O.i.c.l., Petitioner v. Florida Department of Children and Families, Respondent

Summary

The Court dismissed the case as moot because O.I.C.L. had reached age eighteen and therefore could no longer be adjudicated a dependent child under Florida law. The Court concluded that the possibility of obtaining Special Immigrant Juvenile status did not preserve a live controversy because state courts lack authority to declare an adult a dependent child. Judge Canady concurred in the result on a narrower statutory ground, while Chief Justice Labarga, joined by Justices Pariente and Perry, would have reached the dependency issue and remanded for further proceedings.