A number of high-profile crimes in New York City are spurring Gov. Kathy Hochul to propose a change to New York state law that would make it easier to involuntarily hospitalize people in need of mental health care.
Such proposals have reportedly circulated through Albany for years, but Gothamist reports that Hochul's could gain traction in light of the recent spate of violent incidents that have made headlines.
"I think there's a global acknowledgement that we have to do something," Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie told the outlet.
Heastie, a Democrat from the Bronx, reportedly holds considerable influence in the state legislature, which begins its annual session on Wednesday.
In the aftermath of a woman being burned to death on an F train in Brooklyn and a UnitedHealthcare CEO being assassinated in Manhattan last month, as well as a November stabbing spree in Manhattan that killed three, state lawmakers have begun to revisit the idea of changing the state's standards.
New York state law currently only allows someone to be hospitalized against their will if they are deemed to be a threat to themselves or others.
"As I always say, the devil's in the details," Heastie told Gothamist. "We have to see the language."
The state Office of Mental Health issued new guidance in 2022 that declared a person to be a danger to themselves if they "display an inability to meet basic living needs," which made it easier for police to detain people for evaluation who showed signs of mental illness on the streets or in the subways. Because the guidance is not law, it is more vulnerable to being challenged in court.
Last year's Supportive Interventions Act was a state bill that sought to codify the standard and expand the list of medical professionals permitted to perform evaluations.
The bill was never voted on in the Assembly or state Senate, however, and it's unclear if Hochul's proposal will be similar to that legislation or take a different tack.
The governor reportedly plans to go public with her proposal during her state budget address later this month.
Changing the state's legal standard won't solve the real problem of not having enough mental health resources for the people who need them, the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) said.
"Further criminalizing people with mental health issues … will not improve care or our housing shortage," Donna Lieberman, NYCLU's executive director, told Gothamist.
According to Brian Stettin, New York City Mayor Eric Adams' senior adviser on severe mental illness, hospitalization is "a means to an end, and that end is recovery." The city aims to connect people with the mental health services they need, he said.
"When you're encountering somebody in acute psychiatric crisis who can't recognize their own need for care, that long journey of recovery has to start with getting that person to a hospital," Stettin told Gothamist.
In addition to expanding the involuntary hospitalization law, Hochul said she also wants to make changes to Kendra's Law, a state statute that grants judges the authority to order assisted outpatient treatment.
"We need to ensure that those who are suffering from severe mental illness are getting the care they need and we're also protecting the innocent bystanders on our subways and on our streets," Hochul told reporters on Friday.
New York must do more to respond to serious mental health issues and the problem of homelessness, but Hochul is taking the wrong approach, Lieberman said.
"The change we need is not simply to lock more people away, especially those who pose no immediate threat to themselves or others," she said. "That doesn't make us safer; it distracts us from addressing the roots of our problems and it threatens New Yorkers' rights and liberties."