Tag Archive for: involuntary commitment

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Child Baker Act Cases Continue to Climb in Florida

Florida has once again broken the records for the number of people mentally evaluated, involuntarily, under the state’s Baker Act. In May, investigative reporter Karla Ray first exposed that child Baker Act cases have more than doubled…
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Charged with a Tampa Murder 20 Years Ago, He Still Awaits Trial

He lives in a dorm room in a tan and white building surrounded by metal fences and razor wire. The institution sits on a grassy patch south of Miami, at the edge of the Everglades, almost at the edge of the Sunshine State. His days are spent…
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Mental Health Exam Could Loosen Restrictions for Hinckley – The San Francisco Chronicle

The man who tried to assassinate President Ronald Reagan will soon undergo a new round of psychological tests before a court decides if he can live under fewer restrictions in a gated community in Virginia. John Hinckley Jr. left a Washington…
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Mentally Ill South Florida Man Starved to Death in Prison, Lawsuit Alleges – The Miami New Times

When Vincent Gaines was sentenced to five years in prison on robbery charges in June 2013, state officials recommended he be placed in a mental-health unit because he had regular visual and auditory hallucinations. So Gaines was transferred…
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School District Bungled Parkland Suspect’s Request for Therapeutic Services: Report – FOX News

The suspect linked to a mass shooting in Parkland, Fla., was denied the therapeutic services needed for disabled students, according to a report released Friday. In the year leading up to the Feb. 14 rampage that left 17 people dead at Marjory…
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Sex Crimes and Criminal Justice: Formerly Incarcerated Sex Offenders Say Civil Commitment Programs Deny Proper Rehabilitation – The Washington Spectator

In this article, journalist Barbara Koeppel reports on the problems with sex-offender treatment programs. Read more.
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Intersection: Exploring the Overlap Between Mental Health and Law Enforcement – WMFE

In this episode of Intersection, 90.7 News Director Catherine Welch, Ninth Circuit Public Defender Robert Wesley, and Treatment Advocacy Center Director Frankie Berger discuss how Florida approaches the intersection of mental illness and law…
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Some Wanted Florida Suspect Committed in 2016 – The Palm Beach Post

Newly released documents show that some wanted Nikolas Cruz involuntarily committed under the Baker Act as early as 2016. Experts say that involuntary commitment would have made in nearly impossible for Cruz to purchase firearms. Read more…
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After Parkland, Admissions to Mental Health Treatment Centers in Florida Spike – The Miami Herald

Mental health treatment centers in Florida have seen a drastic uptick in the number of admissions since Nikolas Cruz killed 17 people in a school shooting in Parkland. Read more.