Nancy Moran


Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee
Paula Hollinger, Chair
Senate Bill 742: Emergency Evaluation
Tuesday, March 18, 2003


PAULA HOLLINGER: That begins the hearing on Senate Bill 742. You're going to have an emergency petition to be submitted someplace ...

SENATOR McFADDEN: Somebody's system. I've got boatloads of papers. I get letters from inmates all the time. All I wish I would have done.

This is one of the advocates. She's been on this State for years.

PAULA HOLLINGER: Is this Ms. Kane?

SENATOR McFADDEN: No. Ms. Kane is coming in a moment.

PAULA HOLLINGER: So let's bring in Ms. Kane and Ms. Moran.

SENATOR McFADDEN: O.K., come on, Ms. Kane. This is where I say you pay now or you watch. They are late but guess what.

SENATOR McFADDEN: Senate 742, Emergency Evaluation. Quite simply this consumed. Not too [unintelligible] going on with people signing off that things are not correct. There's a real problem with that and Ms. Moran approached me and Delegate Clarence Davis for supporting the bill that prohibits a peace officer from enforcing a petition, requiring - no, I'm sorry - adding a special requirement to be included in a petition for emergency evaluation requiring a peace officer given the petition to explain the penalties to a petitioner.

As I said earlier, don't understand and when you don't understand and when you have literacy problems, you could be manipulated for the rest of your life. And this bill speaks to that issue.

Ms. Moran

NANCY MORAN: O.K. I am a victim of the University of Maryland Department of Psychiatry. I am bipolar, which is manic depression, was diagnosed in my early 20s - something you've got to live with and be medicated by and I got mixed up with the University of Maryland because I didn't have any money and was eligible for a $2 copay.

And I tell you right now I have a private doctor $125 - and it's worth it.

Anyway, I gave you a bunch of handouts and you can see these perjured petitions towards the end. Let's see, Petition for Emergency Evaluation ...

I tell you I got up late that day. I had a social worker appointment and there was a driver from a group called Harbor City Unlimited by the name of Dwain who is a thug. He's a driver, he's a high school graduate. He has no advanced training. He started his A.A. last semester.

He came to my door to drive me to the social worker appointment. And I said, I'm not going. I got up late. I was wearing a very thin robe. And, you know, contact me later. I'll call you or something like that. All right.

So this document did not come in to my possession for a year, but I found out that Shantisse White, supposedly, under the penalty of perjury, you know, with her signature and all that. She got the date right.

I never met her. I never heard of her. She was unknown to me. I didn't know she existed. And here she's representing herself as a Rehab Coordinator. And the social worker - she's a "therapist", too. What's an LCPC, I don't know. I don't know this person and I didn't go to the social worker appointment. They got the drugs wrong. And they put in: delirious, paranoia and poor judgment because they had nothing else to say. And then, Delirium - I could die from alcohol withdrawal. O.K. I hadn't had, by that time, I hadn't had a drink in ten days and Dwain, the thug, knew it. And Dwain reported to her. O.K. Shantisse White.

Some hours later, 5 o'clock at night I had a teapot on the stove. I was going to make a cup of tea. I was barefoot and I still had that robe on and, in your own home you're allowed not to be dressed in your own home. The doorbell rang and they said "POLICE". So I have no problem with police. I opened the door and they rushed at me. They had sent five squad cars AND a paddy wagon. They cuffed me from behind. They threw my trench coat over my shoulders and they put these [fuzzy bedroom slippers] on my feet. And I got carted not to Central Booking but to University of Maryland Emergency Room where I was - next sheet - the Petition says she's delusional but she's not delusional. The Petition says she should be treated on an outpatient basis. Time: 1:30 am. In other words, this is the wee hours in the morning.

At 2:30, an hour after this document was done. At 2:30, they said you have to leave now. Put your coat back on. I had two sets of keys with me. The cops made sure I had two sets of keys. But I didn't have a dime - not a cent. Nothing. Just keys, coat, robe and these [a pair of fuzzy slippers].

So 2:30 in the morning. West Baltimore. Greene Street. I walked home. No social worker popped out of the wall and said do you need ride. You need cab fare. You need a bus token. How are you getting home. Unstable, too.

That was the Emergency Petition of March 7th.

All of this is written down. I reiterated all of this. And I DO have a 55-page Complaint into the Department of Justice. And that's without the exhibits.

