no longer than six months. After release, all involuntarily committed patients should be given treatment at no cost for three months. This allows for more treatment while the person gets their life together or tries to find a job. This would encourage the patient to show up for treatment. During these three months, treatment centers should encourage the patient to seek a job and permanent living if needed. As a result, the patient will have a job to pay for continued treatment and will be integrated back into life. In the