Re: [Paddlewise] huh? what island?

Forced incarceration for medical reasons has a long and illustrious history
in the USA. That... and much worse. For as long as we've had a legal system
it's been possible for medical doctors to send people into mental facilities
without their consent and often on just that one doctor's opinion. Then
there was the guy who built a career out of a performing quick lobotomies by
driving modified icepicks through the corners of the eyes. Right up into the
1960s.

One reason psychologists became popular was that a patient could open up to
them without the risk of finding themselves on a one-way trip to the nearest
asylum. No "MD" degree meant they couldn't call the cops to haul you away.
This was of serious concern to wealthy families who could - and frequently
did - find themselves on the wrong end of an endless stream of medical
bills.

Kayakers are probably more at risk of being committed than most of the
population... with - and this is just a guess - creekboaters at the top of
the list.


Craig Jungers
Royal City, WA

On 9/20/06, Matt Broze <mkayaks_at_oz.net> wrote:
>
> Craig wrote:
>
> >Going ashore on McNeil Island could be dangerous to your health. >That
> island (once a Federal pentitentiary) is now the facility where
>
>they keep incurable sex predators in medical isolation after their >prison
> terms are up.




> A friend who is a public defender had already told me about this, so I
> know Craig is correct (and that it has gotten the Supreme Court's blessing).
> While I certainly have no love for sexual predators, when they come for you
> in order to prevent you from committing a crime sometime off in the future,
> remember that you had this early warning and did nothing about it.
>
> Matt Broze
> www.marinerkayaks.com
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