NASGA's California Advocacy Liaison Linda Kincaid's Mother, Carol Hahn, passed Saturday, August 17, 2013. Two days after Carol Hahn's death, Governor Brown signed AB937 - legislation created to clarify conservatees' rights to visitors, mail, and phone calls.
Linda stands in front of the Board of Supervisors in honor of her Mother who was a victim of conservatorship abuse the final years of her life.
Carol Hahn leaves behind her daughter, a stellar advocate for victims of unlawful and abusive guardianships and conservatorships and for reform.
Source:
Linda Kincaid Speaks at the 082013 Board of Supervisors Meeting to Honor Her Mother, Carol Hahn
Saturday, August 24, 2013
Employees at Totowa mental health facility admit stealing patient information to file fake tax returns
Alidu Dramani, 33, a practical nurse from Irvington, and Evans Boamah, 30, of Elizabeth, a human services assistant, admitted to U.S. District Judge William J. Martini in Newark earlier this month that they stole the names and Social Security numbers of patients at the North Jersey Developmental Center.
They then gave the stolen identity information to a conspirator, who was a tax preparer, to file false tax returns and get federal tax refunds to which they were not entitled, authorities said.
As a result of the defendants’ participation in the conspiracy, tax preparers filed, attempted and intended to file false tax returns for 2009 through 2011 seeking $396,416 in tax refunds, authorities said.
Dramani, who was hired in 2007 and earned $49,134, and Boamah, who started a year later and made $33,290, were arrested by agents of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations unit in August 2012.
They were suspended without pay and are facing termination from their jobs at the 188-acre campus in Totowa, which currently serves 283 developmentally disabled residents, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Human Services said Tuesday.
Full Article and Source:
Employees at Totowa mental health facility admit stealing patient information to file fake tax returns
'...That Basic Principle of Justice' Applies to Guardianship Abuse?
It is an elementary principle of jurisprudence in all
civilized countries that before property or liberty may be taken from an
individual he shall have an opportunity to be heard on charges brought against
him. This is a rule so universal in its application to all common-law, chancery, or statutory proceedings that there is general agreement that no court has power otherwise to divest a person of property or punish him. In fact, the recognition of that basic principle of justice is so widespread that courts are now seldom called upon to restore rights of individuals so ruthlessly taken from them.
Source:
Leininger v. Reichle, 317 Ill. 625, 148 N.E. 384; Heppe v. Szczepanski, 209 Ill. 88, 70 N.E. 737, 101 Am.St.Rep. 221; Botsford v. O'Conner, 57 Ill. 72.
Friday, August 23, 2013
Disabled Plaintiffs, State Reach Deal on Living Conditions
The class action lawsuit, filed in 2010 by disability rights advocates and six institutionalized plaintiffs between the ages of 26 and 46, alleges that Gov. Rick Perry and state social services officials have violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by failing to provide appropriate treatment to some 4,500 Texans living in nursing homes.
Garth Corbett, a senior attorney with the watchdog group Disability Rights Texas and the lead attorney on the case, told the Tribune in 2010 that many of those individuals were receiving care for their disabilities at home or in the community but were mistakenly sent to nursing homes after being hospitalized for illness. Once there, he said, they were effectively trapped, since many did not have advocates or the capacity to argue for their own transfer.
Under the interim agreement, the state has committed to expanding community living options for people with intellectual disabilities; avoiding admitting individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities to a nursing facility if those people can safely live in the community instead; and devising educational activities to address community living options for affected individuals and their families.
Full Article and Source:
Disabled Plaintiffs, State Reach Deal on Living Conditions
C.A. Upholds Dismissal of Suit Against State Bar, but Throws Out Fee Award on Jurisdictional Grounds
The Court of Appeal for this district yesterday threw out an order requiring a local attorney who sued the State Bar to pay attorney fees.
The suit by Patricia Barry was properly dismissed, Justice Victoria Chavez wrote, because it challenged a disciplinary stipulation, and lawyer discipline is exclusively within the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. But because the trial court lacked jurisdiction, Chavez explained, it could not award attorney fees under the anti-SLAPP statute.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Deirdre Hill awarded the fees after concluding that the State Bar’s pursuit of lawyer discipline is protected activity for purposes of the statute, and that Barry failed to state a prima facie claim. One of the reasons for the latter holding was that the trial court lacked jurisdiction over State Bar disciplinary matters.
