Good Judge-ment

A powerful letter to the editor by Judge Tom Rickhoff, a probate judge from Bexar County, Texas, highlights many of the unfortunate realities of our nation’s mental health system. Judge Rickhoff rightly points out the important role lack of treatment must play in any discussion of stigma, explaining that “we must recognize and treat the dangerously mentally ill, not just fight the stigma.”

We couldn’t agree more.

Heroic judges

As you know, Florida judges are threatening to jail a Florida mental health official for failing to transfer more than 300 jail inmates to state psychiatric hospitals for treatment. But it should not surprise anyone considering that the state closed a 382-bed state psychiatric hospital in 2002.

If judges with contempt powers can’t get the state to hospitalize mentally ill inmates, imagine the obstacles that Florida families now must face in trying to get hospital care for a loved one.

TAC applauds the Florida judges for holding the mental health administrators accountable for the neglect of the states severely mentally ill citizens. It’s about time somebody did.

"You're only God for awhile"

In a state with no AOT, a creative judge finds a way to keep a young man out of jail and on his meds.

Travis Williams said he was embarrassed by his behavior now that he's thinking clearly and he is happy to have medication administered intravenously once a month.

"I'm lucky that no one got killed. I remember being mad but I don't remember why I was mad," he said. "You're only God for a while."