Laura's Law mental-health debate rages in Bay Area

Christina Murphy, who works at a Berkeley center that helps mental health patients, is speaking out against the proposal. Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle | Buy this photo

Vivian Ho

Updated 6:10 am, Thursday, February 27, 2014

A man drives to the East Bay hills every Wednesday to leave groceries for his son, who lives in the woods. An Albany woman sleeps with a baseball bat and stun gun next to her bed, fearing the son who threatened to kill her.

These were among the stories shared this week by family members of people who suffer from severe mental illness as they sought, yet again, to bring the much-debated Laura's Law to the Bay Area more than 11 years after its passage in California.

The law, now implemented only in Nevada and Yolo counties, allows judges to order outpatient treatment for people with a record of failed mental health hospitalizations and of violence. Advocates see it as a way to help people who won't help themselves and ensure they take medication, but critics warn of a system ripe for civil rights abuses.

This week, the battleground shifted to Alameda County, where authorities used psychiatric holds, commonly known as 5150s, on 10,849 occasions last year. The Board of Supervisorswas asked to consider implementing a Laura's Law pilot program, compelling a maximum of five people to accept mental health treatment.

3-month delay

But on Tuesday, after the type of emotional public hearing that is typical in this debate, the supervisors declined to vote yes or no, but rather to continue the discussions for the next three months.

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