Pointing to the needs of “vulnerable citizens,” the Florida Supreme Court rejected judges holding videoconference hearings in cases about whether mentally ill people should be involuntarily committed to treatment facilities.
The unanimous ruling came in a challenge to a move last year in Lee County to begin holding the so-called “Baker Act” hearings remotely, rather than through judges or magistrates appearing in person at mental-health facilities. Public defenders filed a series of challenges on behalf of people with mental illnesses.