The next morning - Well I got home, set the burglar alarm, fed the dogs, fixed myself a meal, took a long bath, washed my hair and went to sleep. At dawn. I woke up at 1:30 and Dwain was at the door. I let him in and he said, "Leave the door open." O.K., I'll leave the door open and a nice looking young man stood on the step. Oh, is this what we were expecting. I thought he was a friend of Dwain's.

But hidden behind the door were two additional females. On older one, Diane Ossip, and a younger one. And they popped themselves into my house and made themselves comfortable in my living room. Sat down, no invitation. And, anyway Diane Ossip said this is the Crisis response team. (I get angry when I recount this story.) We're the Crisis Response Team, I said, "Where's the crisis?"

The young man said, "We're here to help you!" I said, "Can you fold and sort laundry?"

"You don't understand, we're here to help you."

Diane Ossip, the one in the middle, said, "Get dressed." And that were her tone of voice.

SENATOR McFADDEN: (whisper)

NANCY MORAN: O.K. I will wrap it up. I get going.

This Petition is not only perjured - totally perjured - but the drugs listed deliberately hide the fact I was taking Pamelor, which causes mania. We've got a corrupt doctor not just Ossip but Dr. Balis, a very corrupt doctor. Incidently -

SENATOR McFADDEN: (more whisper)

NANCY MORAN: O.K. Dwain had reported I had barricaded myself in the house. And Diane Ossip said I was caught wandering the streets alone at night in a nightgown. And that goes to the resident on duty who relies on ...

SENATOR McFADDEN: (more whisper)

NANCY MORAN: Oh. Important! Diane Ossip gave the policeman a petition that said, "psychotic, may harm herself". Period. That's all she gave the police officer. This Petition that you have in your package was done later, was done after. And didn't show up until the Involuntary Commitment hearing. And you can see my Table of Contents to my federal case. You will notice that I have a case.

If that's not considered malpractice. I filed a Petition for Habeas Corpus which was ignored and I filed with the MHA [Mental Hygiene Administration] Office of Quality Assurance which was ignored. I've talked with malpractice lawyers. I'm O.K. now, I can talk now, I can present a case, therefore it's not malpractice. What is it?

SENATOR McFADDEN: Thank you, Ms. Moran.

LAURA KANE: Thank you madam Chair, members of the Committee. My name is Laura Kane and I'm an attorney with the Maryland Disability Law Center, where the State designated a protection and advocacy system for individuals with mental illness in the State of Maryland. And we support Senate Bill 742 because it offers some protections to individuals against the use of the emergency petition process for improper purposes.

We believe that it is particularly important as the legislature broadens the standard for petitions that if we take away some of the civil rights of people to be free from involuntary detention for whatever period of time that we ought to at least add some protections against abuse.

This should not be viewed this bill or our support of it as an indictment against the integrity of all mental health professionals because we know the majority would never make false allegations in a petition.

But abuses have occurred over the years and as Ms. Moran's story indicates her personal situation, we have also heard from several individuals who have had several instances or experiences as Ms. Moran did. And although the individuals in the cases that we heard about were not they were released after evaluation because the allegations in the petition were not true, they were very traumatized by the experience of being taken out of their home in the middle of the night, handcuffed by the police, taken to the Emergency Room and being forced to sit there for 6 to 40 hours and sometimes longer -

NANCY MORAN: Paddy wagon on your back -

LAURA KANE: And what happens too is that once the doctor says you don't meet the commitment standard, the person has to find their own way home. And we've had other instances with people in their nightclothes and they have no money and they have to find their own way home.

We've also heard from residents in community programs who have told us that the staff used the threat of the emergency petition process as a means or as a tool of coercion to get the person to comply with program rules. In some instances, they actually use the petition process to take the person to the Emergency Room as alleged by the individual as a means of retaliation.

Finally and most disturbingly, we know of many instances in which staff at community programs have used the petition process to dump challenging clients in the emergency room. And most often this occurs with clients which have a dual diagnosis of mental illness and mental retardation, developmental disability or traumatic brain injury. And what happens they take the person to the Emergency Room with this petition they've authorized and then they leave. And when the Hospital calls to say this person doesn't meet the criteria, come pick them up, the program says, you know, we're not going to. We're going to discharge this person. And then those individuals get stuck in Emergency Rooms and the Hospitals understandably don't want to send them off into the street without anyplace to stay or any means to secure shelter.

