Court Opinion

ID: 9860071
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 23:09:12.155466+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T11:17:39.476532
License: Public Domain

PRESIDING JUSTICE ZENOFF, dissenting: I must respectfully dissent and would dismiss this appeal on the ground of mootness, which the majority fails to address. Respondent concedes that the 90-day commitment order appealed from has expired and is moot, but contends that this case falls within the public interest exception to the mootness doctrine because the question of “whether respondents in civil commitment hearings are entitled to the same protections as criminal defendants is a question of a public nature.” Even if that assertion could be construed as presenting an issue of adequate breadth or as affecting the public as a whole, respondent fails to present any argument at all on the other two requirements of the public interest exception: whether answering the question will provide authoritative guidance for public officers and whether the claim is likely to recur in the future. Supreme Court Rule 341(h)(7) (210 Ill. 2d R. 341(h)(7)) provides that “[pjoints not argued are waived.” Accordingly, I would hold that respondent has forfeited this argument. While I do not disagree that issues regarding shackling in criminal and civil cases are serious, my point is that it is respondent’s burden to present argument to this court that demonstrates that all requirements of the public interest exception are met. Notwithstanding the majority’s assertion that respondent “recognizes” that all requirements of that exception have been fulfilled, respondent presented no argument or case authority whatsoever with respect to the second and third aspects of the exception. The reviewing court is entitled to have the issues on appeal clearly defined with pertinent authority cited and a cohesive legal argument presented. First National Bank ofLaGrange v. Lowrey, 375 Ill. App. 3d 181, 208 (2007). “ ‘The appellate court is not a depository in which the appellant may dump the burden of argument and research.’ ” Lowrey, 375 Ill. App. 3d at 208, quoting In re Marriage of Auriemma, 271 Ill. App. 3d 68, 72 (1994). Moreover, I dissent from the majority’s application of some of the Boose and Allen protections to civil proceedings while it recognizes that the issue of whether a Boose hearing was required in this case has not been preserved for appellate review. The trial court was not given an opportunity to address the issue, and the record, in my view, is inadequate for making such a sweeping change to the law. Finally, another problem I see is that the majority purports to decide a narrow issue, reasoning that it was harmless error for the trial court to have allowed respondent to remain handcuffed during the involuntary commitment hearing without making a detailed record of its factual findings warranting the security measures. Yet, the majority also seems to allude to a requirement for a trial court to hold a Boose hearing for “a respondent.” The majority, thus, does not define whether it is describing all respondents in civil commitment hearings, or “anyone appearing before a judge for trial.” 402 Ill. App. 3d at 176. These statements would actually represent broader holdings than that seemingly made by this court.