Abuse and Corruption Rampant in Probate Court of Cook County, IL

The end of life has many challenges for the elderly. It can be a fast or a long goodbye and might involve a transition to assisted living, a nursing home, or a live-in caretaker.

Now is the time to guard against opportunists, who like vultures are circling to claim flesh, whether the person is alive or dead, even if a large sum of money isn’t involved. For elder abuse bi-passes color, race or creed and extends also to disabled children.

Although the presence of wealth often brings out the worst in human kind, preying on the elderly can amount to nothing more than gaining access to the individual’s monthly Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security or Veterans Disability payments.

More far reaching abuse happens in situations where the appointed guardian is removed from his/her position by a court order and replaced by a court-appointed guardian (Guardian ad Litem). It now becomes the responsibility of the the court-appointed guardian to make judgments about medical care, property, living arrangements, lifestyle and potentially all personal and financial decisions.

But it doesn’t end here, the court appointed guardian, in collaboration with the lawyer, presiding judge and the nursing home, use the very judicial system they are part of to profit financially by functioning as partners in the management and control of all aspects of a vulnerable person’s life.

Cook County Probate Court Corruption Addressed
What I have described is common practice on the 18th Floor of Daley Center, home to Probate Court in Cook County. Thievery is taking place and savings are being milked in a massive transfer of wealth that is disappearing into the pockets of judges and lawyers instead of the legitimate heirs.

So wide spread is the corruption in the Chicago Probate Court System, that Bev and Ken Cooper created up a website to expose and remedy corruption in the Probate Court of Cook County. www.ProbateSharks.com

Their Illinois website assists, educates and enlightens families of the dead, the dying, the disabled and the aged to better understand their rights in order to protect themselves from the excesses of the Cook County Probate Court. As the site depends on networking, it invites you or someone you know to send stories that tell of probate abuse. Names are kept confidential if there is fear of retaliation against a loved one. The site postings reveal up-to-date incidences of abuse in Cook County Probate Court.

Ken and Bev Cooper first became aware of abuse in the Chicago Probate Court system after a highly emotional and devastating experience with Beverly Cooper’s mother.

About Beverly Cooper, she is producer and host of North Shore “Live” Cooper’s Corner, a weekly cable Comcast TV program that is broadcast live every Wednesday night from a studio in Highland Park and then shown throughout Lake County. This is Bev Cooper’s 30th year as producer of the show. Bev.cooperscorner@yahoo.com

Bev has quite a story to tell about the elder abuse of her own mother, Alice Gore, which has expanded to include 10 videotaped testimonies from individuals appearing on Bev’s North shore “Live” Cooper’s Corner program, all of whom experienced similar gross injustices as did Bev Cooper in dealing with her mother in Probate Court on the 18th Floor of the Daley Building.

Full Article and Source:
Abuse and Corruption Rampant in Probate Court of Cook County, IL

See Also:
ProbateSharks

Note: We will run more excerpts from this artilce soon! To be continued...

ABA Report Calls for Significant Changes to PA's Judicial Conduct System

Asked by the state court system to examine Pennsylvania's judicial conduct system, an American Bar Association committee has recommended significant changes that include no longer requiring complainants to sign their complaints.

In its report which shed light on some inner-workings of the board before offering 14 recommendations, the ABA's Standing Committee on Professional Discipline was clear that the 56-page document was intended to be "forward-looking," and the Luzerne County scandal that brought the judicial discipline system under scrutiny was not the main focus of its review.

"While the incidents in Luzerne County and the action or inaction of lawyers, judges, and entities in response to them provided important context for the team's study, that series of events was not the focus of the consultation team's or the Standing Committee's review," the ABA's committee said in the report. "Rather, the misconduct committed in Luzerne County illustrates the vulnerabilities of the system as currently structured."

The report also recommended some other key changes, such as doing away with the four-year statute of limitations, altering the way people are appointed to the Judicial Conduct Board and Court of Judicial Discipline, and informing complainants of the status of their complaints.

The ABA's report arrived about a week after advocacy group Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts released its own recommendations and just over a year after the Interbranch Commission on Juvenile Justice, or ICJJ, released its report.

Full Article and Source:
ABA Report Calls for Significant Changes to Pa.'s Judicial Conduct System

Lokuta's Last Shot at Reinstatement

Attorneys for former Luzerne County Judge Ann Lokuta took their last chance to return her to the bench, filing a petitionurging the U.S. Supreme Court to overrule lowers courts -- including the state Supreme Court.

