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Vol. 74, No. 8, August 2001
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Book
Reviews
Model
Law for Assisted Treatment
By the Treatment Advocacy Center (Arlington, VA: 2000). 23
pgs. Order, (703) 294-6001.
Reviewed by Donna M. Jones
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State Bar Past President Gary L. Bakke courageously revealed his personal
experience with mental illness in the December 2000 Wisconsin Lawyer. He
described how, with assistance, he recognized his depression, sought treatment,
and is fine today, as a result. This excellent example is what the Treatment
Advocacy Center refers to in the Model Law for Assisted Treatment "Statement
of Purpose":
"People with treated mental illness can now reclaim their lives. But
first there must be treatment. ... Treatment voluntarily embraced is always
preferable."
The primary purpose of the Model Law, however, is to be: "the legal
framework for the provisions of care to individuals who, due to the symptoms
of severe mental illness, become either too dangerous or incapable of
making informed medical decisions concerning their treatment."
Treatment includes medication and, ideally, psychiatric counseling,
and individual or group therapy. If treatment is involuntary, to ensure
compliance, medication often initially is ad-ministered during brief hospitalization.
In a compelling "Introduction," the Center states that "assisted treatment"
essentially fosters treatment compliance in the community through a court-ordered
treatment plan. The courts commit the patient to the treatment system
and the system to the patient. In the most recent comprehensive published
study to date, long-term assisted outpatient treatment reduced hospital
admissions by 57 percent, in general, and by 72 percent for people with
psychotic disorders. And, when such treatment was combined with outpatient
services, the probability of violence was reduced by 50 percent.
The Model Law proposes an efficient system of assisted treatment petitions,
hearings, and appeals that relies upon a judicially empowered Psychiatric
Treatment Board, which consists of a physician (preferably a psychiatrist),
a lawyer, and a recipient of treatment or a close relative of such a person.
Voluntary and emergency treatments are provided for and law enforcement
is involved. This Model Law is "cautiously considered," combining "the
most effective provisions of existing state laws," by placing "each of
the best available components into a statutory model better than any currently
in effect." Its provisions for protecting "the rights and well-being of
those placed in assisted treatment" also are "more extensive and vigilant
than those now in place anywhere in the nation."
Given medical advances, the Model Law is "needed to prevent repeated
hospitalizations" and "consequences of nontreatment," including homelessness,
incarceration, suicide, victimization, violent tendencies, and needless
suffering. Mental illnesses are biologically-based diseases that attack
the brain and now can be treated effectively, like many other diseases,
with daily medication and, when necessary, therapy. It is certainly in
the best interest of society for states to seriously consider adopting
this Model Law.
The book has a crisp, well-written format, with useful clarifying comments
throughout.
Donna M. Jones,
U.W. 1978, is a member of the Participation of Women in the Law Committee
and a past member of the State Bar Board of Governors.
Atlas
of Crime: Mapping the Criminal Landscape
Edited
by Linda S. Turnbull, Elaine Hallisey Hendrix, & Borden D. Dent
(Phoenix, AZ: The Oryx Press, 2000). 270 pgs. $74.95. Order,
(800) 279-6799.
Reviewed by Martin A. Blumenthal
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Attention, crime buffs! This reference work will show you where to go
to find (or avoid) any type of criminal activity.
The editors compiled papers contributed by several sociologists and criminalists
that concern the geographical distribution of crimes and related statistical
evidence. The five major categories of criminal activity include crimes
of personal violence, crimes against property, family violence, organized/entrepreneurial
crimes, and sensational crimes. Those categories are subdivided and include
"new" crimes such as computer crimes, piracy on the high seas, terrorism,
and hate crimes.
Maps show distribution of income, population, environmental factors,
and other parameters in addition to the incidence of a particular category
of crime. The diagrams and maps are in black and white, which makes it
difficult to distinguish among the various symbols used in the cartography.
Other chapters cover the geographic history of crime, map use by criminals,
crime story authors, and police departments. Each article contains exhaustive
references for the author's data and conclusions. The book itself has
a detailed index.
I recommend that every criminal justice practitioner, urbanologist, and
sociologist have this book.
Martin A. Blumenthal,
IIT-Chicago Kent 1981, is an attorney and CPA in Northfield, Ill.
Dear
Sisters, Dear Daughters: Words of Wisdom from Multicultural Women
Attorneys Who've Been There and Done That
Edited by Karen Clanton (Chicago, IL: ABA Multicultural Women
Attorneys Network, 2000). 357 pgs. $24. Order, (800) 285-2221.
Reviewed by Pamela Pepper
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This is an illuminating collection of letters from 84 minority women
attorneys. Most have been out of law school for at least 10 years. They
come from varied cultural backgrounds, and some have families. Their jobs
range from elected officials to corporate counsel to solo practitioners.
Despite the variety, common themes emerge.
The book has three parts. "Inspiration" contains letters from women who
explain what inspired them to become lawyers. Many were driven by naysayers,
others by supportive families. Still others cited good career mentors.
The majority, however, sounded one theme - truth to one's own vision of
success. They warned readers not to allow others to define their ideas
of success, and not to let bitterness direct their courses.
"Path" contains letters discussing the routes the writers took to reach
their particular career stage. Several indicated that they had stumbled
into being lawyers. Others started down one path, only to find themselves
in a different place years later. Many were pleased with where their sometimes
wandering paths had taken them. Some articulated the isolation they felt
because of race.
"Big Picture" focuses on the struggle the writers have faced trying to
achieve balance in their lives. The section is anticlimactic after the
first letter, in which "Anonymous" describes the day she and her husband,
who had put off family for careers, learned they would not be parents.
