The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1927-01-29

4 anLuA9DlOu ana commitments to ST.
Elizabeth's Hospital and investiga-
ton Of the question Of insanity and
condition OF any patient"
Such liaison officer should be
neither doctor nor a lawyer--the
Wrongfully confined victim has had
all he wants Of both. but the officer
should be empowered to retain serv.
ices from either profession. He
should, moreover. be empowered to
4 visit any part OF the institution at
any time to talk with any patient at
any time. and to have access to any
OF the records of the institution.
There's too much secrecy at st.
Elizabeth's in the sacred name of
medical confidence"
Weakness and Remedy
Such an arrangement would be i'm.
i possible, you say---a man using such
powers injudiciously could play need.
less havoc with the institution. He
could. And il he does, fire him.
situation like that cannot be
regulated by rigid, inflexible law.
No matter how carefully the duties
and requirements Of either the hos
pital or the officer might be pre-
scribed by the law. one side or the
other would find means for over.
reaching 1t. There never was q law
yet that could take the place OF hui
man intelligence. IL there were. we
could abolish intelligence altogether
and be guided by laws instead.
A man with tact, skill and iudg.
ment could handle that situation all
right, and IL he spent eight hours
a day ou- there, choosing his eight
hours from any part of the clock he
liked best, he'd be bound to run into
any sane person side.tracked in
There sooner or latec, and his Job
would be to make it sooner.
Then, too, il patients made un.
founded claims OF mistreatment land
we've heard stories about attractive
looking women patients that we
haven't been able to verify-or dis
credit an official of the kind we
suggest would be able to refute
them-if they required refutation.
Guardianship Practice
The guardianship feature of com.
mitments offers a continual source
of temptation. DIR. Hickling tells
us that. contrary TO the theory of
the law. selecting guardians from
among patients relatives doesn't
always insure 100 per cent honesty
OF administration. Having a diff
ferent guardian for each of the 2,150
patients Tor as many of them as
possess property presents certain
difficulties.
The fool says. according to Mark
Twain, don't put all your eggs IN
one basket; but rather put them in
many baskets. Then, If one gets
upset. you win have the others left"
| The wise man. according to the
same authority, advises put all your
eggs in one basket AND WATCH
THAT Basket"
Public Guardian Urged
We side with the wise man and
suggest a public guardian. to whom
all such estates are to be entrusted.
Fut him under bond. put him under
the District Attorney, pay him
salary. give him what clerical help
he needs. let him charge a flat rate
fee to cover administration costs;
legally disaualify him. or anyone in
his employ. from initiating or testi.
Tying in lunacy proceedings.
| Thus one class of wrongfully
detained sane persons would be
automatically eliminated. and the
work of the liaison officer made
! that e1uch easier.
Many poor devil has been sent
to st. Elizabeth's for an indefinite
term On the mere testimony of two
OF three physicians that he has a
certain mental disease that makes
MIN dangerous or potentially dan.
gerous."
| But we have yet to meet the doc.
tor who can give a convincing rea.
son for believing that this. that or
he other mental disease makes re
| patient SO dangerous. or potentially
| dangerous. that he must be locked
Gp. Eeryone is potentially danger.
| GUS
DR. Hickling tells us that a per.
iectIy sane man, with d quick. vic.
lent temper, may be potentially
more dangerous than q patient suf.
tertng from some form of potentially
dangerous mental tIisease-yet we
let one 60 and lock the other IN.
/ And we have yet to find a doctor
who can tell us what proportion of
all anti-social acts are committed by
insane persons-the doctors have no
more answer to this important cues.
ton than jack-rabbit.
i
Shadowy Testimony
The doctor testifies, cheerfully
enough, that patient is dangerous.
When you examine him on his
reason for declaring the patient
dangerous, he generally reduces his
testimony to potentially danger
Gus" And his reason for believing
theg<patient to be In this vaguely
menacing condition Is that he is
suffering from a psychosis that psy.
chiatrists admit to be dangerous.
To send man up on such testi-
mony is about the same as though
a criminalogist were, Ito come into
court and swear that a man is of
Z criminal type-his facial angle Is
80 degreeE in the shade and his
gnathic index is 107--that's a sure
sign he's born burglar-give him
IL years on suspicion observation-disclosures
PaH claim that man with those
symptoms is potential law.breaker.
No one should be committed to
the asylum as dangerous, without
an overt act of some kind to prove
his dangerous tendencies. There
should be something In the lunacy
law corresponding to the corpus
deficit in criminal procedure.
All comnitmets should originate
IN some court having criminal juris.
dlctlon, where the lquestion OF
whether the patient actually has
committed an anti-social act may
be determined. under the accepted