About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

10 Geo. J. on Poverty L. & Pol'y 105 (2003)
No Commitment: Kendra's Law Makes No Promise of Adequate Mental Health Treatment

handle is hein.journals/geojpovlp10 and id is 111 raw text is: Georgetown Journal on Poverty Law & Policy Volume X, Number 1, Winter 2003 No Commitment: Kendra's Law Makes No Promise of Adequate Mental Health Treatment Margo Flug* INTRODUCTION On January 3, 1999, Andrew Goldstein, a man with untreated schizophrenia, pushed a young woman off a New York City subway platform to her death.' Later that year, believing that a law would prevent similar tragedies, the New York Legislature passed Kendra's Law,2 named after the victim, Kendra Webdale.3 Kendra's Law established an Involuntary Outpatient Commitment (IOC) pro- gram,4 through which counties provide court-ordered outpatient treatment to people who suffer from severe mental illnesses but who are not ill enough to be committed to a mental hospital. Kendra's Law has sparked intense criticism from mental health advocates who object to its coercive nature and suggest that the Law will not be effective in securing better services or in improving public safety.6 These critics point out that before Andrew Goldstein became too ill to recognize a need to stabilize his symptoms, he had repeatedly requested treatment and support services and that the State had failed to respond to his requests.7 Rather than coerce more people to accept treatment, critics argue that the Legislature should force the State to provide adequate community-based treatment.8 In response to that critique, some proponents of Kendra's Law acknowledge that the State's outpatient treatment * The author is a May 2003 J.D. candidate and the Georgetown University Law Center. She wishes to thank Heathcote Wales, Professor, Georgetown University Law Center, and Michael Allen, Senior Staff Attorney, Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, for their invaluable guidance in writing this note. 1. Michael Winerip, Report Faults Care of Man Who Pushed Woman Onto Tracks, N.Y. TiMES, Nov. 5, 1999, at B 1. 2. 1999 N.Y. Laws 408 § 1. 3. See Winerip, supra note 1. 4. N.Y. MENTAL HYG. LAW § 9.60(a)(4) (McKinney 2002). 5. See 1999 N.Y. Laws 408 § 2. 6. See, e.g., Vicki Fox Smith & Michael Allen, Opening Pandora's Box: The Practical and Legal Dangers of Involuntary Outpatient Commitment, 52 PSYCHIATRIC SERVICES 342 (March 2001). 7. Winerip, supra note 1. 8. See, e.g., Susan Stefan, Preventive Commitment: The Concept and Its Pitfalls, 11 MENTAL & PHYSICAL DISABILITY LAW REP. 288-302 (1989); Kendra's Law, Not Ours, at McMan's Depression and Bipolar Web, http://www.mcmanweb.comlarticle-66.htm (last visited Oct. 11, 2002).

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most