J.R. v. Barbara Palmer, etc.

175 So. 3d 710, 40 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 267, 2015 Fla. LEXIS 1055, 2015 WL 2236760
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedMay 14, 2015
DocketSC13-1549
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 175 So. 3d 710 (J.R. v. Barbara Palmer, etc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
J.R. v. Barbara Palmer, etc., 175 So. 3d 710, 40 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 267, 2015 Fla. LEXIS 1055, 2015 WL 2236760 (Fla. 2015).

Opinions

LABARGA, C.J.

In this case we consider three questions of law certified by the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit concerning the agency review requirements for the continued involuntary admission of developmentally disabled individuals to residential services under chapter 393, Florida Statutes (2011). We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(6), Fla. Const. Specifically, the Eleventh Circuit certified the following questions:

1) Does “support plan” review under Fla. Stat. § 393.0651 require the Agency for Persons with Disabilities to consider the propriety of a continued involuntary admission to residential services order entered under Fla. Stat. § 393.11?
2) Is the Agency for Persons with Disabilities required, pursuant to Fla. Stat. § 393.0651 and/or Fla. Stat. § 393.11, to petition the circuit court for the release from an involuntary admission order in cases where the APD determines that the circumstances that led to the initial admission have changed?
3) Does Fla. Stat. § 393.062 et. seq. provide a statutory mandate to meaningfully periodically review involuntary admissions to non-secure residential services [712]*712consistent with the- commitment schemes discussed in Parham v. J.R., 442 U.S. 584, 99 S.Ct. 2493, 61 L.Ed.2d 101 (1979) and Williams v. Wallis, 734 F.2d 1434 (11th Cir.1984)?

J.R. v. Hansen (J.R.II), 736 F.3d 959, 974 (11th Cir.2013). For the reasons we explain, we answer the first two certified questions in the negative and decline to answer the third certified question.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

J.R. is an intellectually disabled man with an IQ of 56, who functions at the level of a seven-year-old. In 2000, J.R. was charged with sexual battery in Lee County, Florida. In 2001, the circuit court concluded that J.R; was incompetent to stand trial and involuntarily committed him to the Department of Children and Family Services.1,2 In 2004, J.R. was involuntarily admitted to nonsecure residential services under section 393.11, Florida Statutes. The involuntary admission order does not include an end date for J.R.’s involuntary admission.

Upon his admission to nonsecure residential services, J.R. was given a support plan, and that plan is periodically reviewed and revised under section 393.0651, Florida Statutes. Under section 393 0651, the Agency for Persons with Disabilities (Agency) is required to conduct an annual support plan review for each person who receives services from the Agency. As a result, while J.R. has lived in multiple group homes since his commitment, the limitations on his activities have varied— and will continue to change — with the periodic revisions to his support plan. The circuit court, however, has not held a hearing on J.R.’s continued involuntary admission since 2005.

On August 25, 2011, J.R. filed suit under 42 U.S.O. §§ 1983 and 1988 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida against the Director of the Agency. Section 1983 provides a cause of action against any person who deprives another of rights under the color of law. Section 1988 governs proceedings in vindication of civil rights and provides for prevailing party attorney’s fees for section 1983 claims. J.R. sought a declaratory judgment that Florida’s statutory scheme for involuntarily admitting intellectually disabled persons to residential services under section 393.11, Florida Statutes, is facially unconstitutional. J.R. argued that the statutory scheme violates the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment because it does .not provide people who have been involuntarily admitted to nonsecure residential services with periodic review of their continued involuntary confinement by a decision-maker who has authority to release them. Both J.R. and the Agency filed motions for summary judgment.

The district court granted the Agency’s motion for summary judgment and denied J.R.’s motion for summary judgment. J.R. v. Hansen (J.R.I), No. 4:11cv417-WS, 2012 WL 1886438, at *14-15 (N.D.Fla. May 22, 2012). The court noted that a plaintiff in a procedural due process claim “must prove three elements: (1) a deprivation of a constitutionally-protected liberty or property interest; (2) state action; and (3) constitutionally-inadequate process.” Id. at *7. The court concluded that the first two elements — deprivation of a consti[713]*713tutionally protected liberty interest and state action — were “easily proved.” Id. at *7-8. However, after analyzing section 393.11 in light of Mathews v. Eldridge, 424 U.S. 319, 96 S.Ct. 893, 47 L.Ed.2d 18 (1976), Parham v. J.R, 442 U.S. 684, 99 S.Ct. 2493, 61 L.Ed.2d 101 (1979); and Williams v. Wallis, 734 F.2d 1434 (11th Cir.1984), the court determined that the third element — constitutionally inadequate process — was not established. J.R I, 2012 WL 1886438 at *13. As a result, the district court concluded that section 393.11, Florida Statutes, is constitutional. Id. at *15. The court explained:

Here, the Florida Legislature has fashioned what, in essence, is a nonad-versarial scheme that (1) allows section 393.11 clients and their family members or advocates to provide input into the development and annual revision'of support plans that detail “the most appropriate, least restrictive, and most cost-beneficial environment for accomplishment of the objectives for client progress and a specification of all services authorized,” § 393.0651; (2) authorizes [the Agency] — through the advice of specialists and without court involvement — to decide what is “the most appropriate, least restrictive, and most cost — beneficial environment” suitable for a client’s individual needs and behaviors; (3) authorizes [the Agency] — with client input and without1 court approval — to move a client to progressively less restrictive environments as the client’s needs and behaviors change; and (4) places an implicit burden on [the Agency], rather than the client, to petition the court for release from an order of involuntary admission when the conditions for release are indicated.

Id. at *14.

J.R. appealed the district court’s decision to the Eleventh Circuit. After explaining the elements of a claim brought under section 1983, the Eleventh Circuit concluded that “the first two elements of the test for a claim of the denial of due process are easily established here.” J.R II, 736 F.3d at 965.

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Related

J.R. v. Michael Hansen
803 F.3d 1315 (Eleventh Circuit, 2015)

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Bluebook (online)
175 So. 3d 710, 40 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 267, 2015 Fla. LEXIS 1055, 2015 WL 2236760, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jr-v-barbara-palmer-etc-fla-2015.