L.M. v. State
Florida District Court of Appeal
610 So. 2d 1314 (1992)
- Written by Katrina Sumner, JD
Facts
L.M. (defendant) was a juvenile delinquent with a long history of offenses by the age of 13, including petit theft, burglary, larceny, retail theft, and arson. L.M.’s mother indicated that L.M. would not do homework, got into fights, cursed at his teachers, and was suspended from school on multiple occasions. After the state (plaintiff) charged L.M. with petit larceny and he pleaded guilty, L.M. was adjudicated delinquent. A predisposition report indicated that L.M. was exhibiting ungovernable behavior, and his mother was likely to lose control of him if firm actions were not taken. At a dispositional hearing, the court asked L.M.’s mother whether the church she attended had youth programs or other programs and if L.M. participated in the programs. L.M.’s mother indicated that L.M. did not participate in any church programs. As part of the trial court’s disposition, the court ordered that L.M. was to be obedient to his mother’s and his counselor’s lawful and reasonable requirements, and his mother was to enroll L.M. in programs for youth at her church. The court told L.M. that he was to contact the pastor. L.M. appealed the requirement of the community-control condition of contacting the pastor and attending church programs on First Amendment grounds. The appellate court ruled the condition was improper because it required L.M. to undergo religious instruction and because the court’s determination of what programs might best rehabilitate L.M. was unlawfully assigned to a pastor. The appellate court indicated that the trial court could require attendance at a secular youth program. On remand, the trial court altered its condition to require L.M. to obey all of his mother’s lawful and reasonable requirements, whether related to school, civic, church, or community programs. L.M. appealed the condition again, arguing an unlawful delegation of the court’s authority to L.M.’s mother and a violation of L.M.’s right to free exercise of religion under the First Amendment to the United States and Florida constitutions.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Zehmer, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 821,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 989 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