We need to ... I think this bill is narrowly drawn. It's just a way to remind the players in the process in the importance and what the impact of what their actions are. And we really urge the Committee to pass favorably upon this bill as a way to protect some very vulnerable citizens. Thank you.

PAULA HOLLINGER: Thank you. Any questions in this vein. Senator Grosfeld, sorry.

SENATOR GROSFELD: On page 3 of the bill, lines 4 and 5. The penalties for perjury under Section 9-101.

NANCY MORAN: Yes.

SENATOR GROSFELD: I'm looking at ... This is a question to Ms. Kane. I'm looking at the Petition, the sample petition that was provided by Ms. Moran, and there is a statement though it's written pretty small, but under number 11, I hereby certify and declare under the penalties of perjury. Is this perjury statement on the petition not the same one as the one that is stated on page 3? Is there some other area of the law in which a penalty of perjury is written? I'm just inquiring because I don't know if it is.

LAURA KANE: It is my understanding that this doesn't add penalties of perjury. It simply requires the officer to explain ... If you are looking at the third page, that are penalties of perjury under that section of criminal law article. It's the same.

SENATOR GROSFELD: O.K., So it's the same.

LAURA KANE: Yes.

SENATOR GROSFELD: So they would be signing a statement where it says they are signing under the penalty of perjury but this legislation is also asking the peace officer to advise them that they're signing under the penalty of perjury.

LAURA KANE: That's my understanding of it, yes.

NANCY MORAN: No civil attorney would touch this case. I've called these guys and they can't work for money. So what I can do is show up at EHE and grouse.

SENATOR GROSFELD: One more question, please. Are you familiar with any situations in which peace officers have had reason to believe there was either error or falsification in a petition and refused to serve a petition?

LAURA KANE: No. I'm not aware of any case in which they don't. I think once the petition is issued, they just carry it out. They believe it is understandably their duty simply to carry it out.

NANCY MORAN: Let me add a point, there. On March 7th, they sent five squad cars and a paddy wagon. On March 8th - Diane Ossip - they sent one guy in one car and the first thing he did when he got to my house was to throw them out. And he gave me a ride - I got dressed. Things like that - got keys, credit cards and all. And then I went in the front seat of the squad car with him, talking to him as he drove me to University of Maryland Emergency Room. I had my Blue Cross card on me.

SENATOR McFADDEN: Thank you. Madam Chair. I appreciate it.

PAULA HOLLINGER: Franklin Goldstein followed by Katie Crane ...

FRANKLIN GOLDSTEIN: Madam Chair, Members of the Committee, Franklin Goldstein an attorney from Baltimore representing the Maryland Psychiatric Society and Suburban Psychiatric Society.

I believe this Committee had a bill earlier this session dealing with emergency evaluations. Emergency evaluations are done when as it states 21 to 24 of the bill, "If the Petitioner has reason to believe that the individual has a mental disorder, there is clear and imminent danger of an individual's doing bodily harm to the individual or another."

It seems to me and Senator [unintelligible] mentioned it, that you are signing under the penalties of perjury and if someone does perjure themselves in a petition, there are certainly avenues both criminal and civilly. But there are times when people present a danger to themselves or to others and that's why this has been in the law for a very long time and some people have felt that the standards are too tough so families have felt that they have somewhere that's really a bad situation and there are so many safeguards as it is that is has to go to an immediate evaluation and we do not believe that the law should be further changed.

There's one other thing here. It says a physician "who has actually examined the individual" in an emergency petition before they do an emergency petition. You may have a situation where someone calls up on the phone and threatens to kill themselves or threatens to kill a member of their family. The idea is just to get that person to someone who can really evaluate them and know whether or not they present a danger, but certainly, unless there is reasonable grounds to believe that they are a clear and imminent danger, then the petition would be improper and whatever legal action would be made.

So we would respectfully suggest that the system does work at the present time. That this would merely cloud the issue both for the benefit of the people who are subject to the emergency petition and who may need to be protected themselves from themselves and for other members of their family that may need protection from this individual.

So we will respectfully request an unfavorable report. I would be happy to answer any questions.

PAULA HOLLINGER: So there are no questions, Committee?

KATIE CRANE: My name is Katie Crane. I am here to represent the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill in Maryland. NAMI Maryland is strongly opposed to Senate Bill 742. Among other changes, the bill would add requirements to a petition for Emergency Evaluation requiring a peace officer who is given the petition to explain the penalties of perjury and would prohibit the peace officer from enforcing the petition from the peace officer quote has substantial reason to believe that the petition contains a perjured statement. End of quote.