“This really is the last opportunity to get somebody to take a serious look at what happened in Judge Lokuta’s case,” attorney George Michak said.

Lokuta was removed from the bench Dec. 9, 2008, by the state Court of Judicial Discipline, ending a 17-year ca reer. That decision followed several weeks of testimony at a trial prosecuted by the state Judicial Conduct Board (JCB) in which Lokuta was portrayed as a courtroom bully.

Lokuta has fought the decision ever since, insisting she had been the victim of a campaign by former county judges Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan, who orchestrated her ouster because she had reported their wrongdoings. Ciavarella was convicted on multiple counts of corruption in February. Conahan has pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing.

Michak said Tuesday’s filing, officially called a “petition for a writ of certiorari,” urges the nation’s highest court to review the case based on three issues:

• Judge Richard Sprague should have recused himself from Lokuta’s trial. An attorney, Sprague had represented attorney Robert Powell in various dealings, creating a conflict of interest. Powell was co-owner of two private juvenile detention centers at the heart of charges against Ciavarella and Conahan. Michak said a 2009 U.S. Supreme Court ruling “laid out” the circumstances in which “due process requires the judge to recuse himself,” and that Sprague’s situation fits that ruling.

• Lokuta was denied due process because the JCB was allowed to amend its complaint after the trial began. Michak said the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that “once a proceeding like this starts you can’t amend the complaint because the respondent doesn’t have time to prepare a defense.” Michak also noted said that several state supreme courts - including Pennsylvania’s in the Lokuta case - have made rulings that contradict that 2009 decision, and that the U.S. Supreme Court should consider this case as a chance to clarify it’s prior stance.

• The JCB “withheld information from Judge Lokuta during discovery and the trial,” Michak said, “and admitted that certain materials, in particular the investigator’s notes of witness interviews, had been destroyed.” The JCB argued the information must remain confidential under the state Constitution. That conflicts directly with Lokuta’s rights under the U.S. Constitution, Michak said, and he is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to resolve that conflict.

The JCB has 30 days to file a response, though no response is required, Michak said. The Supreme Court would then decide if it will consider the case. Both sides would then submit written and, ultimately, oral arguments.

Full Article and Source:
Lokuta's Reinstatement Bid Final Shot: U.S. High Court Filing

See Also:
Supreme Court Denies Lokuta a Second Hearing

Press Release: Gary Harvey Appeal to be Heard in Supreme Court Appellate Division, 3rd Dept.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Date: July 4, 2011
Horseheads, New York

In what has been a nearly five year court battle between Mr. & Mrs. Gary Harvey of Horseheads and officials with Chemung County and the NY State Unified Court System, David has finally penetrated the armor of Goliath.

Gary Harvey, now sixty years old and a life-long resident of Chemung County and Horseheads NY has been at the center of a heated court proceeding since 2006 when he was involved in an unfortunate accident which left him neurologically and physically incapacitated. Gary ’s wife had sought legal guardianship of her incapacitated husband only to be rejected by the Chemung County Supreme Court who ultimately appointed the Chemung County Department of Social Services as Gary ’s legal guardian, “indefinitely”.

In May of 2011, Gary Harvey by “Wife/Next-Friend” filed a petition in the Appellate Division of the NY Supreme Court seeking writs of prohibition, mandamus and certiorari in an effort to enforce Gary rights in the ongoing court proceedings. Chemung County Justice Judith O’Shea who now presides over the case, and NY Mental Hygiene Legal Services Attorney Kevin Moshier both filed motions to dismiss Gary’s “Verified Petition”, Chemung County attorney Bryan Maggs representing Chemung County DSS guardian failed to file any objection whatsoever to Gary Harvey’s petition.

In a ruling handed down June 30, 2011, five Justices of the NY State Supreme Court Appellate Division in Albany denied the motions to dismiss and ordered that Justice O’Shea, Kevin Moshier and the Chemung County DSS guardian must file their responses, and answer for what is alleged to be an improper exercise of their legal authority, and do so on or before August 1, 2011.

Guardianship advocates from across the country, and brother of the late Terri Schiavo, Bobby Schindler, supporting Gary and his wife Sara call the June 30th ruling a major first step in ending the judicial fiasco that has ensnared this husband and wife for the past many years. “Finally, the public will get a glimpse of what these guardianship cases are not supposed to be’, states Sara Harvey, “finally light will be shed on the secrecy of these injustices, and finally, my husband will have ‘his’ day in court.”

