Chapter 39 - reform became harder when survivors wanted different kinds of truth
The investigation produced thousands of pages.
Then came the disclosure fight.
Some former patients wanted everything public.
Names.
Supervisors.
Internal emails.
Facility videos.
“Let people see.”
Others wanted the opposite.
One young woman told us:
“My worst psychiatric year does not belong on Google because Sierra Vale lied.”
Exactly.
Public accountability and personal privacy collided.
Again.
I should have recognized the terrain.
Crown Room.
Same question.
Different victims.
Activists accused us of protecting the institution.
Parents accused activists of exploiting children.
Former employees feared being named in reports they had not authored.
The state wanted transparency.
The court wanted due process.
Everyone claimed truth.
Witness Commons asked a different question.
Who owns disclosure?
The answer was not easy.
Criminal evidence went to prosecutors.
Regulatory findings could become public.
Individual treatment records remained protected unless the patient chose otherwise or law required disclosure.
De-identified pattern data could be published.
Victims could publish their own files.
No bulk dump.
I supported that structure intellectually.
Emotionally?
I wanted people to see everything.
That frightened me.
Because Cross once wanted information because information created power.
Activists wanted information because information could create accountability.
Different motive.
Same need for limits.
The Commons existed precisely to slow people like me down when anger made speed feel moral.
I had built the brake.
May you like
Now I hated being stopped by it.
Good design.
Related Stories
