Why is CCHR opposed to involuntary commitment?
Commitment laws have been exploited for every wrong reason: financial, sexual, political, business profit, inheritance and even governmental secrecy. They are a deprivation of human and constitutional rights. Once committed—and declared incompetent—the person can lose the right to vote, drive a car, join the military, have control over their financial and business affairs and even practice their profession. The victim is also subjected to physically harmful treatments from which they may never recover. There would be public outcry if someone ran amok in the street, grabbing citizens because he disapproved of their behavior, locking them up and submitting them to mind-altering drugs or electric shock. The perpetrator would be criminally charged and jailed for many years. But because the perpetrator is a psychiatrist, his brutal acts are cloaked in terms such as “treatment,” “mental health care,” or “preventing the person from doing harm,” and are sanctioned by law. Consequently, the sys
