Edit: At 4pm Thursday he was released. We've returned to St.Louis.
I know a few of you have been waiting on me to get some things done. Amela, your second set will be sent in, Hammersmith, I will be checking in on the Survivor thread. I've been busy.
That doesn't really say it, though.
I spent yesterday waiting outside Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital, waiting for my rather sane friend to be released from the involuntary psychiatric confinement his rather insane family had inflicted on him. They arrived in St.Louis two days ago, told him to come with them for a 'family crisis' and then drove him to Chicago, away from all of his friends. They checked him in via an ER, told him that if he didn't sign in voluntarily, that they would take him involuntarily. They didn't tell him that he had to be given a lawyer when that happened. They didn't tell him that the moment he signed the voluntary form, his rights as he knew them would be ... crippled. Not gone, but crippled. They exist only at the discretion of a doctor he's never met before.
What they did tell him was that they would disown him if he didn't sign in for a year and a half of confinement. They did make him worry that his aging father's health wouldn't stand up to it. They told him they could hold him whether he wanted it or not, but it would go easier for him if he let them.
This started at noon two days ago. It took until 10 that night for the news to reach me. It took until 3 am to get to Chicago. A mutual friend put me and another friend up for the night, gave us net access to research the case. We got in touch with the ACLU, the Guardianship & Advocate Commission, and the local police department. The first was the most helpful, the last wanted nothing to do with it until such time as we could bury them under paper trail winding from St.Louis to them. We've started on that.
Yesterday, we spent the day as the hospital, outside, in their courtyard, waiting for visitors hours. They won't even let him speak on the phone except for certain time periods. We finally were able to talk to him at noon. We let him know that since he had been coerced into signing in as voluntary, that he could sign out by filling out the release form and conducting an exit interview. He tried.
They stalled him until 5, saying they couldn't get the doctor for the interview. (Another lie. A hospital must keep on call for each department a doctor competent to serve that department.) When they did, the doctor told him that he would be held involuntarily even though he didn't see a reason for him to be kept, until his family could be interviewed.
My companion tried to get the doctor's phone number. The nurse gave him a visitor's pass to the psychiatric ward instead. He went there. A nurse there saw that a visitor was there not during visitors hours. She called the hospital security. We'll now be arrested for trespass if we enter the hospital property.
This morning, the family interview was conducted. The doctor now says he won't release my friend until he speaks to his last counselor in St. Louis, one who's seen him less than an hour a year for the last 3 years. He says he'll probably try to make that phone call after business hours this afternoon.
Why did all of this come about? His family doesn't approve of how he spends his money. They don't approve of the girl he likes. They waited until she did something mean to him, and interpreted his depression as suicide and addiction and had his counselor recommend he be committed against his will.
I'm writing this from a Starbucks in the suburbs of western Chicago, via wireless. My net access opportunities may be spotty until this resolves. We're waiting around Chicago, waiting for his release. The moment that happens, we'll be back in the car with him on the way to St.Louis.
In the meantime, we're researching lawyers. We're checking in with him when we can. Things aren't as bad as they could be. They haven't forbidden him to receive calls yet. They're forbidden him to place long distance calls only, which does keep him from calling anyone in St.Louis neatly. They haven't tried to medicate him yet.
Worst case scenario at this point is that the doctor has to admit that he's being held against his will shortly, and then he has 5 more days before the hospital must prove that he doesn't meet the standards of O'Conner vs. Donaldson to be allowed into the outside world. (They have to prove that he can't take care of himself or be taken care of, or that he's dangerous. Neither of these proofs should be possible.)
In the meantime we wait. We wait, and we make many, many phone calls. The ACLU knows us well now. The police department of the 3rd district of St.Louis is the next to be made our friend. We'll take it from there.
I know a few of you have been waiting on me to get some things done. Amela, your second set will be sent in, Hammersmith, I will be checking in on the Survivor thread. I've been busy.
That doesn't really say it, though.
I spent yesterday waiting outside Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital, waiting for my rather sane friend to be released from the involuntary psychiatric confinement his rather insane family had inflicted on him. They arrived in St.Louis two days ago, told him to come with them for a 'family crisis' and then drove him to Chicago, away from all of his friends. They checked him in via an ER, told him that if he didn't sign in voluntarily, that they would take him involuntarily. They didn't tell him that he had to be given a lawyer when that happened. They didn't tell him that the moment he signed the voluntary form, his rights as he knew them would be ... crippled. Not gone, but crippled. They exist only at the discretion of a doctor he's never met before.
What they did tell him was that they would disown him if he didn't sign in for a year and a half of confinement. They did make him worry that his aging father's health wouldn't stand up to it. They told him they could hold him whether he wanted it or not, but it would go easier for him if he let them.
This started at noon two days ago. It took until 10 that night for the news to reach me. It took until 3 am to get to Chicago. A mutual friend put me and another friend up for the night, gave us net access to research the case. We got in touch with the ACLU, the Guardianship & Advocate Commission, and the local police department. The first was the most helpful, the last wanted nothing to do with it until such time as we could bury them under paper trail winding from St.Louis to them. We've started on that.
Yesterday, we spent the day as the hospital, outside, in their courtyard, waiting for visitors hours. They won't even let him speak on the phone except for certain time periods. We finally were able to talk to him at noon. We let him know that since he had been coerced into signing in as voluntary, that he could sign out by filling out the release form and conducting an exit interview. He tried.
They stalled him until 5, saying they couldn't get the doctor for the interview. (Another lie. A hospital must keep on call for each department a doctor competent to serve that department.) When they did, the doctor told him that he would be held involuntarily even though he didn't see a reason for him to be kept, until his family could be interviewed.
My companion tried to get the doctor's phone number. The nurse gave him a visitor's pass to the psychiatric ward instead. He went there. A nurse there saw that a visitor was there not during visitors hours. She called the hospital security. We'll now be arrested for trespass if we enter the hospital property.
This morning, the family interview was conducted. The doctor now says he won't release my friend until he speaks to his last counselor in St. Louis, one who's seen him less than an hour a year for the last 3 years. He says he'll probably try to make that phone call after business hours this afternoon.
Why did all of this come about? His family doesn't approve of how he spends his money. They don't approve of the girl he likes. They waited until she did something mean to him, and interpreted his depression as suicide and addiction and had his counselor recommend he be committed against his will.
I'm writing this from a Starbucks in the suburbs of western Chicago, via wireless. My net access opportunities may be spotty until this resolves. We're waiting around Chicago, waiting for his release. The moment that happens, we'll be back in the car with him on the way to St.Louis.
In the meantime, we're researching lawyers. We're checking in with him when we can. Things aren't as bad as they could be. They haven't forbidden him to receive calls yet. They're forbidden him to place long distance calls only, which does keep him from calling anyone in St.Louis neatly. They haven't tried to medicate him yet.
Worst case scenario at this point is that the doctor has to admit that he's being held against his will shortly, and then he has 5 more days before the hospital must prove that he doesn't meet the standards of O'Conner vs. Donaldson to be allowed into the outside world. (They have to prove that he can't take care of himself or be taken care of, or that he's dangerous. Neither of these proofs should be possible.)
In the meantime we wait. We wait, and we make many, many phone calls. The ACLU knows us well now. The police department of the 3rd district of St.Louis is the next to be made our friend. We'll take it from there.
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-P