BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- The Louisiana Senate has voted unanimously to require outpatient treatment for mentally ill patients whose failure to take medicine has led them to jail.
New Orleans Democrat Cheryl Gray says her bill was inspired by the death of a New Orleans police officer who approached a mentally ill man who often refused to take his medication.
The proposal passed 37-0. It is based on a similar law in New York that supporters say has led to a decrease in hospitalizations and arrests of the mentally ill.
The bill is part of Gov. Bobby Jindal's package of mental health bills and lays out detailed criteria for a judge to order a patient into the outpatient treatment.
Patients must be older than 18. They also must have either a history of violence or two documented instances within the previous three years where failure to comply with mental health treatment led to hospitalization or jail.
It now goes to the House for more debate.
