Following The Jacksonville Bar Association member’s luncheon and swearing in ceremony June 26, members participated in a CLE symposium on the subject of representing a client with mental illness.
Eleventh Judicial Circuit Judge Steven Leifman said it is time to reevaluate the 40-year-old Baker Act, which allows a person to be admitted without their consent to a hospital for mental treatment.
“Outdated laws have led to unnecessary hospitalization. It’s a really good time for the legal community to get involved with the laws,” he said.
Leifman said the state spends more than $200 million each year – one-third of the state’s public mental health budget – on competency restoration treatment and in most cases, people with mental illness are released from jail without receiving any mental health treatment.
“That’s the definition of insanity,” said Leifman.
Sheriff John Rutherford said people with mental illness who are arrested and charged with a crime can be helped by Florida Statute 755.0387, the habitual offender misdemeanor statute.
He said applying the statute in sentencing can compel a repeat offender with mental illness to receive treatment.
“We can help them break the cycle,” Rutherford said.
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