A brush fire smoldering in the foothills of Azusa, California, might seem like just another chapter in the long saga of Los Angeles County wildfires. But the arrest of 39-year-old Jose Carranza-Escobar, a homeless man who admitted to intentionally starting the blaze, reveals a deeper crisis burning at the heart of our society. It’s time to address the growing danger posed by untreated mental illness and the failure of our social systems to protect the public. Even champions of limited government have a compelling reason to advocate for a return to specialized institutions for the criminally mentally ill.

Los Angeles has long struggled with homelessness, but the issue has reached catastrophic proportions. As of 2023, over 46,000 people were living without shelter in LA County, a significant portion of whom suffer from severe mental illnesses or substance abuse disorders. Homeless encampments often become hotspots for dangerous activities, including arson. According to local law enforcement, fires originating in homeless camps have surged in recent years. In 2022 alone, Los Angeles Fire Department reported over 24% of all fires investigated were linked to homeless encampments. That is insane, reproachable, and completely avoidable.

The arrest of Carranza-Escobar is a perfect avatar of this crisis. Here is a man whose untreated mental illness and transient lifestyle not only endangered his life but also threatened the safety of entire neighborhoods. As Los Angeles County battles multiple wildfires, the stakes couldn’t be higher. If left unaddressed, this combustible mix of mental illness, homelessness, and public safety risks will continue to escalate in the coming years. This alone should be the reason for Californians to throw Gavin Newsom out.

How did we get here? The change was championed as a progressive shift away from asylums, this movement sought to treat mentally ill individuals in community-based settings. In other words… unleash Arkham Asylum on Gotham City.

Ronald Reagan, first as governor of California and later as president, accelerated this process by slashing funding for state-run mental health facilities. California alone closed nearly half of its psychiatric hospital beds between 1967 and 1984. Many patients, lacking adequate support systems, were released onto the streets or funneled into the criminal justice system. Today, the United States has fewer than 12 psychiatric beds per 100,000 people, a fraction of what is needed, according to the Treatment Advocacy Center.

This policy failure has not only exacerbated homelessness but also overwhelmed emergency rooms and jails, which have become de facto mental health facilities. Limited government advocates should take issue with this outcome: it is both inhumane and an inefficient use of resources.

Friedrich A. Hayek famously wrote in The Road to Serfdom: “There is no reason why, in a society which has reached the general level of wealth ours has, the first kind of security should not be guaranteed to all without endangering general freedom.” Hayek’s recognition of the state’s role in providing a basic safety net underscores a key point: addressing the needs of the most vulnerable does not inherently conflict with liberty. Indeed, when untreated, mental illness leads to public endangerment, as in the case of Carranza-Escobar. The state has a duty to intervene to protect individual rights and public safety.

Reestablishing asylums for the criminally mentally ill is not about returning to the abuses of the past. Instead, it is about creating modern, humane institutions that provide structured care, rehabilitation, and, when necessary, secure confinement for individuals who pose a threat to themselves or others. Such facilities would alleviate pressure on overburdened emergency rooms and jails while ensuring that the most vulnerable receive the help they need.

Critics may argue that reintroducing asylums risk infringing on individual freedoms. But libertarians understand that freedom without responsibility is chaos. When individuals’ actions, driven by untreated mental illness, infringe on the rights and safety of others, the government’s role is not only justified but necessary. Specialized institutions can be designed with transparency, oversight, and clear safeguards to prevent abuse while prioritizing rehabilitation. These facilities would serve the dual purpose of protecting communities and providing a pathway to recovery for individuals who cannot function independently. For someone like Carranza-Escobar, a secure institution could have meant receiving proper medical attention rather than becoming a public hazard.

Los Angeles residents shouldn’t have to take matters into their own hands to stop arsonists. Firefighters shouldn’t have to battle blazes ignited by preventable societal failures. And individuals like Carranza-Escobar deserve more than being left to fend for themselves in a system that has all but abandoned them. For the sake of public safety, for the dignity of the mentally ill, and for the preservation of liberty, it’s time to bring back asylums—and get this crisis under control.