Ruth Lowenkron, director of the Disability Justice Program at New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, center, speaks with other advocates in opposition to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s plan to extend Kendra’s Law on March 29 at the New York State Capitol in Albany, New York. Photo: Brian Lee/ALM
Ahead of the April 1 state budget deadline, a lawyer questioned the constitutionality of Gov. Kathy Hochul’s plan to expand Kendra’s Law, a 23-year-old statute that would continue to give courts the power to impose medical treatment for mentally-ill persons.
Ruth Lowenkron, director of the Disability Justice Program at New York Lawyers for Public Interest, asserted that the “most despicable part” of the governor’s proposal was that it erases the requirement of demonstrating the treatment would actually benefit the individual.
