Web Desk:
According to the national media, New York Mayor Eric Adams’ plan to involuntarily hospitalize people showing signs of severe mental illness is now being met with a legal challenge.
A group of lawyers and advocates are asking a federal judge to immediately halt the implementation of Adams’ mental health policy.
Marinda van Dalen, a senior staff attorney with the New York Lawyers for the Public Interest said that “People are now scared to leave their homes because they think that they may get picked up by the police and involuntarily transported to a hospital for psychiatric evaluation”.
The federal court motion filed last Thursday alleges that Adams’ mental health plan is too broad, lacks details, and argues the policy violates the U.S. Constitution and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the mayor’s legal department said, “Mayor Adams’ compassionate plan to connect New Yorkers with severe mental illness to support and carefully complies with federal and state law, and we look forward to making our case before the court.”
Right now, a federal judge is still considering whether to grant a temporary stay on the mayor’s new mental health policy to keep it from moving forward.
