I expect to send this petition to state Senator Chris Harris, in Texas. I would also like to send a copy to Rep. Burt Solomons in my district. Please help change these laws! It is in regard to changing and or enacting new legislation that can give families the ability to have a person who is obviously mentally ill be either committed involuntarily for EVALUATION by a psychiatrist or at a hospital. This involves adults who now have the freedom to refuse treatment. There are many mentally ill people wandering the streets today. A great tragedy has occurred n a family I know involving the son who killed and dismembered someone recently. Had his family been able to have him committed for evaluation, perhaps this tragedy could have been avoided. Its important to do something to change things before this happens again. It has happened before and will continue to happen if things don't change! Please consider signing and passing this on, this in no way would be a violation of individual freedoms. I am talking about the obviously dangerously mentally ill individuals that are out there. Many have been harmed by these people because the current laws do not appear to allow families to take action. In Texas, a family can request a competency hearing; however, it would cost the family a fair amount of money with no guarantee what a judge would do. In this case, the family did not have the money required to start this process. The cost is prohibitive for a lot of people. They looked into all the possibilities they were aware of. I realize the dangerously mentally ill are a small percentage of our population, but if you could save even one life with a new law, wouldn't it be worth it It could be you or your loved one victimized in the future. Many mentally ill people will not take their meds or seek help for themselves. In most cases, they cannot even acknowledge that they are in fact mentally ill. Its a complicated issue, but I do believe families of those with adult mentally ill family members should be able to act on their behalf because they are in fact incompetent to take care of themselves. The laws changed years ago, before that it was possible to do something. We need some more balance with this issue. This case was also profiled on The First 48 on A & E in January of 2009, episode number 123, tittled Gone. It may be periodically repeated if more information is desired on this case or possibly viewed on the website for The First 48.

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