Shackling of mentally ill foster kids in Dade, Broward courts in question
Judges and advocates are questioning whether it's right to restrain mentally ill foster children in court. But some say they have no choice.
Last month, a 16-year-old Broward County girl was brought into Circuit Judge John A. Frusciante's courtroom for a hearing. She was handcuffed, her legs shackled with cloth restraints, with two armed deputies leading her by the arm.
Her offense? She's never been charged with one. A mentally ill foster child who was neglected by her mother and wound up in a psychiatric center, the teen was being restrained to keep her from running away, her attorney said.
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