For more information, visit:
HelpBringGaryHome
TerrisFight
NASGA Blog
Veterans in Peril

Source:
PPJ Gazette

SAVE Honors Key People in Fight Against Elder Abuse

Derek Meinecke loves his grandmas, Shirley Lichtenwald and Luella Meinecke.

“I’m very lucky to have them both with me,” Meinecke said. They remind him of the many victims of elder abuse he has worked to protect in his role as an Oakland County Assistant Prosecutor, where he spent the majority of his career in the special victims unit.

When the Oakland County SAVE Task Force decided to present their first ever Courage Awards to two individuals and two organizations that have taken action to prevent the abuse and exploitation of vulnerable adults, the choices of Meinecke and Margaret Vogan were obvious.

SAVE, which is an acronym for Serving Adults who are Vulnerable and/or Elderly, presented Meinecke as the individual Courage to Lead honoree, and Vogan as the individual Courage to Speak Out honoree, at their sixth annual elder abuse awareness event at the Oakland County Commissioners Auditorium on June 22.

Full Article and Source:
SAVE Honors Key People in Fight Against Elder Abuse

Jeffrey Schend Requests Out-of-County Judge

Jeffrey M. Schend, 44, made the request this week in Outagamie County Court. He is accused of six felony theft counts and one misdemeanor count of theft.

The suspected thefts have direct ties to the county's court system. Schend contracted with Outagamie County beginning in 2004. In his position as corporate guardian, he was appointed by county judges to handle the finances of those deemed incompetent to handle their own affairs.

Schend is scheduled to enter pleas to the charges on Aug. 1.

Full Article and Source:
Former Guardian Schend Seeks Out of County Judge

See Also:
Oversight Found Lacking for Guardians

Battle Over Right to Die

As our population ages and useful life far outstrips our life expectancy, we nonetheless are still encountering far larger numbers of people who are alive, but perhaps not really living. It is over the issue of what constitutes a viable life, and our “right” to end it that a battle is being waged right under our noses, even though few of us seem to be aware of its existence, much less its implications.

The battle is between forces who support the “right to die” or pro-euthanasia, or “death with dignity” concept, and those who believe the last thing in the world you want is a government panel deciding at what point your life no longer has value or meaning, and checking off a box on a standardized form that seals your death – even if you approve of it.

Seattle Attorney Margaret Dore appears to be the Commander-in-Chief of a command post that issues daily alerts to a vast network of people who fear what will become of the general populace if governments obtain the right to determine when we should die. Her missives come from across the globe and she regularly argues in editorial pieces that the picture painted by assisted suicide proponents is not exactly as it might appear.

Generally, proponents of assisted suicide point to the wishes of competent people who are suffering from progressive diseases that ultimately will rob them of all normal functions, but might prolong their agony and the burden on their loved ones for years or even decades. They maintain that faced with this bleak outlook a competent person should be able to make a decision to end their life at a point where they still retain some function and dignity, and have not become a physical and financial burden to their families.

Dore is aware of this argument but she also makes some compelling points in her writings on the issue. Take for instance the state of Montana where physician-assisted suicide is supposedly considered legal.

That may be the way it appears on the surface, but Dore points out that “Under current Montana law, assisting a suicide exposes the assister to civil and criminal liability. Doctors and others can be held civilly liable for: (1) causing another to commit suicide; or (2) failing to prevent a suicide in a custodial situation where the suicide is foreseeable. This latter situation would typically occur in a hospital or prison. Those who assist a suicide can also be prosecuted for homicide under Mont. Code Ann. § 45-5-102(1).

Full Article and Source:
Battle Over Right to Die

Court Denies Guardian's Motion to Dismiss in the Gary Harvey Case

Gary Harvey, 60, is a Vietnam veteran and a Horseheads resident who suffers from a severe head injury. Mr. Harvey is under both the guardianship of Chemung County and under the total care of St. Joseph’s Hospital in Elmira.

The Gary Harvey story has gotten much media attention, as Bobby Schindler, the brother of the late Terri Schaivo (who died in 2005 after being food by a hospital in Florida), has been campaigning in defense of Gary Harvey's wife, Sara.

Here's the latest: Sara Harvey filed a lawsuit to force Chemung County to prove they had not gone past the limits of their authority in the guardianship of Gary.

