The standard of proof that someone is a “danger to others” is very high and very hard to prove to a level to involuntarily “commit” a mentally ill person, or persuade a judge to commit them for very long if you do.
The standard of proof that someone is a danger to themselves requires that they convince a psych and a judge that they will kill themselves unless comitted.
Mentally ill people especially like Cho, who are paranoid or blame others for their unhappiness, are not dumb. If they really want to hurt other people, not themselves, most are crafty enough to NOT admit being suicidal when they come before a judge, most do NOT want to be held in a mental hospital.
Catch22.
Agreed, but the standard of proof that someone is a danger to his fellow students should not be so high that a person can set a fire in a dorm and remain enrolled. I cant imagine what Tech's excuse is.