Image by GrAI via shutterstockCAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: On this episode of Capitol Weekly, Rich Ehisen and Dan Morain welcome Sens. Susan Talamantes-Eggman and Roger Niello, two of the three primary sponsors on SB 43, a bill that would add new criteria to the definition of what constitutes someone being considered “gravely disabled,” the standard by which a person can be involuntarily held for treatment.
Via ShutterstockA growing chorus of critics say well-intentioned but archaic laws – designed to protect individual rights, with stiff restrictions on what constitutes “grave disability” – prevent desperate families from getting severely mentally ill relatives into treatment, leaving them to suffer and die on the street.
Photo illustration: Stephen FinnOPINION: California is long overdue to take steps, large and small, to address its homeless crisis. No other state has a problem of this magnitude; a problem that disproportionately affects the mentally ill. According to the office of Senate President pro Tem Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, California accounts for 22 percent of the nation’s homeless total.