Judge May Order Care for Patients

A San Diego Superior Court judge is considering a proposed court order directing the state’s top mental health official to treat 14 of the county’s psychiatric patients or face a contempt citation.

Judge Laura P. Hammes said Monday she will wait until Thursday to sign the order, in order to give the state attorney general’s office time to evaluate--and possibly challenge--its validity. But, in a Monday morning hearing, the judge made clear that she believes the 14 mental patients have a constitutional right to treatment.

The proposed order would give Dr. William (Bud) Mayer, the state’s director of mental health, 30 days to provide placement and treatment to 14 of the long-term patients who now occupy beds meant for short-term patients at the San Diego County Psychiatric Hospital. The proposed order says that, if Mayer fails to comply, he must appear personally in Hammes’ court to show why he should not be held in contempt.

The proposed court order was prompted by the case of Randall Gonzalez, a 23-year-old schizophrenic man who was released from the county mental hospital earlier this month after being given two bus tokens and an injection of an anti-schizophrenic drug.