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Full-Text Articles in Law
Committed To Commitment: The Problem With Washington State’S Involuntary Treatment Act, Hannah Garland
Committed To Commitment: The Problem With Washington State’S Involuntary Treatment Act, Hannah Garland
Washington Law Review
Washington State utilizes the Involuntary Treatment Act (ITA) to civilly commit individuals experiencing behavioral health crises. Although civil commitment involves stripping away fundamental rights, it receives less attention than criminal incarceration. The ITA is meant to protect not just the general community, but also the rights of people with behavioral health disorders who utilize the ITA system. Yet, its implementation tells a different story. Individuals in King County are detained and committed repeatedly, without receiving consistent care. Furthermore, the ITA disproportionately impacts unhoused individuals and Black individuals. As the ITA continues to grow both in utilization and expense, other community-based …
Between A Bed And A Hard Place: How Washington Can Keep Psychiatric Patients In Treatment And Off The Streets, Spencer Babbitt
Between A Bed And A Hard Place: How Washington Can Keep Psychiatric Patients In Treatment And Off The Streets, Spencer Babbitt
Seattle University Law Review
On February 27, 2013, ten psychiatric patients were being involuntarily detained in hospital emergency departments located in Pierce County under Washington State’s Involuntary Treatment Act (ITA). Despite the name of the law that authorized their detainment, these individuals were not receiving any psychiatric treatment during their confinement. Nor were they there as the result of a criminal conviction. The only thing these ten detainees were guilty of was being mentally ill. Under what is now considered to have been a misinterpretation of the ITA, counties across Washington had for years been confining mentally ill patients in hospitals not certified to …