Hill was correct on that point, Chavez said. But because the trial court lacked jurisdiction, its award of more than $2,500 in fees must be reversed, she said.
Because the trial court’s ruling came on an anti-SLAPP motion, and not on a motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction, Brown v. Desert Christian Center (2011) 193 Cal.App.4th 733 does not apply, Chavez reasoned. Brown held that the trial judge, having dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction after having determined that the matter came within the exclusive jurisdiction of the workers’ compensation system, could award costs.
That award, the appellate court held, was incidental to the court’s exercise of its “jurisdiction to determine its own jurisdiction.”
The stipulation that Barry, 70, sought to overturn was entered into in 2011. According to State Bar records, the attorney was suspended for two years, stayed, and placed on two years of probation with a 60-day actual suspension and ordered to take the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination.
The State Bar summarized the case on its website as follows;
“Barry stipulated that she pursued cases without merit. She filed a series of lawsuits on behalf of a client that included charges of taking a child from her parents, conspiracy and making a false claim of child abuse and neglect. Barry appealed after most of the claims were dismissed (including an appeal to the Supreme Court). Granting a request by the other side for attorney’s fees after Barry’s petitions were denied, one court called her actions “groundless and vexatious” and said the case ‘was unreasonable, frivolous, meritless.’
Full Article and Source:
C.A. Upholds Dismissal of Suit Against State Bar, but Throws Out Fee Award on Jurisdictional Grounds
Financial Elder Abuse Stealing by Any Other Name
The state of California has one of the toughest and broadest laws protecting against Financial Elder Abuse in the US. So broad, in fact, that under financial elder abuse law if a business were to dispense the wrong change to a consumer and the individual was in a position to prove he was 65 or over, then the issuance of wrongful change could be interpreted as financial abuse of the elderly.
Sadly, according to a former professional in the salon industry who returned to school at 65 and became an attorney, elder abuse financial exploitation is becoming quite common, and very serious. “It never dawned on me that this might be a crime,” Helen Karr, today the elder abuse special assistant in the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, said in comments published in The San Francisco Chronicle (The Chronicle 3/29/13). “It wasn’t until I became an attorney that financial abuse was included as a crime of elder abuse. It is just plain stealing.”
That stealing, more often than not, originates from within a senior’s own family.
Karr reveals that in her former career as a supervisor at beauty salons in department stores, she would overhear scores of conversations between hairdressers and their elderly clients lamenting the loss of funds to acquaintances, caregivers and even family members - loans that were never repaid.
Now 78, Karr has spearheaded various initiatives in an attempt to better protect the elderly from those who might otherwise take advantage of them. One of her initiatives was to spearhead an elderly financial abuse law in California that requires banks and financial institutions to report suspicion of elder financial abuse.
Part of the financial exploitation elderly problem is that medical science is allowing people to live longer than they used to. And while an individual may have more prolonged physical longevity than a previous generation, their mental capacity may not keep pace.
Hence, the upswing in financial elderly abuse.
It’s not just family or so-called friends either, Karr said in The Chronicle. Financial planners and vendors of financial products can smell an easy sale and commission through the issuance of a product not at all appropriate for a trusting senior of advanced age.
“An annuity can be a good investment,” Karr told The Chronicle. “But if you’re already in your 70s and an insurance salesman tries to sell you one, and the fine print is that you can’t take out your money for 20 years without a very steep penalty, that’s an inappropriate product for that person.”
Full Article and Source:
Financial Elder Abuse Stealing by Any Other Name
Thursday, August 22, 2013
SURVIVOR MADE WARD, AS AL KATZ
COMMUNITY ALERT
Last month, July 2013, one of our precious Survivors heard a knock on her door and was surprised to find a stranger who wanted to ask her many questions. She had thought that he was an administrator from her Sarasota housing complex, but he turned out to be a psychiatrist who was surreptitiously conducting an examination of her in order to put her into emergency temporary guardianship, which did occur just a few days later (without notification to her closest family members).
As many of you know, my own Father, Al Katz, a Holocaust Survivor, was likewise put into emergency temporary guardianship here without any notification sent to me as his next-of-kin, which notification is required by law. My Father’s emergency temporary guardianship was court ordered on Erev Rosh Hashonah 2009.
