Thursday, January 19, 2006

a voice is heard for those that are locked away in cubes of silence

As reported in the News Journal, A US Appeals Court has upheld a million dollar verdict in favor of a state doctor who spoke out for the mentally ill.

The verdict was against the "establishment" for wrongfully firing him. So... we the taxpayers are paying for this, and the years of litigation that led to it.

I too spoke up about problems at the Delaware Psychiatric Center, years ago when I raised an alarm about how the highest security building that we have for the criminally insane, was fenced by a security fence that was held together by twist-ties. It took more than a year for somebody to be sent to fix it.

The mentally ill in our community do not have an adequate voice as it is. When the government that is supposed to be protecting them turns out to be the silencer of the problems rather than the solution, the problem is compounded.

After more than 10 years of working for (representing) the mentally ill in the involuntary mental commitment process, I resigned because it became clear to me that by continuing to serve in that role I had become a facilitator of the state's negligence rather than a shield against it.

Lets face it, our State government handles problems only when they blow up in their face. Well, I hope this 1 Million dollar explosion is seen as a problem. But I doubt it.

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