[henryfjordan]

Under the UN Declaration on the Rights of Disabled Persons, that's unethical. Also historically "Involuntary mental health treatment" in the US has not been humane.

We should strive to have compassion for the homeless and ill, not imprison them.

[GhostVII]

You can give people a choice between either being prosecuted as a mentally healthy person, or getting mental health treatment. It's not involuntary but gives mentally disabled people a way to get help.

[zdragnar]

> a choice

It's a nice thought, and should probably be an option, but it won't be sufficient on its own, I don't think.

Would it surprise you to learn that many with severe mental illnesses do not voluntarily undergo treatment? A friend worked in a job training and support program, first with chronically homeless, and then with mentally disabled specifically. The single biggest obstacle most faced was their own unwillingness to accept or stick with treatment.

The homeless in particular that this friend worked with were untrusting of any program that might potentially hinder their autonomy- so they would show up for the free bus cards, food and job training, but any hint of medical support and they would disappear for fear of being taken off the street and locked up.

Most, given the choice between jail or treatment, would choose jail, simply because there was a defined time period that they would get their freedom back, plus no pills.

[nikanj]

How about some compassion for the victims, too? They get spit at, insulted, their belongings stolen, and their property vandalized. And we mostly guilt them for not turning the other cheek more gracefully.

[oh_sigh]

You're not giving them involuntary mental health treatment because you deem them ill - you do it because they are mentally ill AND have kicked a nurse in the chest and threw feces at others.

[closeparen]

Is carte blanche to wander the streets of San Francisco and menace pedestrians really more humane or compassionate?

[sincerely]

Something something your right to compassion ends where your fist hits my face something something