The book could benefit from editing the grammar in some letters. The
focus also is fuzzy; some women write only to law students, and one writer
assumes her readers share her ethnic background. Overall, however, Dear
Sisters contains solid, encouraging, and inspiring advice, not just for
multicultural women, but for any lawyer who searches for joy, fulfillment,
and balance in the law.
Pamela Pepper,
Cornell 1989, is a Milwaukee solo practitioner emphasizing criminal
defense and appeals. She formerly clerked for Hon. Frank M. Johnson Jr.
on the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, and was an assistant U.S. attorney
in Chicago and Milwaukee.
What
Two Can Do: Sam & Mandy Spellman's Crusade for Social Justice
By
Chris Roerden (Oregon, WI: Badger Books Inc., 2000). 360 pgs.
$14.95. Order, (800) 928-2372.
Reviewed by Tim McAllister
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"You have to be outraged" to set out on a crusade for societal justice,
according to Sam and L. Mandy Spellman. With the track record of social
activism documented in this book, the reader is assured that while the Spellmans
may have been outraged, they found social activism to be fun, not a sacrifice.
Leah Mandolson (L. Mandy) was born in Canada to a family that viewed
helping others as a responsibility, not an option. An American citizen
by birth, Salom (Sam) Spellman, also was born into a Toronto family that
had strong beliefs about community responsibility.
Sam and Mandy Spellman moved to Columbus, Ohio, where Sam became the
director of the Columbus Jewish Community Center. This center became a
model for other community centers with its strong programs, advocating
both equal time for women's physical education and a no-bench-warmer/every-kid-plays
policy.
As a student at Ohio State University studying social work, Mandy was
active in the civil rights movement and learned that attending to the
root cause of a problem and taking action that can affect an infinite
number of people is of a far greater good than providing services to a
limited number of people.
The Spellmans moved to Wisconsin, where Sam became the head of the U.W.
- Extension Center for Social Services, and Mandy studied law at Marquette
University, graduating in 1970.
Mandy's social activism was an integral part of her legal practice. Deliberately
taking cases that would assist those most in need and suffering from social
injustice, those cases were meant to send a message that toleration of
injustice should end. She worked hard to enforce the Equal Credit Opportunity
Act of 1974. She also recognized that if divorce was going to happen,
the best needed to be made of the circumstances, particularly for those
who had traditionally suffered in divorce: women and children. Mandy lobbied
for the Marital Property Act of 1986, which created a 50-50 split of property/assets
acquired during a marriage.
Sam, in his position with the U.W. Center System, worked with the Division
of Corrections in attempting to establish strong, results-proven programs
to treat first-time criminal offenders. Both Sam and Mandy were active
in attempts at creative criminal justice.
Some of the Spellmans' most effective social activism was through letter
writing. When not treated appropriately, or in the face of injustice,
they wrote letters to the managers of stores, newspapers, legislators,
and national organizations. Creating public awareness of problems and
publicly shaming those perpetrating offensive or illegal behaviors had
a pronounced effect on many occasions.
Neither Roerden's book nor this review can come close to encapsulating
the Spellmans' social work. The book is written in historical snippets,
factoids, and anecdotes pieced together into chapters, which is fast-paced,
but somewhat disjointed.
The Spellmans embody social activism as a lifestyle commitment to doing
the next right thing. Are you willing to go the extra mile for a disadvantaged
client or group? Are you outraged? If so, be creative, not angry. And
do something about it.
Timothy J. McAllister
is an offender classification specialist with the Wisconsin Department
of Corrections. He holds a masters of public administration from U.W.-Oshkosh.
To
Review a Book...
The
following books are available for review. Please request the book
and writing guidelines from Karlé Lester at the State Bar of Wisconsin,
P.O. Box 7158, Madison, WI 53707-7158, (608) 250-6127, klester@wisbar.org.
Reviewers may keep the book they review. Reviews are published
in the order in which they are received. To purchase any book
reviewed in this column, contact the publisher, or ask your local
bookstore to order it for you.
- Brush With the Law: The Turbulent True Story of Law
School Today at Stanford and Harvard, by Robert Byrnes
& Jaime Marquart (Los Angeles, CA: Renaissance Media Inc., 2001).
304 pgs.
- Compensation Plans for Law Firms (3d ed.), edited
by James D. Cotterman (Chicago, IL: ABA Law Practice Management
Section, 2001). 140 pgs.
- Criminal Procedure in Practice, by Paul Marcus
(Notre Dame, IN: National Institute for Trial Advocacy, 2001).
320 pgs.
- The Essential Guide to the Best (And Worst) Legal Sites
on the Web, by Robert J. Ambrogi (New York, NY: American
Lawyer Media, 2001). 370 pgs.
- Medical Evidence: Acquisition and Use, by Robert
C. Strodel (Tucson, AZ: Lawyers & Judges Publishing Co., 2001).
352 pgs.
- The Microsoft Antitrust Appeal: Judge Jackson's "Findings
Revisited," by Alan Reynolds (Indianapolis, IN: Hudson
Institute, 2001). 131 pgs.
- Nothing But the Truth: Why Trial Lawyers Don't, Can't,
and Shouldn't Have to Tell the Whole Truth, by Steven
Lubet (New York, NY: New York Univ. Press, 2001). 198 pgs.
- Objection Overruled: Overcoming Obstacles in the Lawyer
Job Search, by Kathy Morris (Chicago, IL: ABA Career
Resource Center, 2000). 71 pgs.
- Practice What You Preach: What Managers Must Do to Create
a High Achievement Culture, by David H. Maister (New
York, NY: The Free Press, 2001). 200 pgs.
- The Right to Vote: The Contested History of Democracy
in the United States, by Alexander Keyssar (Boulder,
CO: Basic Books, 2000). 496 pgs.
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