Years ago, I represented hundreds of people at the state hospital. Many were kept in the STW, Special Treatment Ward. STW was located at the top floor of a five story building. The ceiling sloped like the roof did. There were no windows or ventilation. The committed were kept in locked jail cells.

I would read through the medical records before going to talk with my client. I would get locked into the cell. A lot of the clients did not like being locked up. Some would be totally naked. The stench of feces and urine permeated the place. Clients would ask me if I was scared. I would say no. They told me I should be.

Someone was always yelling or crying or rattling something against the bars. One guy tore his mattress up and yanked the metal frame of his bed from the concrete wall. Most knew I was there to try to help them get released. These were the problem people. Few got out.

One time I got one out and he castigated me for doing so. He said he had no place to go. He got back in the van and voluntarily signed himself back into the hospital.

Hospitals can do much good for people in trouble. STW simply was a barbaric place of punishment staffed by what the committed called the goon squad.