Court Deciding Case Based On ‘Becca Bill’

While a runaway teen and her family watched from across the courtroom, attorneys for the girl on Wednesday asked the state Supreme Court to strike down a law that allowed her parents to force her into a mental hospital.

T.B., as the 15-year-old is known in court, watched quietly from the front row while four attorneys argued the legal ramifications of a new law known as the “Becca Bill.”

Her parents and younger sister, pitted against T.B., sat across the aisle.

The teen’s mother asked the nine-member court to reject the challenge, saying the law was the Bellevue couple’s last hope for helping their daughter. Although they were identified in court, the family asked to remain anonymous to protect the teen’s identity.

Parents, hospitals and lawmakers are awaiting the outcome of T.B.’s case. It may be months before the high court issues a ruling.

Through her public defenders, T.B. is fighting the law approved last year that gives parents the right to commit troubled children to counseling centers against their will.

Officially known as the Runaway and At-Risk Youth Act, the law allows youths to be held for up to five days while therapists evaluate them, even if they have not committed a crime.

The law is more commonly referred to as the “Becca Bill” in memory of Becca Hedman of Tacoma, who was beaten to death in Spokane after running away from home at age 12.