Judge Milton Mack

The harm doesn't have to be immediate.

So, for example, we had a case in Michigan at the trial, the mental health trial.

The doctor testified that the individual was not presently at risk of harm.

However, he had a history of stopping taking his medicine.

And the doctor testified that he could be expected to stop taking his medicine in three to six months.

And he would then be at risk of harm, harm in the form of drug abuse, suicide, increased risk for dementia, and so forth.

And the court of appeals said, yeah, that's good enough.

But how, looking at the total circumstance, would you get somebody into treatment?

What we've done in Michigan is we actually have a system of mediation for mental health cases, which I think is kind of unique.

Works best for petitions where you ask for outpatient treatment only.

So we have a system in Michigan now where you can file a petition with the probate court, don't go to the hospital, don't go to the police department.

The person, let me put it this way.

When I'm hearing cases in probate court, and I'd ask family members, when did he stop taking his medication?

And they say six months ago, eight months ago.

We all know where this is going.

We're just waiting for the magic moment.

Well, no, we don't have to wait anymore.

So you can file a petition with the probate court and get a hearing on whether to order outpatient treatment.

And then as an extra tool, instead of going to a full hearing, you can say, let's go to mediation.

So we have mediation centers across the state.