Posted on 05/07/2023 5:23:52 AM PDT by ScaniaBoy
Another act to subdue an aggressive mentally ill man leads to another George Floyd media-leftist whitewash of the perpetrator and this time, I think it will not work.
Don Surber says it well:
“Democrats turned subways into hell and now give good citizens the choice between being the victim of a lunatic who kills them or a lunatic justice system that punishes anyone who stands up to the psychos.
"It’s called anarcho-tyranny.“
Let’s review the comparison. Jordan Neely had a long criminal record -- 42 arrests. He threatened passengers who made several 911 calls without a response.
His record showed he was increasingly capable of violence.
A New York City police spokesperson told Newsweek that Neely's record has 42 prior arrests, dating between 2013 and 2021. They include four for alleged assault, while others involved accusations of transit fraud and criminal trespass. At the time of his death, Neely had one active warrant for an alleged assault in connection with a 2021 incident [where he assaulted a 67-year-old woman, causing her grave injuries.]
He had two arrests in 2015, one for assaulting a 64-year-old man, another for kidnapping a seven-year old girl. In the most widely published accounts, he is portrayed as a peaceful kook who, dressed as Michael Jackson, impersonated the former entertainer. This ignored his more recent history where he was far less gentle and it surely was done deliberately to muddy the truth and scare people from engaging in self-defense.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
A New York State law was passed in 1999 called Kendra's Law, which requires those diagnosed with a dangerous mental illness to have their medication monitored daily (assisted outpatient treatment). The law has to be renewed periodically.
I think that Thomas Szasz was just as influential as Ken Kesey. De-institutionalizing the mentally ill was a movement of the times that took hold.
In the early '70s, Kesey would sometimes work the Springfield Creamery truck on the U. of O. campus, selling ice cream and such.
Wasn’t Dari-Gold owned by the Kesey family?
Thanks for the info.
How well is it followed up?
What happens if the patients do not turn up for their treatments?
Yes, the “stupid book” was The Myth of Mental Illness, the “stupid movie” (obviously) was One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.
My daughter, a college student back then, said I was being ridiculous, she also said she did not need a conceal carry permit. She has since changed her mind, about the permit.
Szasz’s book was correct and influential on some things, mostly of the abstract variety, but the closing of the mental institutions was also due to other factors, mainly the state budgets. Also, with the new achievements in medication, it became feasible to treat people on an outpatient basis.
It is only with the ridiculous new bail laws that the problems have become acute. Even that was partly to save money, but it was also a legislative change now widely felt to be in favor of the criminal and against the general interest of the public.
Let me guess.
The annual budget to pay the people doing the "required medication monitoring" is...
Zero?
I have a brother-in-law who used to work as a social worker. He told me he'd counsel someone, and they'd seem better, but they'd be back in a month or so for the same thing.
That something is "feasible" does not make it wise, and it ESPECIALLY does not create self-executing systems.
I don’t remember whether it was or not.
There are now many “halfway houses,” which are probably not called that anymore, where people with mental problems can live in a group setting. Monitored mediation is required of some people in these institutions, and there definitely are consequences if someone doesn’t show up for their appointment.
The real problem is when many people have not been diagnosed and are living on the streets, as there are now. NYC is obliged to house the homeless overnight but they are forced out of the shelters at 6 a.m.
Our mayor is well aware of this problem and is trying on several fronts to solve it. There are barriers to just taking people off the streets; it’s not that simple. He is correct to want that changed somehow.
In my opinion, it’s disgraceful that our own citizens are not getting the care that the recent invaders are getting just by showing up.
No, fortunately it is working, although not extensive enough because of all the homeless.
I live two blocks away from one of these residences, and am actually good friends with someone who has lived there for years. It was the issue that brought me into local politics three decades ago. We worked with Queens elected officials, who did a marvelous job of finally getting Kendra’s Law passed after 5 years.
mediation should be medication
my mistake
No
there were a lot a levers.
Thomas Szasz and his idea that therw was no such thing as mental illness
The gov't built a few hundred community mental health centers - and then repurposed them some years later.
The 2023 US mental institution population is roughly 1/20 the size that it was before the Act. Over the same time, the US population has roughly doubled.
Pharmacologic treatment of mental illness is (or can be) much more effective than it was in 1963, but it isn't at all effective if patients don't or can't comply with recommended treatments.
Rome wasn't burned in a day. (In this case, it's taken 60 years and Rome is still burning.)
Defining Deviancy Down - Daniel Patrick Moynihan (1992)
Moynihan wrote his essay 30 years after the Act was passed, it's now 30 years later, and things are much, much worse.
(Being a politician means never having to say you're sorry, or wrong.)
I do wonder if, as he stated, he was really ready to die.
Be careful what you wish for . . .
Clarice Feldman ping.
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