Posted on 05/29/2026 7:49:32 AM PDT by GSWarrior
It is not hyperbole to call the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act of 1967 one of the most impactful pieces of California legislation of the last 60 years. The law, named for its three primary authors, fundamentally changed how this state deals with the mentally ill. The ramifications of those changes are now felt every day in virtually every community across California, for better and worse. In this piece, our Dan Morain offers an unvarnished look at the origins of this historic measure.
Sen. Alan Short was the first author to denounce the legislation that bore his name, the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act that led to the emptying of California state hospitals and remains all but unchanged 56 years later. In later years, the other two principals, Republican Assemblyman Frank Lanterman and Democratic Sen. Nicholas Petris, the main drivers behind what they at one time proudly called the Magna Carta for state hospital patients, would acknowledge the flaws as well
(Excerpt) Read more at capitolweekly.net ...
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Why should California spend billions on mental hospitals when tens of thousands can live and poop on the streets for free?
They were shut down largely because they were largely hellholes.
I was reminded I was assigned in California during Reagan’s two terms as governor,except 70-71 VietNam.
.
And just who were these people of the 60’s who passed most of the legislation that is now the foundation for our society rotting? Let me give a clue, Boomers were still children or in college.
Just for starters:
Johnson gave us the civil rights act and the great society and the foundatoin of the welfare state
Kennedy gave us immigration reform that opened the flood gates to illegals and others
The Warren court gave us liberal rights for criminals
ZERO of these reformers were Boomers and they are responsible for the foundation of the rot we have today.
Forcibly putting folks into needed care may sometimes be necessary.
But tread very, very lighly.
Put the spouse in the nuthouse so you can gallivant as desired.
Put Mom/Dad in nut house so you can get control of the money.
Put political opponents in the nuthouse to get them out of the way.
All more possible with paid off or corrupted Doctors and Judges.
Movies, books, plays galore have all been created showing this wicked side of human nature.
The Warren court held that incarcerating the mentally ill against their will was unconstitutional.
No fault divorce is codified by individual states, not the federal government.
No fault divorce started in California under Reagan, and spread, as legal viruses do, from there to the rest of the country.
I like that phrase “legal viruses”.
I will give you credit for it twice, then claim it as mine.
The legislature did not pass a bill trying to change the worst conditions and abuses of mental health institutions and the laws they operated under. It seems more likely that the bill they passed required the destruction of the prior systems and left a mess the new law had no structure to improve.
Some day the woke descendants of those legislators will do the same “reform” for jails and prisons, leaving communities defenseless.
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