TITLE: Involuntary Incarceration and Trump Executive Order

There were a few articles this week I want to call attention to. It was a big topic in the news and I have not seen much about it on most of the lists I am on.

Trump signed an executive order making involuntary hospital commitments easier for the mentally ill. It also contained directives to pull Federal funding from organizations that resist.

This is a nuanced issue with positive and negative sides.

First I want to call attention to an article from a neurologist explaining how this can be a good thing and what her brother with schizophrenia (and her family) have gone through:

I’m a neurologist. My brother has schizophrenia. I support making involuntary commitment easier
Leaving people to deteriorate in public, untreated, is not progressive — it’s paralyzing
https://www.statnews.com/2025/07/29/trump-involuntary-commitment-serious-mental-illness-homelessness-treatment-civil-liberties/

"My older brother has schizophrenia. He’s never believed he’s sick, refuses treatment, and has spent years bouncing between emergency rooms, jail cells, and the streets of Los Angeles. To the system, he’s “unhoused” and “noncompliant.” We doctors call it anosognosic, pathologically unable to recognize his own illness. That isn’t defiance. It’s brain disease."

She goes on to hope that the necessary massive increase in funding required to do this right will be made available.

Most articles I see are rather negative on the idea:

Trump seeks to make it easier for people with mental illnesses to be involuntarily committed
Critics say the approach, aimed at ending homelessness, lacks sufficient evidence
https://www.statnews.com/2025/07/24/mental-illness-trump-executive-order-involuntary-committments/

"President Trump wants to make it easier to involuntarily treat people with serious mental illnesses as part of a bid to end homelessness across the United States, according to a new order signed Thursday."

"The administration wants to expand involuntary commitments by reversing judicial policies that restrict the use of the controversial approach and by providing grants, legal advice, and other assistance to local and state governments. The order also directs several agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services, to audit grant recipients to ensure no money flows to organizations that promote policies that clash with the administration’s stated values."
...
"Many public health professionals... suggested that involuntary treatment lacks sufficient evidence for its expansion and would only dissuade individuals from seeking care."
...
"One of the biggest changes would be a shift away from a “housing first” approach to homelessness pursued by the Biden administration... Under the order, to get people off the street, local and state officials are supposed to prioritize involuntary outpatient treatments..."

Many organizations -- like NAMI and the ACLU -- are condemning the move, often seeing it more as a way to criminalize being homeless:
https://www.nami.org/press-releases/nami-statement-on-executive-order-targeting-homelessness-and-criminalizing-mental-illness/
https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/aclu-condemns-trump-executive-order-targeting-disabled-and-unhoused-people

The White House "Fact Sheet":
Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Takes Action to End Crime and Disorder on America’s Streets
https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/07/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-takes-action-to-end-crime-and-disorder-on-americas-streets/

As for my take on it (if it matters) -- I would be on the fence about this under another administration. Under the Trump Regime I am highly skeptical that funding for GOOD QUALITY mental health assistance during commitment will be forthcoming. The funding IMHO does seem to be there for a massive increase in incarceration capacity. If I wanted to get speculative and paranoid (??) I might start wondering what the criteria in the future will be for finding someone to be "mentally ill" and in need of incarceration. This has been done in other fascist states before.

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