The Baker Act The Florida Mental Health Act, also known as ‘Baker Act’ was enacted in 1971. The Baker act oversees mental health services including voluntary and involuntary admissions (Florida Supreme Court, 2018 ). The purpose of this legislature is “to protect the rights and liberty interests of citizens with mental illnesses and ensure public safety” (Florida Supreme Court, n.d). According to Mr. Baker, the founder of the act, the original intent was to encourage voluntary commitments, distinguish differences between hospitalization and legal incompetency, and community health care among individuals with mental illnesses (Florida Supreme Court, n.d). The involuntary admissions criterion for the Baker acts allows any inpatient treatment facility to hold someone in custody up to 72 hours for …show more content…
The negative view on the baker act is the stigma that mentally ill people are violent and therefore must be baker acted. However, Reshetukha eta., (2017) pointed out that two-thirds of patients that are hospitalized is due to them being threat to themselves and not violent crimes. Moreover, the policy ensures the safety of others and the mentally ill, in addition to providing appropriate resources for current stabilization and treatment continuation (Wordpress, 2017). Overall like any policy, the Baker Act has positive and negative effects. The revision of the Baker act is only one step to strengthening the bill to ensure that police officers don’t hold someone with mental health issues in custody longer than 72 hours. This is important because it limits the law enforcements powers and can decreases discrimination. As mentioned before, filling a petition for Baker Act against someone should be last resorts as it may lead to more problems as suppose to receiving further treatment. One must be careful when filing a Baker Act, although it can be beneficial as
Like all form of disparities, mental health disparities is a serious challenge for minorities’ communities across America. Individuals with mental health illness how do not receive adequate health care due to variations can be affected in many ways. When their mental illness progress without any diagnosis they can easily be perceived as a threat to society. In cases where crimes are committed, and they cannot prove they are mentally challenged they can be charge and send to prison without being diagnosed which could affect their condition due to the lack of treatment. Without eradicating or implementing policies to deal with mental health disparities the probability of legally or morally assuming that people with mental health challenges are
Civil commitment refers to having an individual legally declared mentally ill so they could be treated. Although state laws are different, it’s commonly based on the determination that the person is harmful to themselves, and others. During the year 1960-1980 which was the “liberal era“ the emphasis was on an individual rights and freedoms. From the year 1980 to the present the neoconservative approach has been the focal point on the preservation of law and order, limiting the rights of people with mental illness.
The Price-Anderson Nuclear Industries Indemnity Act (Price-Anderson Act) was first signed into law on September 2, 1957. The act serves as an amendment to the 1946 Atomic Energy Act (AEA), intended to stimulate development of the private nuclear industry by establishing limits of liability and indemnifying the nuclear industry against liability from a nuclear incident. Additionally provides compensation coverage for the general public in case of an incident. (Hore, 2009). The Price-Anderson Act places an increasingly disproportionate liability on the taxpayer in the event of a nuclear incident, whether accidental, from negligent or malicious acts, effectively protecting the industry regardless of fault.
The Pendleton Civil Service Act was passed due to public disdain for the old spoils system. The spoils system had become too indoctrinated in the government and led to the assassination of President Garfield. Approved on January 16, 1883, the Pendleton Act established a merit-based system of selecting government officials and supervising their work. Following the assassination of President James A. Garfield by a disgruntled job seeker, Congress passed the Pendleton Act in January of 1883. The Civil Service Reform Act (called "the Pendleton Act") is an 1883 federal law that created the United States Civil Service Commission.
