In re Alfred H.H.
| Decision Date | 11 March 2008 |
| Docket Number | No. 4-07-0491.,4-07-0491. |
| Citation | 887 N.E.2d 40,379 Ill. App.3d 1026 |
| Parties | In re ALFRED H.H., a Person Found Subject to Involuntary Admission, The People of the State of Illinois, Petitioner-Appellee, v. Alfred H.H., Respondent-Appellant. |
| Court | United States Appellate Court of Illinois |
Following a May 2007 hearing, the trial court found respondent, Alfred H.H., subject to involuntary admission at a mental-health facility (405 ILCS 5/1-119 (West 2006)).
Respondent appeals, arguing that the following findings by the trial court were against the manifest weight of the evidence: (1) his involuntary admission was warranted, and (2) his hospitalization was the least-restrictive treatment alternative. We dismiss the appeal as moot.
In early May 2007, respondent was involuntarily admitted to McFarland Mental Health Center. Following a hearing on the involuntary-admission petition, which was held later in May 2007, the trial court found respondent subject to involuntary admission at McFarland for a period not to exceed 90 days.
This appeal followed.
This appeal is moot. The underlying judgment, entered by the trial court on May 11, 2007, was limited to 90 days, which have passed.
An issue raised in an otherwise moot appeal may be addressed when (1) the immediacy or magnitude of the interests involved in the case warrants the reviewing court's action or (2) Felzak v. Hruby, 226 Ill.2d 382, 392, 315 Ill.Dec. 338, 876 N.E.2d 650, 657 (2007).
The first exception to the mootness doctrine, known as the public-interest exception, applies only if a clear showing exists that (1) the question at issue is of "a substantial public nature," (2) an authoritative determination is needed to guide public officers in the performance of their duties, and (3) the circumstances are likely to recur in other cases. Felzak, 226 Ill.2d at 393, 315 Ill.Dec. 338, 876 N.E.2d at 658; In re J.T., 221 Ill.2d 338, 350, 303 Ill.Dec. 103, 851 N.E.2d 1, 8 (2006). The public-interest exception must be "narrowly construed and requires a clear showing of each criterion." Felzak, 226 Ill.2d at 393, 315 Ill.Dec. 338, 876 N.E.2d at 658.
The second exception to the mootness doctrine (the capable-of-repetition exception) applies only if (1) the challenged action is of such short duration that it cannot be fully litigated prior to its cessation and (2) a reasonable expectation exists that the same complaining party would be subject to the same action again. Like the public-interest exception, the capable-of-repetition exception must be narrowly construed and requires a clear showing of each criterion. J.T., 221 Ill.2d at 350, 303 Ill.Dec. 103, 851 N.E.2d at 8.
Our supreme court has held that "[i]t is a basic tenet of justiciability that reviewing courts will not decide moot or abstract questions or render advisory opinions." J.T., 221 Ill.2d at 349, 303 Ill.Dec. 103, 851 N.E.2d at 7. In In re Barbara H., 183 Ill.2d 482, 492, 234 Ill.Dec. 215, 702 N.E.2d 555, 559-60 (1998), our supreme court explicitly declined to consider whether an exception to the mootness doctrine automatically exists in mental-health cases and, instead, concluded that the case fell into an established exception to the mootness doctrine. More recently, in a mental-health case, our supreme court determined whether the case was moot by analyzing it under established exceptions to the mootness doctrine, not based simply on the fact that it was a mental-health case. In re Robert S., 213 Ill.2d 30, 45-46, 289 Ill.Dec. 648, 820 N.E.2d 424, 433-34 (2004). In addition, in the supreme court's latest word on the mootness doctrine, the court determined whether the case before it was moot by looking to the traditional exceptions to the mootness doctrine, again without looking merely to the specific type of case before it. Felzak, 226 Ill.2d at 392, 315 Ill.Dec. 338, 876 N.E.2d at 657.
For the last several years, this court has rather routinely recognized an exception to the mootness doctrine in cases involving involuntary mental-health admission and involuntary mental-health treatment. However, given the supreme court's clear, consistent, and recent adherence to the established exceptions to the mootness doctrine without regard to the type of cases before it, we conclude that Supreme Court of Illinois doctrine requires us to determine whether an otherwise moot appeal comes within an established exception to the mootness doctrine. For the following reasons, we conclude that this appeal does not.
In this case, respondent challenges only (1) the sufficiency of the evidence presented to warrant his involuntary admission and (2) whether his hospitalization was the least-restrictive treatment alternative. The answer to either challenge in this particular case does not constitute a question of public importance. Nor would either answer provide an authoritative determination to guide public officers in the performance of their duties in mental-health cases. That is because orders involving involuntary admissions of other respondents undoubtedly will be entered and challenged based on the particular facts presented in such cases. In other words, resolving routine sufficiency-of-the-evidence arguments will rarely have precedential value. Accordingly, we conclude that respondent has failed to clearly establish the criteria necessary to satisfy the public-interest exception to the mootness doctrine.
As earlier stated, the challenged involuntary admission order in this case, entered by the trial court on May 11, 2007, was limited to 90 days. Because this challenged order was of such short duration, it could not have been fully litigated prior to its cessation. Thus, the first criterion of the capable-of-repetition exception has been established. However, respondent has failed to clearly establish the second criterion — namely,...
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In re Alfred H.H.
...Almost one year after the commitment order was entered, the appellate court dismissed respondent's appeal as moot. 379 Ill.App.3d 1026, 320 Ill.Dec. 260, 887 N.E.2d 40. Respondent filed a petition for leave to appeal the mootness determination with this court pursuant to Supreme Court Rule ......
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...350, 303 Ill.Dec. 103, 851 N.E.2d 1. The State urges us to follow the Fourth District's recent opinion in In re Alfred H.H., 379 Ill.App.3d 1026, 320 Ill.Dec. 260, 887 N.E.2d 40 (2008), which found that the mootness exceptions did not apply to an appeal from an involuntary admission order. ......
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