The bill also contains statements that the bill may not preclude prosecution of the petitioner for false imprisonment or for civil remedies of the person evaluated.

Although the intention of this bill is well-meaning, such changes would create a number of legal and practical problems. Please refer to NAMI's written testimony for detailed rebuttal of each of these problems. The protections of abuse are there in the law already. NAMI Maryland in no way supports or condones the act of perjury by any person who files an emergency petition for evaluation on behalf of an individual. However the current law adequately addresses this issue by requiring that the petition form contains a notice that the petitioner makes the statement under the penalty of perjury. In fact, under State law it is a misdemeanor to make false application for certification with penalties that could include up to two years of imprisonment in addition to criminal penalties, the violator is liable for civil damages.

The requirement that the peace officer explains the penalties of perjury for the petitioner is unnecessary, redundant and harassing to those who are seeking help for a person in grave need of treatment. A petition that is initiated by a lay person must be first presented to a Court for review and is only endorsed if the Court finds probable cause to believe that the requirements for admission are met. In such cases, the petitioner already has testified and has been subject to the scrutiny before the peace officers receives any petition. If the judge does not find probably cause, then no further action may be taken under the petition.

The problem with the thrust of this whole bill is that it could have a chilling effect on professionals and individuals who need to file petitions regarding a mentally ill individual although they have no intention of committing perjury, they may feel so intimidated by all these threats of legal action against them that they will tolerate dangerous situations created by the mentally ill person and this could be dangerous for everyone else involved.

The story we just heard by this woman sounds as if something went quite wrong in the process and it is very incredible. But there is adequate remedies in the laws that stands.

From my personal experience as a family member who has had to petition a mentally ill young adult child, and as a NAMI member, an educator who has talked to many families, I can avow that it's a very onerous duty which most delay making until all other options are tried.

This bill would add a level of intimidation to the process and increase the chances that families will wait until it is too late.

Thank you very much.

DINA KRAGEAN: My name is Dina Kragean and I'm a civil rights attorney and I suffer from manic-depression.

I oppose Senate Bill 742 which requires that a peace officer who is given a petition for emergency evaluation to explain the penalties of perjury to a petitioner and prohibits a peace officer from enforcing a petition when the peace officer had substantial reason to believe that a petition contains a perjured statement.

This requirement is unnecessary, redundant and harassing to those who are seeking help for a person in need of treatment. Under State law, it is already a misdemeanor to make a false application or a certificate in connection with an admission or detention of an individual. Violation of this law is punishable up to $5,000 and/or two years imprisonment. That is from the General Health Code section of the Maryland Annotated Code Section 10-1002(b).

In addition to criminal penalties, the violation is liable for civil damages. Senate Bill 742 should not be passed for one major reason.

The problem with the whole thrust of this bill is that it could have a chilling effect on professionals and individuals who need to file petitions regarding a mentally ill individual.

Two months ago, my father had the heartbreaking job of obtaining an emergency evaluation for me which came only in the nick of time. I had gone off my medication and was driving a car that had no insurance and no tags. Also, I got myself involved in some legal entanglements. He successfully obtained an emergency petition but luckily no one was injured.

In 1992, I was at the peak of my illness. I was not so lucky. In 1992, I stole my mother's car, drove from Potomac Maryland to Solomon's Island Maryland, checked myself into a Holiday Inn and tried to commit suicide with an overdose of lithium. As a result of my severity of my illness, I did not understand that at the time I was ill. I was suffering from a lack of insight or anasignosia(?) which is a medically based condition. People with this syndrome do not believe that they are ill despite evidence of the contrary according to Xavier Hamandor who is a Director of Psychology at New York's Psychiatric Institute.

My father obtained an emergency evaluation however had SB 742 been law, he would have felt intimidated by the threat of legal action against him even if he had no intention to commit perjury.

SB 742 is a dangerous piece of legislation to pass. Many people who suffer from mental illness, like myself, who have suffered from anasignosia may not be getting proper and timely treatment.

Please vote against SB 742.

PAULA HOLLINGER: That concludes the testimony on Senate Bill 742.

Nancy Moran
Independent Prisoner Advocate

Email address: advocate611@yahoo.com


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