The 1800’s made steps towards equal opportunity and Civil rights, but laws had not fully established in comparison to today. Medical law makers quickly adopted the concept and between the 1960-1980’s large state-operating mental-health hospitals systematically dismantled. Problems generated, however when funding for the proposed community mental health centers was never implemented. (Reluctant Welfare State,
In addition, they allege that such policies violated standards of acceptable medical care. With respect to the challenged medication practices, plaintiffs theorize that, although they have a right to receive treatment when confined at a state mental institution, they, nonetheless, have a constitutional right to refuse such treatment. Plaintiffs acknowledge, however, that their asserted right to refuse treatment is not absolute, and must yield to the Hospital's right to
While many think Laura’s law is not ethical due to forcing mentally ill to take medication or get help against their will, it is meant to improve the quality of their own lives, and the lives of those around them in the long run. People with mental illness would refuse to get the help they
Like many mentally ill Kentuckians, Morton was neither dangerous enough to be kept in a hospital for long nor healthy enough to care for himself in the community. If successful, House Bill 94 would "keep people out of the revolving door of the hospital," Sheila Schuster of the Kentucky Mental Health Coalition told the committee. Most states have adopted some version of "assisted outpatient treatment" since the 1980s, when families of the mentally ill began to lobby for it. Police or family members can have the mentally ill involuntarily committed to a hospital for treatment once they deteriorate to the point that they pose a threat to themselves or others. First, at a hearing, a judge would decide if the individual met various criteria, including having a severe mental illness, symptoms of anosognosia, a likelihood that he would be a danger to others and a determination that outpatient treatment was the least restrictive alternative available.
When individuals become unwell some know they need help or assistance, but in some cases people refuse help or agree to treatment. This act sets out how and when someone gets treated, when someone can be admitted hospital against their will, or treated in hospital. Also lets individuals know their rights and that there is safeguards in place to protect their rights, this act has a set of principles which are taking into account when making decisions. These principles ensures that the person is not discriminated against, equality is promoted and respect and diversity. Within this act there is a compulsory treatment order which allows a person to be treated for their mental illness, however there is a set number of conditions to comply with and these can depend if the individual is in the hospital or out in the community.
I agree with the author’s counter argument to the criticism of the defense being discriminatory towards those who are poor. The comparison is moot. The line between a poor person under extreme duress and a mentally ill person can be blurred at times. However, if a poor person commits a crime and are deemed mentally ill then, they should be excused. That is what society has deemed acceptable.
The Pendleton Act was steered through Congress by Senator George H. Pendleton of Ohio passed by Congress on January 16th, 1883 and it established the civil service to create a fair job market ("Pendleton Act," n.d.). Congress passed the Pendleton Act following the assassination of President James A. Garfield by a disgruntled job seeker ("Pendleton Act," n.d.). Before the act, it was standard practice for newly elected presidents to reward political friends and supporters with Government positions and this was common practice by the time Andrew Jackson was elected President in 1828. The act attempted to minimize the influence of politics on civil service employees by making it illegal to discipline an employee for political reasons. Also, the
Introduction The Wagner Act established by the federal government in 1935 as a control, as well as the final arbitrator of labor relations in the United States. Robert Wagner, a Democrat Senator of New York sponsored this Act. After is enactment , it established the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), with the power to defend the rights of most workers. In connection with the act, workers were in a position of organizing their own unions in that having the power of collective bargaining.
Many laws and regulations have been made because of the occurrence that happened on September 11th, 2011. These laws and regulations have been both harmful and helpful to America Society in numerous ways. On September 11th, 2011, three airplanes were hijacked by foreign terrorist which planned to crash into the twin towers. However, one plan did not make it to the twin towers and later crashed into the pentagon. This was one of the most traumatic events that occurred in the United Stated.
The British North America Act created an enduring federation that matured into a peaceful, prosperous and well governed state, while challenging successive governments to alter its amending formula and distribution of powers to meet the needs of its inhabitants, except the British North American Act didn’t take many groups of people like the First Nation, Acadians, and Irish into consideration . The B.N.A Act created the dominion of Canada, established powers of the federal government and provincial government from the dominion of Canada. It set out rules of how the government of Canada work. Although not everyone was satisfied with the outcome of the B.N.A Act. Even though the 1867 constitution did establish a workable system of government, it did not prevent disputes over the division of powers in overlapping areas of authority such as taxation and in new areas
Introduction Prior to the mid-1960 virtually all mental health treatment was provided on an inpatient basis in hospitals and institutions. The Community Mental Health Act of 1963 was established with its primary focus on deinstitutionalizing mentally ill patients, and shutting down asylums in favor of community mental health centers. It was a major policy shift in mental health treatment that allowed patients to go home and live independently while receiving treatment, (Pollack & Feldman, 2003). As a result of the Act, there was a shift of mentally ill persons in custodial care in state institutions to an increase of the mentally ill receiving prosecutions in criminal courts.