FLORIDA'S BAKER ACT

This research paper summarizes the principal provisions of the Florida Mental Health Act or Baker Act, 42 FLA. STAT. ANN. secs. 394.451-4789, insofar as it deals with the involuntary commitment of mentally disabled or ill persons and analyzes its pros and cons. The Baker Act, first enacted in 1971 and subsequently amended, represented Florida's attempt to regulate the involuntary examination and commitment of persons who allegedly were mentally ill. With its large influx of elderly persons, and with a similar problem in dealing with increased numbers of homeless persons, Florida adopted a law which makes it relatively easy to examine and commit such persons to public mental health institutions. As such, the law has been criticized by civil libertarians and mental health activists as being reactionary and destructive of the rights of the mentally ill. Others who have experienced more liberal involuntary examination and commitment laws such as California's think that the states should have broader rather than lesser latitude to cope with the mentally ill 'on the streets.'

Sec. 394.453 of the Baker Act provides in part that "it is the intent of the Legislature" with respect to persons having "mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders" that "such persons be provided with emergency services and temporary detention for evaluation when required" and that "they be admitted to treatment facilities" either voluntarily or subjected to "involuntary

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uidance. Henson v. State, App. 1 Dist., 801 So.2d 316 (2001) held that refusal to take medication does not in itself justify involuntary commitment. Craig v. State, App. 3 Dist., 804 So.2d 532 (2002) held that the mere infliction of emotional injury to another person is an insufficient basis for commitment. Trombley argues that under this vague standard, the elderly are particularly subject to judicial abuse: "Lawyers are not trained to recognize the differences between the natural effects of age and mental impairment" (p. 668)." The procedural protections afforded the individual are also very minimal. The involuntary examination procedure can be initiated under subsec. 455 by a (i) judge who enters an ex parte order stating that the person appears to meeting the criteria for emergency admission; (ii) a law enforcement officer who may take a person "who appears to meet the criteria for involuntary examination" into custody and deliver him or her to the nearest receiving facility for examination and treatment; (iii) or a physician or mental health profession who certifies that the person has been examined within the previous 48 hours and meets the criteria. Note that in cases (ii) and (iii) above, there is no initial judicial s

Category: Medical - F