Today, another Holocaust Survivor would have been similarly forced into permanent Florida State guardianship shortly before Rosh Hashonah; however, Jews from across the United States worked for many days to prevent this unnecessary confinement of a Survivor, separation from her beloved family members, and isolation from the Jewish community.
The attorney that was appointed by the court to represent the Survivor was the same attorney that was responsible for my Father’s placement into the Baker Act illegally for three weeks without any court hearing, his lockdown for three additional weeks in an abusive nursing home, and his inability to come home from the nursing home, which traumas and medical neglect nearly cost my Father his life.
I urge you to be very careful when you encounter anyone or any experiences that could pose a risk to you in terms of elder abuse or exploitation. In today’s case, the Survivor lives in a luxury housing complex and has very significant assets. Once a person is forced into guardianship, all of his or her assets are under the control of someone appointed by the court, who may not have any relationship with the Ward at all, in other words, a total stranger. The results to the person and property (asset seizure) of the Ward can be disastrous. I ask you to begin this Rosh Hashonah safely and please feel free to contact The Al Katz Center any time you are faced with a troubling situation in which we can assist you.
At The Al Katz Center, Survivors are treasures, the backbone of the Jewish people, to whom we all owe an inestimable debt of gratitude for their extreme sacrifices. The Al Katz Center is a refuge and resource for Jews young and old, observant and non-.
L’Shana Tova,
Beverly Newman, Ed.D.
The Al Katz Center
713 South Orange Avenue
Sarasota, Florida 34236
(941) 313-9239
Discipline Hearing Against Judge to Proceed
Jones was attempting to prevent a hearing by the Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline regarding an alleged conflict of interest. Jones heard cases involving a prosecutor with whom he was maintaining a relationship in 2011. Jones denies allegations of misconduct.
Full Article and Source:
Discipline Hearing Against Judge to Proceed
Former Nursing Home Employee Accused of Stealing over $10,000
KSWO, Lawton, OK- Wichita Falls, TX: News, Weather, Sports. ABC, 24/7, Telemundo -
A former nursing home employee is facing charges of elderly exploitation. Over a span of six months, police said Stefani Bridges stole over ten thousand dollars from an elderly man she was caring for while working at a nursing home near 73rd Street and Northwest Cache Road.
Police said Bridges was authorized to make purchases for an elderly man through the use of his bank card. But police said instead in a string of transactions, she transferred the money onto her own credit cards.
She vowed to take care of the elderly living at this nursing home. But instead, Bridges allegedly bilked an elderly man of over ten thousand dollars.
Red flags were raised after the nursing home's Director of Finance was contacted by a bank and was told that a bank account belonging to one of their residents had been overdrawn by thousands of dollars. The missing money was traced back to employee Stefani Bridges.
Once confronted Bridges admitted to her coworkers that she had in fact taken the money. She was able to do it after she transferred money from her victim's account and into her personal accounts including credit cards.
She used the money to pay off some of her debt and also spent several hundreds of dollars while making her cell phone payments.
Full Article and Source:
Former Nursing Home Employee Accused of Stealing over $10,000
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Brown signs bill to protect rights of conservatees
An ABC7 News I-Team investigation uncovered cases in which the Santa Clara County public guardian was restricting access to conservatees.
The law clarifies a conservatee's right to have visitors, phone calls, and personal mail.
Full Article and Source:
Brown signs bill to protect rights of conservatees
Need a guardian? If you don't pick one, court will for you
In Illinois, if you are "not decisional" as the lawyers say, and you haven't chosen someone to act on your behalf when you're in that state, a judge will appoint a guardian for you.
In Champaign County, John Brown of Savoy is the county public guardian for those who have no one else to do the job. In Vermilion County, Matt Myrick of Oakwood holds that position.
"Having a decision-maker that you trust, that you have the opportunity to talk to about how you want medical decisions made before that emergency occurs is really important," said Champaign attorney Deb Feinen, whose office specializes in petitioning for guardianships.
"Assuming that you don't revoke your power-of-attorney, that person is able to make all the decisions and you don't have to go to court and get a guardianship," she said.
Champaign County Judge Holly Clemons, who handles most of the requests for guardianships, said typically the requests come from a family member who has no power to act because the affected loved one hasn't executed a power-of-attorney.
