In early September, video of the light rail stabbing of 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska shocked the nation and led to many from all sides of the aisle to demand answers on how an unprovoked, horrific attack could occur between two strangers — and what changes are need to prevent a tragedy like this from happening again.
One approach that leaders have turned to is the state’s involuntary commitment process — a legal process to provide treatment for people with severe mental illness who pose a danger to themselves or others. It allows someone to be placed in a treatment facility even if they don’t want to go.
Last Friday, Iryna’s Law, a bipartisan crime bill named for Iryna Zarutska, was signed by North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein. The measure requires magistrates and judges to follow a new procedure to order evaluations for potential involuntary commitment for defendants believed to be “a danger to themselves or others.”
A day earlier, North Carolina House Speaker Destin Hall announced the formation of a new Select Committee on Involuntary Commitment and Public Safety, which will study and make recommendations on the involuntary commitment process.
Involuntary commitments have been on a continuous rise, with petitions filed in county clerk of court offices up at least 97% between 2011 and 2021, according to NC Health News investigation. Only a fraction of those people actually end up making it to a psychiatric inpatient bed, according to a report this summer by Disability Rights NC. That same report considered involuntary commitment in North Carolina as “overused, misused and harmful.”
We examine how the involuntary commitment process works, why it’s used and where critics say it can go wrong.
GUESTS:
Mark Botts, associate professor of public law and government, UNC School of Government
Corye Dunn, director of public policy, Disability Rights North Carolina
Robert (Bob) Ward, retired assistant Mecklenburg County public defender
