Lawsuit says Florida leaves mentally ill defendants in jail for months past legal limit
Disability Rights Florida, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and the Florida Justice Institute sued the state's Department of Children and Families, alleging average transfers to state hospitals take 124 days against a 15-day legal limit, with 650 to 880 people on the waitlist at any given time and at least three deaths documented among those awaiting transfer.
Described as the first statewide, rather than individual, legal challenge to Florida's competency system, the suit places Florida among a growing list of states — including Texas, Georgia, and Missouri — facing new class-action litigation over the same basic pattern of jail-based waitlist delays.
Source: Florida has left mentally-ill defendants in jail for months past legal limits, lawsuit says — WLRN, by Sharmila Venkatasubban | The Florida Trib
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