Full Article and Source:
Need a guardian? If you don't pick one, court will for you
Every grown-up should get chance to make own decisions
Aging baby boomers, look out, because the case I am going to talk about might have an impact on your life one day, too.This is a case about freedom, personal decisions and whether someone who is deemed less bright than Einstein has the right to make those personal decisions themselves.
All of us who have been parents understand to some degree the lawsuit involving guardianship decided last week by Circuit Court Judge David F. Pugh in Newport News, Va. We think we know what is best for our children — even when they aren’t children anymore.
Maybe you have even experienced the same dilemma with an aging parent. You are concerned for their safety, their well-being, and you know what is best for them.
Jenny Hatch is 29. When she was in a bicycle accident, her friends Jim Talbert and Kelly Morris, who came to know Jenny when they hired her to work in their thrift store, took her in. The three formed a sort of family.
But Jenny’s mother and stepfather, Julia and Richard Ross, weren’t happy with the arrangement. Believing they knew what was best for Jenny, they sought legal guardianship so they could make decisions for her.
If Jenny didn’t have a disability, no court would have taken such an idea seriously. But she does have a disability — and that made all the difference.
Jenny Hatch has Down syndrome. She is described as vibrant, loving and, let’s not forget, 29 years old.
Her parents believe she should live in a group home and managed to place her in several of them over the past year while the case was pending.
Each time, she ran away, back to her friends Talbert and Morris, who wanted her to live with them, and with whom she wanted to live.
The case, which took a year to resolve and attracted disability-rights leaders from around the country, brings the issue of guardianship front and center, where we all should be taking a good, hard look.
Having legal guardianship over someone means that you make decisions for them. You decide where they will live, if and where they can work, what they will eat and with whom they will associate.
These are the decisions we make for children, because we believe they are not yet able to make these decisions for themselves.
Indeed, that was Jenny Hatch’s lament regarding the group homes where the Rosses wanted her to live: She was treated like a child.
Full Article and Source:
Every grown-up should get chance to make own decisions
See Also:
Disability Is No Excuse to Deprive One of Civil Liberties
Couple wins custody of Jenny Hatch
Jenny Hatch's courtroom battle continues
Jenny Hatch shouldn’t be treated as a prisoner
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Former assisted living center director sentenced in financial exploitation
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| Elaine Marie Elcyzyn |
Elaine Marie Elcyzyn, 38, of Grove, pleaded no contest in Delaware County District Court on Thursday to financial exploitation by caretaker.
She was also ordered to pay $4,680.30 in addition to a $1,000 fine and court costs, said Nick Lelecas, assistant district attorney.
Elcyzyn, the former director of Grand Wood Assisted Living, was charged after bank statements of a dementia patient showed numerous ATM withdraws amounting to over $2,743 were withdrawn at the Grand Lake Casino in Grove, Turtle Stop Casino in Wyandotte and Cherokee Casino in Watts, according to an arrest affidavit.
Full Article and Source:
Former assisted living center director sentenced in financial exploitation
Pa. CJD suspends indicted administrative Phila. Traffic Court judge without pay
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Court of Judicial Discipline Judge Bernard L. McGinley
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Pennsylvania’s Court of Judicial Discipline has granted a petition by the Judicial Conduct Board to keep Judge Michael Sullivan off the bench without compensation until further notice.
Sullivan was one of nine judges who were indicted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Philadelphia earlier this year over allegations that they tossed motor vehicle citations for friends, relatives and the politically connected.
Sullivan, who sat on Philadelphia’s Traffic Court for a half-decade, had been administrative judge of that bench since 2011.
In an opinion accompanying its Aug. 9 order, the CJD drew contrast between its decision to grant fellow Traffic Court Judge Mark Bruno’s request to continuing receiving a paycheck during his suspension, and its ruling to have Sullivan’s paycheck canceled while his criminal charges are pending.
The CJD had earlier suspended Bruno with pay.
Essentially, the disciplinary court determined that the crimes with which Sullivan is being charged are more serious than those faced by Bruno.
“When Bruno and Sullivan are viewed alongside each other what is noticeable is their differences, not their similarities, so our decision that Bruno should be suspended with pay rather than without pay carries no precedential weight or influence in our deciding that question hear,” the CJD wrote in its opinion. “The extent and nature of the differences between the cases is easily recognized by reading what the Indictment alleges about the respective participation of Bruno and Sullivan in the illegal scheme described there.”
