Judge James Lawlor, the probate court administrator, gets the boot — or rather, "made a decision to retire," according to Chief Court Administrator Barbara M. Quinn. What message does that send to our 117 different probate courts that have been excoriated for trampling the civil rights of the old, frail and impoverished?
Lawlor has been the man pushing for change from inside, dragging renegade probate court judges kicking and screaming into the modern age, leading the charge to force them to conduct proceedings on the record, to stop them from rewarding cronies, to open for business at convenient hours and to remind all involved that probate is a court, not a feeding trough for lawyers.
John Langbein, Sterling Professor of Law and Legal History at Yale Law School:
"His ouster shows the arrogance of the probate judges"
"They don't want reform, they want to keep their cushy little empires, and they will fight off even modest reforms"
"The legislature has to stand up to these guys if there is to be real reform"
Full Article and Source:
Reformer's Exit Smells Fishy
Rick Green's column appears on Tuesdays and Fridays. He can be reached at rgreen@courant.com
Lawlor has been the man pushing for change from inside, dragging renegade probate court judges kicking and screaming into the modern age, leading the charge to force them to conduct proceedings on the record, to stop them from rewarding cronies, to open for business at convenient hours and to remind all involved that probate is a court, not a feeding trough for lawyers.
John Langbein, Sterling Professor of Law and Legal History at Yale Law School:
"His ouster shows the arrogance of the probate judges"
"They don't want reform, they want to keep their cushy little empires, and they will fight off even modest reforms"
"The legislature has to stand up to these guys if there is to be real reform"
Full Article and Source:
Reformer's Exit Smells Fishy
Rick Green's column appears on Tuesdays and Fridays. He can be reached at rgreen@courant.com
3 comments:
I admire the reporter, Rick Green for his honesty; for telling it like it is. Probate is all about the Ward, stripped of their dignity, their rights and their assets.
In the probate racket the Ward is a product. A product that generates jobs with truck loads of $$$$$; corruption and conspiracy for profit.
Rick Green is correct, as always, probate is rotten; it smells like a bucket of fish guts left on a pier in July.
There is no doubt, the good ol' boys and gals probate club conspired and got what they wanted, bye bye Mr. Lawlor. The players depend on secrecy and operating in the dark - business as usual in the well-oiled probate machine.
They are very powerful, connected people, who know how to work our system and instill fear to those who dare to speak up. They do not want any outsiders snooping around to see the truth that they do no have the Wards best interest as a concern.
If the total amount of profit related to the probate racket for just one year: guardianships and conservatorships and estate matters the total amount would be staggering. Since the probate racket declared that the Wards are not human beings, they are a "product" we need to add the amount of profit to our GNP (GROSS NATIONAL PRODUCT).
This world needs more reporters like Rick Green to help expose the corrupt practices of probate.
Now is the time for all the decent judges in the CT probate system (we've got to assume there are a few decent judges!) to stand up and applaud Judge Lawlor for his efforts to reform the corrupt system.
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