Be wise in crafting an Ed Thomas bill

If any one of a half-dozen things had gone differently, Aplington-Parkersburg football coach Ed Thomas might still be alive today.

If psychiatrists had been able to hold Mark Becker longer or notified police upon his release. If a social worker had reached Becker at home the day of the murder.

If Becker had better managed his bipolar schizophrenia, if community mental health services had been able to keep closer tabs on his condition when he didn't or couldn't.

If, if, if - it's true of any tragedy, and it's where our minds naturally go as we struggle to make sense of it all.

And while it's important to learn from what went wrong, to try to fix systemic flaws exposed by tragic events, we'll never prevent every tragedy. We have to be careful when making long-term decisions while we grieve.

Legislators should keep that in mind as they consider a bill that would require hospital personnel to notify police when they release patients who face criminal charges.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is considering Senate File 2352, which would require a court order forcing hospital staff to notify law enforcement before such a patient's release and hold that patient until law enforcement could pick them up.

It tackles one of the Becker case's haunting “what ifs” - the miscommunication that let Becker slip away from police the day before he shot and killed Parkersburg's beloved coach.

On Tuesday, as jury members finally reached a guilty verdict in the first-degree murder case against Becker, members of the Thomas family urged lawmakers to close that loophole.

Becker had been admitted to Covenant Medical Center after leading police on a high-speed chase a few days before the murder.

Doctors thought he should stay for four to five days, but his condition improved and he wanted to go home. Since he no longer posed an immediate threat to himself or others, Becker was released. What happened next is heartbreaking.

But lawmakers shouldn't change the law just in reaction to the particulars of that terrible case.

Some law enforcement and hospital representatives have expressed concern with how the bill might work in practice - would judges always be available to issue the order? Is it problematic to ask hospital staff to detain patients?

There are good reasons, too, why it's difficult to hold psychiatric patients against their will. When crafting an Ed Thomas bill, lawmakers must consider that bigger picture.

Jennifer Hemmingsen's column appears on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Comments: (319) 339-3154; jennifer.hemmingsen@gazcomm.com