Chemung County filed a motion to dismiss the case, the State Court of Appeals has denied the motion to dismiss, so the case will be going forward.

Attempts to reach both Chemung County Government officials and officials at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Elmira were unsuccessful.

Source:
Gary Harvey Update: Court Denies Dismissal

See Also:
HelpBringGaryHome

IL: New Law Will Shield Consumers Against PoA Abuses

[July 1] a new law takes effect in Illinois that will provide critical protections for thousands of individuals, particularly older adults, who utilize a power of attorney and could fall victim to financial exploitation at the hands of individuals entrusted with making their financial decisions as a power of attorney. The law, Public Act 96-1195, was sponsored by State Representative Emily McAsey and passed unanimously in both houses of the General Assembly before being signed into law by Governor Quinn in July 2010.

"A power of attorney is a responsibility that should be taken very seriously - it is not a license to steal," said Bob Gallo, AARP Illinois State Director. "Individuals who designate a power of attorney must be able to trust that their financial decisions are in good hands. AARP strongly supported this legislation and we are proud to see it enacted today."

In Illinois, financial exploitation, including abuse at the hands of a power of attorney, is the most commonly reported form of elder abuse, constituting nearly 60% of all elder abuse reports in the state. On a national level, it is estimated that elder financial abuse costs victims more than $2.9 billion each year.

"Considering the broad authority granted in a power of attorney and the economic impact of financial abuse, it is critical that there are adequate protections in place for both the principal and the agent," added Gallo.

The new law amends the Illinois Power of Attorney Act to provide greater protections for the individual granting the power of attorney, the agent receiving it, and the persons who are asked to rely on the agent's authority. Most importantly, the law creates liability for the agent in cases of abuse. If an agent violates the law, he/she will now be required to repay what was stolen (the original law did not mandate repayment). The new law also clarifies to the consumer the guidelines, duties and allowances of the power of attorney and provides clearer guidelines for the agent to act in good faith and in the best interest of the principal.

Full Article and Source:
Critical Consumer Protection Law Takes Effect in Illinois

Huguette Clark's Will

Huguette Clark, the Montana copper mining heiress who died in New York last month at 104, has left most of her $400 million fortune to the arts - wealth from the Gilded Age that produced the Rockefellers, Astors and Vanderbilts.

According to her will, obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday, Clark gave to Washington's Corcoran Gallery of Art a prized Claude Monet water-lily painting not seen by the public since 1925.

The Manhattan district attorney's office is looking into how Clark's affairs were managed while she spent the last two decades of her life in a hospital, a virtual recluse, people familiar with the probe have said. Before that, she lived in the largest residence on Fifth Avenue - 42 rooms.

The people spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak publicly about the probe.

The daughter of one-time U.S. Sen. William A. Clark left instructions for the creation of a foundation "for the primary purpose of fostering and promoting the arts," according to the will prepared and signed in 2005, when she was 98.

About $300 million will go for the arts, including the 1907 Monet from his famed "Water Lilies" series, which is worth tens of millions of dollars, said attorney John Dadakis, of the firm Holland & Knight.

He filed the seven-page document Wednesday in New York's Surrogate Court on behalf of the co-executors of Clark's estate, her longtime attorney, Wallace Bock, and accountant Irving H. Kamsler.

Full Article and Source:
Montana Mining Heiress Leaves NY Fortune to Arts

Mandatory Regulation of Florida Paralegals Nixed

A proposal that would force nonlawyers to register with the Florida Registered Paralegal (FRP) program before they could use the title "paralegal" has been rejected by the Florida Bar Board of Governors. At its May 27 meeting, the Board instead endorsed strengthening the FRP in an effort to attract more nonlawyers to become registered paralegals. Nonlawyers who work under a lawyer's supervision without registering will still be able to use the title paralegal.

"We received a lot of comments about this," said Greg Coleman, Chair of the Program Evaluation Committee which is charged with conducting mandatory reviews of the FRP program. "The vast majority of them, including most of the paralegals who corresponded with me, were not in favor of mandatory regulation."

Source:
HALT

Mental Incapacitation Not a Factor in Signing Nursing Home Arbitration

A Kentucky federal court ruled Monday that an arbitration agreement signed by a nursing home resident is enforceable, even though the 74-year-old woman said she suffered from a major mental disorder.

