My Story

When Casey’s law was passed in Kentucky, it was intended as a legal means for the loved ones of an addict to intervene and force them into court-ordered involuntary treatment. For some, this may be the last available approach for saving the life of a loved one. However invaluable a tool this prove to be, Casey’s Law provides what can be an excessive amount of power over the fate of the alleged drug user.

Being labeled an ‘addict’ comes with a stigma that can greatly affect how someone is perceived by others. If it becomes known that you are an addict, for example, a nurse at the hospital might be scornful and dismissive while treating you, friends might decide to sever ties with you, or you might even lose your job. While some might decide that an addict deserves such treatment, this doesn’t establish that an addict deserves to lose their rights guaranteed by the constitution. As an American, it is understood that you have the right to be considered innocent until proven guilty, and you have the right to a fair trial. With Casey’s Law, the petitioner submits allegations that the respondent is suffering from an alcohol or other drug abuse disorder and presents a danger or threat of danger to self, family, or others if not treated. What happens when the petitioner doesn’t have the best interests of the alleged addict in mind? In that case, the result is decided by taking one’s words over the other’s. Who would you be inclined to believe?

But wouldn’t that be perjury, for the petitioner to lie in court and provide fabricated evidence? And if that happened, wouldn’t the respondent simply provide evidence negating said proof? According to Casey’s Law, the respondent will be notified “(KRS 222.433B) (b) concerning the allegations and contents of the petition and the date and purpose of the hearing.’ In theory, it would simply be a matter of providing evidence to counter the allegations, which would lead to a dismissal of the case, and that would be the end of that. Unfortunately, sometimes complications can occur.

When I was notified of my hearing on May 16, 2017, I received a copy of the petition that had been completed by my mother and the contact information of my public defender. Being unfamiliar with Casey’s Law, I was unaware of the fact that I should have received a copy of the allegations made against me. And because I did not receive the allegations against me, I was completely unable to prepare for the trial. Had I known, for example, that I was accused of “checking myself out of detox”, I would have been able to bring the document I received from Our Lady Of Peace when they medically discharged me after successfully completing detox. Whether the omission of this crucial information was intentional or not, it was still only the first obstacle in the case where everything was already stacked against me.

Let me establish: prior to receiving the summons, I had struggled with a heroin addiction that began in November 2016. However, also prior to receiving the summons, I had completed detox at OLOP in February 2017 and was already 3 months into my self-initiated voluntary treatment in Cleanse Clinic’s 6 month outpatient program, which I attended weekly. Though one might argue that I could have benefited from a more intensive inpatient program, I was employed with Nine Sixty Nine Productions and living with my two dogs in a home I was renting-to-own. The outpatient program was a good fit, and I was able to stay clean while continuing to work. I successfully passed each of the weekly drug tests, and I felt optimistic about my future.

Prior to the court summons, my relationship with my mother was already strained. To put it nicely, we have struggled to get along for as long as I can remember – being able to control me always seemed to matter more than my actual well-being. In adulthood, I learned that my quality of life vastly improved when I kept her at a distance and established strict boundaries. Though she resented this, she still only called about once a month, and the one time in a years’ time we made plans together, she ended up cancelling. When I received the summons, and saw the petitioner was my mother, who was definitely aware that I was already enrolled in effective treatment, I was unsurprised. If I had to guess, I’d say that her motivation behind filing the Casey’s Law petition was not only a ploy to gain sympathy for having a difficult addict daughter, but also as a means to gain control over my life.

Casey’s law is running and ruining my life. I did drugs for six weeks, did not like who I was becoming, knew that was not the life for me, and took myself to medical detox treatment on February 2, 2017 and complete it on February 6, 2017. By KRS’s definitions, someone ‘who enters a hospital voluntarily would be someone who shows no imminent risk of danger to self or others”. My understanding is this would show that I do still have the capacity to make the rationale decision that I needed help, being that Casey’s law was filed on me I was still in active treatment that I initiated.

When I met with the Certified Medical Health Professional I was completely honest about my addiction and that I felt I did need to be in treatment. We spoke for close to thirty minutes about my short lived addiction, my troubled history with my mother, and how I planned to continue treatment. Finding out from another professional that the treatment plan I had chosen for myself was also what she would have chosen made me feel that I would be able to quickly overcome addiction and maintain my sobriety. She stated she was going to recommend I continue what I was already doing, as statistics show voluntary treatment has a higher success rate than involuntary. I then met with the PHD long enough for me to sit down, say two sentences, and get right back up. He dismissed me within a few minutes without any information about me or my addiction.

