Judge Steven Leifman

Yeah, I have two stories. And the first one starts when I was 17 years old. I was an intern for a state legislator here in Miami, and he had received a letter from the then editor of the Miami Herald newspaper. about a young man who was in our local state psychiatric hospital. This is 48 years ago.

Yeah, I have two stories. And the first one starts when I was 17 years old. I was an intern for a state legislator here in Miami, and he had received a letter from the then editor of the Miami Herald newspaper. about a young man who was in our local state psychiatric hospital. This is 48 years ago.

Yeah, I have two stories. And the first one starts when I was 17 years old. I was an intern for a state legislator here in Miami, and he had received a letter from the then editor of the Miami Herald newspaper. about a young man who was in our local state psychiatric hospital. This is 48 years ago.

This is the height of institutionalization, and it's the height of the abuses that went on at state hospitals. So I guess being the low guy in the totem pole, I got asked to go to the state hospital to investigate. The editor of the Miami Herald, who wrote the letter to the legislator, raised concerns that there was abuse going on at this facility and that this young man was being abused as well.

This is the height of institutionalization, and it's the height of the abuses that went on at state hospitals. So I guess being the low guy in the totem pole, I got asked to go to the state hospital to investigate. The editor of the Miami Herald, who wrote the letter to the legislator, raised concerns that there was abuse going on at this facility and that this young man was being abused as well.

This is the height of institutionalization, and it's the height of the abuses that went on at state hospitals. So I guess being the low guy in the totem pole, I got asked to go to the state hospital to investigate. The editor of the Miami Herald, who wrote the letter to the legislator, raised concerns that there was abuse going on at this facility and that this young man was being abused as well.

So I walked through the front doors of a state psychiatric hospital 48 years ago. And it was a scene out of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Funny in a way, I'm a 21-year-old son. I would never allow him to go. I can't believe they sent a 17-year-old kid. Anyway, I found Jonathan, the young man I was looking for. He was in all four-point restraints.

So I walked through the front doors of a state psychiatric hospital 48 years ago. And it was a scene out of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Funny in a way, I'm a 21-year-old son. I would never allow him to go. I can't believe they sent a 17-year-old kid. Anyway, I found Jonathan, the young man I was looking for. He was in all four-point restraints.

So I walked through the front doors of a state psychiatric hospital 48 years ago. And it was a scene out of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Funny in a way, I'm a 21-year-old son. I would never allow him to go. I can't believe they sent a 17-year-old kid. Anyway, I found Jonathan, the young man I was looking for. He was in all four-point restraints.

He was being injected with probably Thorazine, which was the only antipsychotic at the time. He was screaming and moaning and crying. And it was a scene out of a horror movie. So I started to look at his records. This is well before HIPAA. I started to talk to the staff, although I will candidly tell you I had no idea what I was looking at. I was 17 and knew nothing.

He was being injected with probably Thorazine, which was the only antipsychotic at the time. He was screaming and moaning and crying. And it was a scene out of a horror movie. So I started to look at his records. This is well before HIPAA. I started to talk to the staff, although I will candidly tell you I had no idea what I was looking at. I was 17 and knew nothing.

He was being injected with probably Thorazine, which was the only antipsychotic at the time. He was screaming and moaning and crying. And it was a scene out of a horror movie. So I started to look at his records. This is well before HIPAA. I started to talk to the staff, although I will candidly tell you I had no idea what I was looking at. I was 17 and knew nothing.

But what I did find that shocked me, and when I spoke to the staff, it turns out that he was not psychotic at all. He was autistic.

But what I did find that shocked me, and when I spoke to the staff, it turns out that he was not psychotic at all. He was autistic.

But what I did find that shocked me, and when I spoke to the staff, it turns out that he was not psychotic at all. He was autistic.

Here they were injecting him with antipsychotic medications.

Here they were injecting him with antipsychotic medications.

Here they were injecting him with antipsychotic medications.

While I was there, there was a group of advocates touring the facility, and they found out that there was a representative from a legislator's office, albeit a 17-year-old who had no knowledge and no power. But they insisted I take a tour of the facility. They brought me downstairs to what looked like a dungeon. It was like a jail cell. And I found these seven men.

While I was there, there was a group of advocates touring the facility, and they found out that there was a representative from a legislator's office, albeit a 17-year-old who had no knowledge and no power. But they insisted I take a tour of the facility. They brought me downstairs to what looked like a dungeon. It was like a jail cell. And I found these seven men.