The woman, Christine Abell, brought a suit against Life Care Center of Bardstown alleging negligence, gross negligence, wanton conduct, intentional conduct and disregard for her safety. Abell argued that she was mentally incapacitated when she was admitted, but the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky found that she was unable to demonstrate that age, sickness, extreme distress, or debility of the body invalidated her signature on the arbitration form, according to the Bureau of National Affairs.

While a pre-admission screening detected a “major mental disorder,” there was not proof to show that this prohibited Abell from understanding what she signed, the court stated.

Full Article and Source;
Court: Mental Incapacitation Not a Factor in Signing Nursing Home Arbitration

Former Lawyer Indicted for Alleged Theft From Elderly Couple

A Greenfield lawyer has been indicted by a Franklin County grand jury, for allegedly stealing more than $186,000 from an elderly couple he represented in a personal injury case.

Edward Pepyne, Jr., 58, of South Deerfield, has been indicted on a charge of larceny over $250 on a person over 60 years of age.

According to a news release from the office of Attorney General Martha Coakley, Pepyne had represented an elderly couple following a 2006 auto accident. Pepyne had settled the couple’s personal injury claim without bringing the case to trial.

The couple had agreed to pay Pepyne one third of their settlement, but the Attorney General’s Office says that Pepyne told the couple he had to keep even more money in order to pay for outstanding medical expenses. No such expenses existed, and Pepyne allegedly used the more than $186,000 on himself.

Pepyne has since been disbarred, after his alleged activities were reported to the Office of Bar Counsel.

Full Article and Source:
Greenfield Lawyer Allegedly Stole $186K

PA: Judiciary gets $22 mil Budget Increase

The Pennsylvania judiciary is going to see a $22 million budget increase in the 2011-12 fiscal year that started today, even as the majority of state court systems in the country have experienced budget cuts.

Fifty-seven percent of state court systems had their budgets cut in the last fiscal year, while 31 percent had an increase and 12 percent saw no change, according to the National Center for State Courts.

The Pennsylvania judiciary also is seeing a budget increase despite an overall state budget that was reduced by 4.1 percent to $27.15 billion. The courts will be funded $298.9 million, up from Gov. Tom Corbett's proposal of $276.9 million.

Full Article and Source:
Judiciary Gets $22 Mil. Increase in Pa. Budget

Marriage Equality in New York

It is a debate raging across the country and a hot issue on the current social and political agenda here in New York.

Gay or straight, does it matter?

In the Southern Tier Finger Lakes region of New York is a husband and a wife who, married now for 13 years, are not allowed to live together and not allowed to freely associate.

There is no divorce, there is no history of domestic violence, they were not poor or receiving government assistance — they were a happily married loving couple minding their own business, living their own lives, going to work every day, no trouble with the law, paying their taxes.

Then, suddenly, the husband was involved in a serious accident which left him neurologically and physically incapacitated. As would most individuals in such a situation, the wife was advised to seek legal guardianship of her husband. She hired an attorney, papers were filed in court and the wife expected she would be appointed guardian, uncontested, and soon her husband would be receiving “home-care” back in the loving environment of their marital residence.

Full Article and Source:
Gay or Straight, it Doesn't Matter

See Also:
Gary Harvey - Government Intrusion

Police Officer Accused of Posing as His Father in Attempt to Steal Pension

A Chicago Police officer stole $50,000 from his ailing elderly father to pay off his bills and gambling debts and unsuccessfully attempted to swipe his dad’s retirement savings by impersonating him, Cook County prosecutors said Wednesday.

The 69-year-old Kentucky-born Joseph Simpson Sr. died in November at Westmont’s ManorCare Health Services where he been placed due to his “severely impaired” state brought on by his dementia and Parkinson’s disease, according to court records.

But his namesake son’s alleged crimes didn’t surface until DuPage County officials continued investigating unpaid bill claims by ManorCare and the Illinois Department of Public Health.

Joseph Simpson, Jr., 37, turned himself in to the District 1 police station with his attorney Dan Herbert at his side Wednesday morning, court records show.

Between January and October of 2009, the junior Simpson used 15 checks from his father’s bank accounts to pay off bills, prosecutors said.

That year he also allegedly repeatedly called JP Morgan Retirement Services and impersonated his father in hopes of withdrawing his $102,000 in retirement savings.

Simpson has been charged with several counts of theft, fraud and financial exploitation of the elderly.

He was ordered held in lieu of $40,000 bail Wednesday.

Full Article and Source:
Cop Accused of Posing as Elderly Father in Attempt to Steal Pension