PDA

View Full Version : NYC cops round up mentally ill before they commit crimes




sailingaway
02-22-2013, 02:59 PM
The Health Department fears that these mentally ill patients could be dangerous. Now, “you have a family member who goes to the Department of Health and gives them the information. Then they go to the Police Department, and together, the DOH person and the police go out and try to track down these people,” said a city official. “They’re just trying to get these people help.”

“All of these patients are receiving treatment for mental-health conditions,” said Department of Health spokesman Sam Miller. “If they do not receive sustained treatment ... they could pose some risk to themselves, family members or others.”

The policy has attracted criticism from civil libertarians who view it as unconstitutional government overreach.

According to Judge Andrew Napolitano, the policy is “clearly unconstitutional because the Constitution says the only way you can arrest someone is if you see them committing a crime or a probable cause to believe they have committed, not are going to commit, but have committed a crime.”

Regarding the mentally ill, Napolitano contends that only very specific exceptions can be made to those criteria. “Only those who are mentally ill and are in imminent danger of harm to themselves and others can be in the category of candidates for arrest. Anything short of that, the person cannot be arrested without an order from a judge,” he explained.

“That’s why we have a Second Amendment. So we can protect ourselves,” said Napolitano.

Napolitano sums up the constitutional dilemma created by the policy.

“We do not have a system of government that lets the government predict who’s going to do the wrong thing and arrest them before they do it,” Napolitano concludes. “The police should be there to keep us safe, the MTA should operate subways and subway platforms that are safe, but you can’t arrest groups of people because of what some 1 or 2 amongst their number are likely to do. That’s what they did in Eastern Europe and we overthrew those governments.”

more: http://www.cyberwarzone.com/nyc-cops-round-mentally-ill-they-commit-crimes

kathy88
02-22-2013, 03:07 PM
We are so screwed. Is it me or is this shit becoming an avalanche? I used to think it was progressing too fast, but lately it seems insurmountable.