OPPOSITION to AB 1897 - Expansion of Involuntary Psychiatric Detention
History shows us that vague laws allowing for indefinite detention are inevitably weaponized against marginalized communities, racial minorities, and political dissidents. AB 1897 is dangerous because it allows the state to indefinitely incarcerate people based solely on a psychiatrist's prediction of what they might do. By lowering the standard from "substantial danger" to a subjective "threatv" this bill creates a "pre-crime" loophole that bypasses the justice system's protections to lock away any "undesirables" that the state deems non-compliant.