With involuntary commitment, where should Maine draw the line?
A bill before the Legislature raises tough questions about forcing people into inpatient mental health treatment.
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Some bills wind their way through the legislative process with nary a raised eyebrow. Others leave lawmakers in a moral quandary, caught between one side that says do something and another that says don’t.
L.D. 785 is one of those others.
It’s titled “An Act to Change the Standard for Assessing Risk of Serious Harm.” On paper, it amounts to a slight tweak in existing state law that governs who can be involuntarily committed for mental health treatment and who can’t.