There are no easy decisions when judges are determining whether someone experiencing a mental health crisis should be held at a hospital against their wishes.
“It’s always hard,” said Judge John McHaleone of three judicial officers dedicated to presiding over cases in King County’s Involuntary Treatment Act (ITA) court.
In some ways, the proceedings in McHale’s courtroom look like any criminal trial: There’s a judge, a prosecutor and a defense attorney. But the person whose future is at stake is not accused of a crime.
“It’s somebody whose only crime is being mentally ill,” said Guin Raikes, who works as a public