Jindal unveils plan to aid mentally ill- March 25, 2008
The Times-Picuyane
Laura Maggi
Potentially violent patients suffering from mental illness who are vulnerable to slipping through the cracks of a fractured post-Katrina health care system would be more effectively treated under a proposed law that gives judges the authority to mandate treatment for certain people, Gov. Bobby Jindal and other state leaders said Monday.
Jindal unveiled a package of legislation at a news conference in New Orleans, including a proposal to require involuntary outpatient mental health treatment that was prompted by the late January shooting of New Orleans police officer Nicola Cotton. Cotton was killed with her own gun, allegedly by a man described by his family as a paranoid schizophrenic in and out of mental institutions his entire adult life.
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