7-17-2013 Delaware:A Delaware task force working to revamp the state’s mental health system on Tuesday roundly rejected a suggestion that the state consider civil commitments for sexually violent predators who “cannot be successfully prosecuted.”
The suggestion was among the recommendations in a 2010 report on the case of former Lewes pediatrician Earl Bradley. Bradley is serving 14 life sentences plus 164 years for abusing hundreds of his young patients. The report on his case was done by Linda Ammons, dean of Widener University School of Law.
Twenty states have adopted predator-related laws, giving authorities a way to extend custody of offenders who are judged to be a continuing threat. Those commitments in other states usually are linked to convicted predators, not those who have not been prosecuted.
In either scenario, strong objections were made to using any mental health facilities – including the Delaware Psychiatric Center – to house sexual predators for public safety reasons.
“The problem with the recommendation is these folks don’t have a mental illness,” said Kevin Huckshorn, director of the Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health. “We can’t treat them. Depo-Provera doesn’t work. Chemical castration doesn’t work. Satiation doesn’t work. Aversion therapy doesn’t work. ... It’s inappropriate to hold someone with no mental illness in a mental health facility just because we want them off the street. It’s creepy.”
Dr. Neil Kaye, a psychiatrist who is a member of the task force, said the Psychiatric Society of Delaware opposes the idea.
“These people are bad, not mad,” he said. “Many states who have gone down this slippery slope now regret it. ... And what we’re talking about wouldn’t have prevented Bradley, anyway.”
Reached Tuesday, Ammons said she has not reviewed her notes in several years, but said her recommendation was that the Legislature consider such a law, not that she was recommending it.
The task force was created by a resolution of the House of Representatives to study the state’s mental health system and recommend changes. The resolution was triggered in large part by the state’s consent agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice, which sued the state for violating the civil rights of patients who had been “warehoused” for decades at DPC.
In other matters Tuesday, the task force reviewed proposals and new definitions related to the involuntary inpatient commitment process. The process is triggered after an evaluator determines a person is a danger to themselves or others, which would be defined as a substantial likelihood of imminent, serious bodily harm – including a substantial risk of death, significant disfigurement, impairment of health or the function of any organ. The decision would include consideration of the person’s history, recent behavior and threats.
The task force considered a recommendation to add a “provisional admission” period after the initial 24-hour evaluation. At present, a person can be held involuntarily for almost two weeks without a hearing.
Under the new proposal, a person could be held for 48 hours after the initial 24-hour evaluation. After that, the person would have a probable cause hearing and judicial review before involuntary commitment is imposed. ..Source.. by Beth Miller
