| Gov.
Gray Davis is considering a bill that would dramatically change the
way the state treats mentally ill Californians. Many are protesting it
because the bill allows counties to force mentally ill people into
treatment.
The bill was proposed after a deadly shooting spree in Nevada County
in January 2001. Mental patient Scott Harlan Thorpe is accused of
killing two people. One of them was college student Laura Wilcox. The
bill, which was actively promoted by Wilcox's parents, has been dubbed
"Laura's Law."
The legislation calls for involuntary drug treatment for mentally ill
individuals in cases where the person is a danger to him or herself or
the public, and has established a pattern of refusing to take
medication.
At the State Capitol Monday, advocates for the mentally ill loudly
protested the bill. "The drugs cause people to go wacko,"
said Cassandra Auerback of the Commission on Human Rights. "They
may have been having problems but now they go completely nuts."
The father of Laura Wilcox takes the opposite view. "We strongly
believe the civil rights of the mentally ill should be respected and
protected, but civil rights are not absolute," said Wilcox's
father, Nick Wilcox, when he testified last May in favor of the bill.
Davis has until September 30 to sign or veto the bill.
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