Editor,

Jessie Stensland’s article about the difficulty our county jail has in handling mentally disturbed inmates is excellent reporting of a situation our state government must address and take responsibility for because counties can’t.

Based on recent articles on Seattle TV news, the problem is being made worse by current efforts to close state mental institutions that have been viewed as inhumane institutions where patients were treated worse than animals.

The truth is that many severe mental patients act worse than animals and providing the required care and facilities for them is no picnic.

Discerning between simple criminal behavior and systemic mental illness is difficult too. Some argue they are one and the same. Then too, who should take responsibility for the mentally disabled? No one wants to.

Why should decent people — jail personnel or hospital nurses — be required to put up with inmates who abuse them? How about the imposition to other nearby inmates exposed to fouled air and insanitary conditions caused by someone else’s out-of-control behavior? What if we had to empty our jails and turn inmates loose because of their 8th Amendment rights against cruel and unusual punishment?

Washington state needs to step up to the rail, adequately provide for, and properly deal with the mentally ill. Mental illness comes in all shapes, forms and degrees from simple misbehavior to criminal violence, from the PTSD disoriented to the fecal throwers Jessie Stensland reported.

We need a serious conversation to establish definitions and rules that are reasonable, understood, comprehensive and consistent. It’s a difficult challenge, but we must dig into the resources of wisdom and deal with it.

Al Williams

Oak Harbor