Rich Lowry

About the author: Rich Lowry is the editor of the National Review magazine.

In the past few decades numerous state psychiatric hospitals have closed, leaving many severely mentally ill people with grossly inadequate care. Most of these untreated people end up homeless or in prison, posing threats both to themselves and to their communities. These people are too sick to recognize that they need mental health treatment. Therefore, they need to receive involuntary treatment so that they have a chance to recover and escape their misery.

Iencounter the mentally ill every day. I step over them on the sidewalks, I ignore their rantings, I look the other way when they rummage through the trash. I do this not because I'm hardhearted, but because I live in New York...