The disciplinary court also pointed out the differences between the various levels of involvement in the day to day operations of Traffic Court as justification for its decision to suspend Bruno with pay, and Sullivan without.
Bruno is an out-of-county magisterial district judge who occasionally heard Philadelphia motor vehicle cases on a per assignment basis while Sullivan was the administrative judge of Philadelphia Traffic Court who was there day in and day out, the CJD noted.
The court also stated that the federal government’s indictment doesn’t allege that Bruno ever placed anything in the mail or participated in any interstate phone calls or wire communications in furtherance of the allegedly illegal ticket-fixing scheme, while Sullivan is alleged to have used his position in the community to “fix” tickets for family members, friends, a former politician, a Philadelphia political ward leader and customers of the Fireside Tavern, a business owned by Sullivan, the CJD’s opinion states.
Federal prosecutors allege that Sullivan directed Fireside customers to leave their traffic citations or related documents at the city bar for him; tavern employees supposedly placed the documents in a box behind the bar.
Full Article and Source:
Pa. CJD suspends indicted administrative Phila. Traffic Court judge without pay
The 5 Most Controversial Decisions Alzheimer's Caregivers Will Ever Face
1. Should the Person Stop Driving?
Late one evening, I was deeply immersed in editing the photographs I'd taken at the Cincinnati Zoo that day when I was startled by the phone ringing. I thought it was probably Ed, my Romanian life partner and soul mate.
But it wasn't. It was a sweet female voice I didn't recognize calling to tell me she'd found Ed driving on the wrong side of the road. He'd pulled over and so she'd stopped too, and seeing how confused he was, she offered him a ride home.
Suddenly, I realized the cold hard truth: He could no longer drive safely. My heart sank and I told him very quietly that he had to stop driving.
Sooner or later, driving becomes a problem for all people with Alzheimer's. There are usually many warning signs that it is no longer safe for them to be driving. The Alzheimer's Association lists five primary ones:
- Forgetting how to locate familiar places
- Failing to observe traffic signs
- Making slow or poor decisions in traffic
- Driving at an inappropriate speed
- Becoming angry or confused while driving
When loved ones exhibit one or more of these, it's time to get them to stop driving. This will be one of the most difficult actions you will ever have to take. We all cherish the independence of being able to drive anywhere we want -- any time we want -- and people with Alzheimer's are no exception.
It's highly likely that you will face all manner of resistance, but you are ultimately responsible for getting the person to stop driving, one way or another.
2. Should the Person Be Placed in a Long-Term Care Facility?
Placing a loved one with Alzheimer's in a long-term care facility is highly controversial. The vast majority of families don't want to do it, and many refuse to even think about it. Some feel it's the most cruel, shameful thing they could possibly do to their loved one, even if they have access to a high-quality facility nearby.
Full Article and Source:
The 5 Most Controversial Decisions Alzheimer's Caregivers Will Ever Face
Monday, August 19, 2013
Study Shows People in “Vegetative” State Were Incorrectly Diagnosed
There is more encouraging news coming out of Canada regarding the very unscientific persistent vegetative state (PVS) diagnosis. Once again there has been a study regarding three people who were incorrectly thought to be in a PVS.
Why is this so important? One reason is that the PVS diagnosis can be used as a motive to kill a person with a brain injury, as it was in my sister, Terri Schiavo’s case. This is not the first time this type of testing has taken place with similar types of results.
From the story, “Brain scans reveal which ‘vegetative’ patients are alert, trapped in bodies”:
A man who had appeared to have been in a vegetative state for 12 years knew his name and knew where he was, Canadian researchers report in a study showing it’s possible to use MRI brain scans to establish communication with people who seem completely unconscious. Three people tested using a special form of MRI called functional magnetic resonance imaging were able to answer simple “yes” or “no” questions, the team at Western University in London, Ontario report.
And once again, just like most of these reports where they find people have been wrongly diagnosed as being in a PVS, they felt it necessary to point out that there is no way possible that they were wrong when Terri Schiavo was diagnosed as being in PVS and then subsequently killed because of it.
