> Is it really bad to jail mentally ill homeless man? One point is that should we forcibly imprison someone who has not committed any real crime? Or even put

> Is it really bad to jail mentally ill homeless man? One point is that should we forcibly imprison someone who has not committed any real crime? Or even put them in a mental hospital? In the US at least jails and mental hospitals have a long history of twisted sadistic abuse by extremely well meaning individuals who were convinced they knew what was best for these people. During the Bush II administration he appointed a Homeless Tsar (who didn't like Bush) who advocated for a program where the hopelessly homeless were put into a decent 1 bedroom apartment, signed up for health care, and given a small monthly stipend. This cost less than these men were costing society showing up at the emergency rooms with frostbite and side effects of diabetes, etc. One controversial aspect was that there were no restrictions on what they spent the money on. They could for example purchase vodka instead of food if that was their desire. Unlike with most homeless shelters, they were left alone and allowed to live their lives as they chose if they wanted that. This program was very successful and greatly decreased the cost of managing long term homeless persons.