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