In fact, they often say, as in this report, the autopsy proved it. To help strengthen their claim, they bring in the “experts” like the “omniscient” bioethicist, Art Caplan who believes it was okay to deny Terri the same tests he seems to approve for others in similar conditions:
Full Article and Source:
Study Shows People in “Vegetative” State Were Incorrectly Diagnosed
Why is this so important? One reason is that the PVS diagnosis can be used as a motive to kill a person with a brain injury, as it was in my sister, Terri Schiavo’s case. This is not the first time this type of testing has taken place with similar types of results.
From the story, “Brain scans reveal which ‘vegetative’ patients are alert, trapped in bodies”:
A man who had appeared to have been in a vegetative state for 12 years knew his name and knew where he was, Canadian researchers report in a study showing it’s possible to use MRI brain scans to establish communication with people who seem completely unconscious. Three people tested using a special form of MRI called functional magnetic resonance imaging were able to answer simple “yes” or “no” questions, the team at Western University in London, Ontario report.
And once again, just like most of these reports where they find people have been wrongly diagnosed as being in a PVS, they felt it necessary to point out that there is no way possible that they were wrong when Terri Schiavo was diagnosed as being in PVS and then subsequently killed because of it.In fact, they often say, as in this report, the autopsy proved it. To help strengthen their claim, they bring in the “experts” like the “omniscient” bioethicist, Art Caplan who believes it was okay to deny Terri the same tests he seems to approve for others in similar conditions:
Full Article and Source:
Study Shows People in “Vegetative” State Were Incorrectly Diagnosed
Judge Who Threatened Lawyers Reprimanded By Judicial Conduct Commission
There are a lot of prickly judges in the world. You can’t really blame someone who reached the pinnacle of their professional career for being insufferable to everyone else. Actually, you can blame someone for doing so, because success is not actually a license to be a prick.
That said, in the annals of judges, luckily, few have to deal with judges who insult and even threaten lawyers while openly undermining the constitutionally guaranteed rights of defendants in the courtroom. That sounds like the worst judge for a lawyer to practice in front of ever. (Well, maybe not the worst judge for a lawyer to practice in front of ever.)
In any event, the thankfully retired judge at the center of this tale left an ample record of his judicial shortcomings. As sanctioned by the state judicial conduct committee, this guy is a true embarrassment to his robes, and darned if he didn’t leave us a legacy complete with video.
And he’s not even a bit sorry for his actions…
Full Article and Source:
Judge Who Threatened Lawyers Reprimanded By Judicial Conduct Commission
Woman Jailed On Charges She Abused An Elderly Female Relative
Online court records don't list an attorney for 49-year-old Patricia Ann Fitzgerald, of Falls Township, Bucks County.
The Bucks County Courier-Times reports the incident happened July 19, but Fitzgerald wasn't arraigned on aggravated assault and other charges until Tuesday, because police had to investigate the older woman's claims.
Police say the alleged victim waited three days to report the attack because she couldn't move due to the injuries, which left her with severe bruises on her ribs, scratches on her back, and severely swollen eyes.
Full Article and Source:
Police charge eastern Pa. woman with poking elderly relative in eyes, squeezing her very hard
Sunday, August 18, 2013
Tonight on T.S. Radio: Targeting Whistleblowers - Corrupt Courts in Action
5:00 pm PST … 6:00 pm MST … 7:00 pm CST … 8:00 pm EST
Join us this evening as Elliot Bernstein and Pat Hanley talk about the massive corruption in our courts and how it extends all the way down to probate courts and estate theft.
Elliot also publishes the Iviewit Blogosphere where he documents his legal battles.
Corruption Articles from Expose Corrupt Courts re Judges Wiretapped, Illegal use of Joint Terrorism Task funds and resources to target whistleblowers.
Head of NY Dem Party and former NY Senate Judiciary Comm Chair Sampson Threatened and Bribed Christine C. Anderson whistleblower and how she exposes corruption inside out in courts.
How the Courts are being used in Estate matters: current FL estate matters, in Property matters, Home foreclosure matters, etc.
LISTEN LIVE or listen to the archive later
Linda Kincaid Reports: Advocates Urge CA Governor Brown to Sign AB937
Some conservators take the position that they have absolute power over a conservatee. Santa Clara County’s Public Guardian took that position until flagrant abuse was exposed by ABC7 I-Team in San Francisco. A Los Angeles County Deputy Public Guardian recently expressed her opinion that conservatees lose their personal rights when they are conserved.
