What laws were passed that shut down the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum and what did they do?
“Passage of law(s) On March 5, 1929, a human sterilization act was signed into law (Landman, p. 91). This law was passed soon after the Supreme Court decision of Buck v. Bell in favor of compulsory sterilization in Virginia (Paul, p. 535)” (“West Virginia”).
Compulsory sterilization, which is aslo known as forced or coerced sterilization, is when any government-run organization removes someones ability to reproduce, done chemically or surgically eithout ones permission.
“Gov. Reagan signed the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act in 1967, all but ending the practice of institutionalizing patients against their will” (“Hard Truths About Deinstitutionalization, Then and Now”).
The Lanterman-Petris-Short Act, although passed in California, set precedent for mental hospitals nowadays. Institutionalizing means to place or keep someone in a residential institution (the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum) whether they want to or not.
What other laws were put in places that protected the rights of deemed “crazy” people, and how did they benefit the people?
“The Community Mental Health Act... mandated the creation of community mental health centers that were supposed to take the place of hospitals, but only half the planned centers were ever built, none was fully funded, and the funding wasn’t available over the long term” (Scott, Maiken).
The Community Mental Health Act was passed to make mental health facilities better for its patients, but it ended up doing nothing. The act did not benefit any mentally ill people.