In 1972, he did a groundbreaking expose on The Willowbrook State School on Staten Island. It showed absolutely deplorable conditions that the mentally retarded were being warehoused. (Sleeping on cold linoleum floors covered in their own feces and such.)
It is generally credited with spurring legislation that addressed the horrific treatment.
As always though, the activists for the cause went way too far and, using much of Geraldo's reporting, shut down most mental health institutions by 1980, kicking many people who obviously needed to be kept under care out onto the street.
Instant widespread homelessness to welcome in the Reagan Administration.
Very interesting. Thanks! I remember Mario Cuomo ("City on the Hill") and others beating up on Reagan but it was hard to get straight information in those days.
That's the problem with liberal thought. They're right about some things but take them out of context.
They were right in getting the place closed down, but not in attacking the concept of institutionalized care for those who seriously need it.
When I was a kid, you had to go to skid row to see these people. Now, they're everywhere.