AB937 corrects that misunderstanding.
“ SECTION 1. Section 2351 of the Probate Code is amended to read: 2351. (a) Subject to subdivision (b), the guardian or conservator, but not a limited conservator, has the care, custody, and control of, and has charge of the education of, the ward or conservatee. This control shall not extend to personal rights retained by the conservatee, including, but not limited to, the right to receive visitors, telephone calls, and personal mail, unless specifically limited by court order.”
AB937 went to Governor Brown for signature on August 12, 2013. Elder rights advocates and disability rights advocates throughout the country are urging the Governor to support personal rights and human dignity by signing AB937.
Comments to Governor Brown can be submitted by email to: http://gov.ca.gov/m_contact.php
Source:
Advocates Urge Governor Brown to Sign AB937
Schaumburg police seek help finding missing senior
Agripina Resendiz, 76, who is under the guardianship of the Illinois Office of the State Guardian because of her medical condition, was last seen Wednesday. Resendiz is a resident of a Schaumburg health care facility by court order.
Police said Resendiz was visited Wednesday by her son, Armando Resendiz, who spent several hours with her at the facility. Facility staff later discovered Resendiz missing and believe she may be with her son, police said.
Authorities believe Armando Resendiz, 52, has been living in various hotels in the Northwest Cook County or DuPage County areas. He was seen driving a green 1995 Ford Explorer.
Full Article and Source:
Schaumburg police seek help finding missing senior
Governor should veto bill changing review of judges
It is true that dissatisfied defendants and prosecutors often complain about the judges who presided over their cases. “Favors the district attorneys,” one will say. “A liberal who always gives a break to defendants,” another will say.
And indeed justice is sometimes hampered by judges who aren’t gifted with the knowledge of the law and the sound judgment we require of those who sit up high in the robes with the gavel in hand. When that judgment is particularly bad, appropriate disciplinary action must be taken, or the credibility of the entire judicial system is undermined. Hence the importance of the state Judicial Standards Commission, a panel charged with publicly reviewing complaints against judges and a panel that has done a good job.
Why, then, would a last-minute bill pass the General Assembly that would allow complaints involving judges to be secret? How is it a good idea to take away the commission’s authority to publicly reprimand judges and instead put the state Supreme Court in charge of disciplining judges? The measure had strong support in the state Senate, but cooler heads almost prevailed in the state House, where the measure passed by a narrow 53-48 vote.
If Gov. Pat McCrory is watching, he knows that the margin in the House is not veto-proof, and a veto in this case is sorely needed.
The measure is opposed by Chief Judge John Martin of the Court of Appeals (and the current head of the standards commission) and Supreme Court Chief Justice Sarah Parker. Martin wrote lawmakers saying the law “will create potential conflicts of interest within our judiciary and muddle the transparency and availability of public records related to judicial misconduct.”
Full Article and Source:
Governor should veto bill changing review of judges
And indeed justice is sometimes hampered by judges who aren’t gifted with the knowledge of the law and the sound judgment we require of those who sit up high in the robes with the gavel in hand. When that judgment is particularly bad, appropriate disciplinary action must be taken, or the credibility of the entire judicial system is undermined. Hence the importance of the state Judicial Standards Commission, a panel charged with publicly reviewing complaints against judges and a panel that has done a good job.
Why, then, would a last-minute bill pass the General Assembly that would allow complaints involving judges to be secret? How is it a good idea to take away the commission’s authority to publicly reprimand judges and instead put the state Supreme Court in charge of disciplining judges? The measure had strong support in the state Senate, but cooler heads almost prevailed in the state House, where the measure passed by a narrow 53-48 vote.
If Gov. Pat McCrory is watching, he knows that the margin in the House is not veto-proof, and a veto in this case is sorely needed.
The measure is opposed by Chief Judge John Martin of the Court of Appeals (and the current head of the standards commission) and Supreme Court Chief Justice Sarah Parker. Martin wrote lawmakers saying the law “will create potential conflicts of interest within our judiciary and muddle the transparency and availability of public records related to judicial misconduct.”
Full Article and Source:
Governor should veto bill changing review of judges