Every lawyer, to obtain his license, takes an oath to defend the Constitution. The oath is not benign, it creates obligation. The League of Women Voters has a slogn that captures the obligation: "DEMOCRACY IS NOT A SPECTATOR SPORT!"
Over the centuries, despots have assaulted the Right of the public to speak out, and it is not a surprise that right here in America we have people who are assaulting the First Amendment. It is also no surprise that we also have some dishonest citizens. It is also not a surprise that some are in positions of power. The surprise is that we are not jealous of the bounty that our founding fathers bequeath to us.
Over the centuries, despots have assaulted the Right of the public to speak out, and it is not a surprise that right here in America we have people who are assaulting the First Amendment. It is also no surprise that we also have some dishonest citizens. It is also not a surprise that some are in positions of power. The surprise is that we are not jealous of the bounty that our founding fathers bequeath to us.
It is no secret that there are also some perfectly legitimate
guardian ships that are well handled, well supervised and very necessary.
These latter guardian-ships are not the subject of our discussion.
However, it is no secret that 'elder cleansing' is a National
cottage industry and thousands of senior citizens and disabled people are
railroaded each year into un-necessary guardian-ships in which they are reduced
to no class citizenship. (See GAO reports to Congress). This is were the problem lies and that has to be addressed.In the attached documents I discuss the problem as it relates to me. I am a voyeur as I have no stake in the specific game, but, in the overall situation I have a huge stake. I could wind up with Cynthia Farenga or Adam Stern in my future! In fact any of us could.
Thus, like it or not - we are all in the same boat. When
Alice Gore was rolled into a 'facility' to have her teeth mined for their gold,
it was an offense against each of our rights! When Mary Sykes'
safety deposit box was drilled and the contents (of over a million dollars in
gold coins) was looted each of us suffered a loss. Indeed, when Ms.
Wyman was sexually assaulted so was each of us! 18 USCA 4 required
each of us to report these felonies to law enforcement!
My participation in fighting against the War being waged on the
elderly and disabled was involuntary. Adam Stern and Peter Schmiedel
recruited me when they threatened me with sanctions if I did my job as a
lawyer.
Jerome Larkin recruited me when he demanded that I repent for
being outraged at seeing senior citizens robbed of their liberty, their
property, their civil rights and their human rights. My father and his
brothers each enlisted in the United States Armed Services to fight when
America was attacked in 1941. When confronted with the cancer of 'elder
cleansing' I also had no choice.
An election is coming up - it is time to remove some of the
political elite who foster (or cannot be bothered with fighting elder
cleanings) from the offices that they temporarily enjoy and restore them to
private employment.
It is time to demand that law enforcement do
HONEST intelligent complete and comprehensive investigations of each and every
one of these cases. If criminal activity or ultra vires activity is
found the miscreants should be treated to the appropriate remediation.
~Ken Ditkowsky
~Ken Ditkowsky
Amen!
ReplyDeleteYou make me proud to be a lawyer, Mr. Ditkowsky.
Where are all the other lawyers who knew and failed to report these offenses, crimes, abuse and neglect against the elderly?
Oh, that's right, they're at conferences and state Bar sanctioned and even state Bar sponsored CLEs, discussing how to increase their already outrageous fees. They're bragging that they had one single guardianship case that cost $500,000.
They're explaining why, even though state law says an elderly person facing a guardianship petition is entitled to a lawyer, that law does not apply "because we can't expect that lawyer to work for free." How even though state law allows for a fee, the state courts refuse at the behest of these unethical lawyers to award such a fee. Therefore, these leaders of the Bar just blithely ignore the law, and don't ensure that elderly person has an attorney as requested, a duty specifically imposed by law on the guardian ad litem "for" the incapacitated person. They explain how even though, eventually, all those hundreds of guardianship petitions will be found void, we don't care, because the lawyers all got paid their bragging-rights fees.
All those other attorneys are telling their cronies how they can hand-pick the same guardian ad litem, over and over in hundreds of cases, to "represent" the incapacitated person, even though it's a blatant conflict of interest and a truly sick joke.
They're ignoring and even covering up the horrific conditions into which their "clients" are dumped: rats, mice, bedbugs, staff on drugs, staff "borrowing" money from residents, no medication, missing medication, numerous avoidable injuries, even death(s).
They're coughing and spitting and self-importantly harrumphing about how it takes over six weeks just to file a three and a half page petition to substitute a family member as guardian, and how they can't actually spell out what the public guardianship program did wrong, because that's an alleged conflict of interest, and how the same damn guardian ad litem got appointed once again to this very same case, even though there are fifty seven other not-in-the-bag attorneys in this jurisdiction and over four hundred attorneys statewide who are perfectly willing and capable of serving as GAL, and how even though they systematically violate the law in appointing a public guardianship program in case after case after case with fewer than the required seven days notice, the removal of the very same public guardianship program in favor of a suitble and concerned family member could take from now until the Second Coming.
We really need to focus on (1) suing these people, as that's apparently the only thing that will make them even pretend to obey the law, (2) disciplining each and every one of these lawyers even though their illegal behavior is very much the norm and not the exception among so-called "elder law" attorneys, and (3) dismantling these much-needed public guardianship programs, since these programs apparently cannot or will not stick to their mission and obey the law designed to protect their "clients" FROM THEM.
Then, we can start all over again. All because these attorneys refuse to obey the Constitution, the law, regulations, and the most fundamental, well-articulated ethical standards.
So thanks, Mr. Ditkowsky. This struggle is not over. It is just beginning.
We support and appreciate you, Mr. Ditkowsky.
ReplyDeleteSaying "thank you" does not adequately convey my appreciation for what you are doing, Mr. Ditkowsky.
ReplyDeleteYou see, my loved one was a victim of the 18th floor of the Daley Center (Cook County Probate Court) as well. My loved one was deceived into believing an unethical guardian would give her a better life than her loved one could.... The attorneys, GAL, judge, guardian, (as well as the one who deceived my loved one in an attempt to become guardian), all colluded together in an attempt to remove the caring relative and replace the guardian with one of their unethical own.
This led to a long, drawn out case in which my loved one's entire estate was depleted by the unethical players involved. My loved one was moved from a beautiful private pay facility into a medicaid facility which does not adequately meet the needs of my loved one. Medicaid abuse was apparent as well.
Unfortunately for wards such as my loved one, family members fear speaking out publicly, lest they become restricted from visiting their loved one.
Ken Ditkowsky, you are a hero, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
While many of us fear speaking out publicly about the situation, there is something we can do. Please use the website below to report any unethical activities on your case. The authorities will keep your reports confidential, so you do not need to be afraid.
Please review this website, and follow up with a report. Thank you.
www.probateabusemanual.blogspot.com
Ken Ditkowsky has guts and class and I wish all lawyers were like him.
ReplyDeleteBecause there are so few Ken Ditkowskys, and so many contributor jurists filling the trough of the guardianship industry for their low life greedy swine colleagues to feed, it will never change. His reward is not of this life, and he should not dip his finger in water to quench their thirst.
ReplyDeleteAn attorney in my area tried to help victims of Child Protective Services, and he was disbarred. In the meantime, the attorneys on the other side, who are doing all sorts of illegal things, continue to practice. Until the very incompetent media starts to cover systemic abuse, nothing will change.
ReplyDeleteMy prayers are with you!
ReplyDeleteI almost fell off my chair when I read this post. A lawyer having the courage to speak the truth about the rampant legal racketeering in elder "protection" ?
ReplyDeleteThank you brave sir for having the guts to say the obvious and the courage to uphold the principles that brought you to the profession in the first place.