Phillip Paul meant no harm

I’m appalled at the reaction of many to Phillip Paul’s “escape.” His treatment has been, and should continue to be, handled by mental health professionals.

Let’s remember that Paul has spent some time outside of Eastern State Hospital in the past and during his “escape” it appears that he simply wanted to go visit a place from his past. Contrary to the sensational headlines, there does not appear to be any intent on his part to harm anyone.

Paul and others with mental disabilities deserve to have as much freedom and choice as possible, and neither the general public nor Gov. Chris Gregoire have any qualifications to decide what the best treatment is or to even comment about it.

The attitude that those with mental illness should be treated as criminals, restrained or jailed categorically, scares me much more than Phillip Paul does.

Gary Poole

Spokane