We Asked County Candidates to Stake Out a Position on Forcibly Committing People to the State Hospital

A proposal to expand the criteria for civil commitment divides the District 1 candidates.

Meghan Moyer (Whitney McPhie)
By Lucas Manfield

The future of civil commitment in Oregon has divided candidates for the Multnomah County Commission. Leaders across the river in Portland City Hall, including Mayor Ted Wheeler, have been pushing for years to make it easier to force people who are dangerously mentally ill into treatment. They argue that the current laws, which are similar to those of other states across the country, are too restrictive.

Disability advocates push back, noting that the state already lacks sufficient treatment options. The state psychiatric hospital is so full it has largely stopped accepting civilly committed patients.

Regardless, the number of people the state civilly commits each year is plummeting. And now, as WW reported earlier this summer, the local affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness is pushing a bill to expand the criteria for civil commitment.

Last week, the two candidates to replace County Commissioner Sharon Meieran in District 1 visited WW’s office to seek our endorsement. We asked Meghan Moyer, the policy director at Disability Rights Oregon, and Vadim Mozyrsky, an administrative law judge, for their take on NAMI’s proposal on civil commitments.

They disagreed. Watch the video below:

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