For involuntary treatment to be delivered outside of an acute emergency, the doctor must petition a court to order it and there is a standard guideline that is followed and ruled in favore of doctors that show that the respondent meets as followed:

1. the treatment is necessary for safety and recovery.

I was currently in voluntary treatment of my own doing. Prior to receiving the summons that this had been filed I asked my father to accompany me to one of my appointment in hopes that this would help ease his mind and my mother’s that I was actively working on my recovery.

2. all efforts at voluntary treatment were exhausted.

The treatment that I signed myself into had been my first time in a drug treatment in my life, no other attempts, successful or otherwise, had been made prior. Although I had used drugs in the past, I had never been in a treatment program before.

3. family and others were engaged to help persuade the patient to accept care (and were not successful).

My family and friends made zero attempts to discuss treatment options or any concerns related to my drug use, nor did they even contact me prior to November 2016 thru the filing of Casey’s Law and present day. This was the first choice for family and other, ultimately taking away any choice I had.

4. the benefits of treatment are likely to outweigh its risks.

Since it has been filed I have lost two jobs directly related to having been order to complete Casey’s law, my dogs are sitting at the humane society currently at risk of being euthanized because no one has showed interest adopting them and I am can not to take them with me as I am unsure of what will be ordered by the courts, and I am unable to provide stable housing for myself or my dogs without income or knowledge of court proceedings.

I wish I knew to research this up prior to my original court date, but was very confused and uneducated about Casey’s Law being that it is so new. To this day I am still unaware and have not been given the opportunity to review the allegations made by the petitioner. Because I was unware of what I was going to being accused of, I was unable to know what proof to bring to debunk allegations. Had I been fully inform, I would have been fully prepared in court, instead I walked in blind with all the odds already stacked against me, as I was the only one that did not know any of the allegations made. I feel very confident that if I had been notified, or informed, of the allegations and contents of petition I would have been able to prove that it was mainly false information I was accused of. Unfortunately I was not given this right, or opportunity.

Currently I was denied to enter the treatment facility that I was ordered to complete because the facility felt it was unethical for me to be put into their program after contacting, and being evaluated, by a medical doctor. A letter from my doctor that was written to The Healing Place stated that I suffer from significant mental illness that was diagnosed prior to my substance abuse, so it was not caused by substance abuse. The Healing Place is a non medical facility and will not allow clients to be on any type of mental health medication. I have had a warrant issued and am completely embarrassed to learn that I was listed in ‘Crime Times’ magazine. I had already sat in jail for three weeks (longest I have ever been incarcerated) and chose to walk out of the treatment facility before I could be taken back into custody, knowing that is a decision that can negatively affect me. I am choosing to hide, against my better judgement, until I either get caught or secure my dogs a place to stay, or new home, while I complete the Casey’s Law, whichever comes first.

It feel as though there is no one here that is advocating for me. The moment I walked into that court room, I felt I was labeled as a stereotypical addict and everything I proceeded to say was ignored and presumed false. All allegations I heard in court were presumed as truth and were provided by a source that was unknown to anyone in the courtroom, except petitioner and respondent. Not only did I learn that unknown source provided manipulated information, I learned that the ‘proof’ was provided by someone who is considered a career addict. This has become a living nightmare and all I was right now is to get my life back. I would give anything to have a job right now and to be working towards building a better future. I have never been a person to run from my legal issues, but I have lost everything and I am trying my hardest for my furbabies not to suffer too. What I have felt and experienced in the last few months of my life is not a place I have ever been. I am more out of control of my life and at a lower point then I have ever been. I have always been proud of the work ethic that was passed down to me and feel ashamed to have gone through as many jobs as I have since the filing of the petition. The last few months I have felt more out of place, unlike myself, and so much more despair and hopelessness then I would have ever dreamed could be possible. This is not the life that I wanted when I chose to sign myself into detox February 2, 2017 and this is not how I want to feel today. I miss the structure, consistency, and stability that I have always relied on.

I do believe that a law similar to this, or one with stricter guidelines then this, is necessary as heroine has become an overwhelming epidemic that needs to be addressed and fixed, but should not be solely or mostly based on hearsay. Not everyone that walks into this courtroom will be like the one that did before them not the one that comes after them. Although I will not make any accusations in my case, or any past or future cases, the few that abuse the system make it for difficult for a person and their family members who could truly, and hopefully will, benefit from such an opportunity like this. Unfortunately there is too much grey area left open within the written law itself that it is easily misused.