UNCONSTITUTIONAL: NEW YORK GUARDIANSHIP JUDGE "GAGS" PETER MAX'S DAUGHTER, LAWYERS, AND OTHERS - DENYING MEDIA ACCESS AND FORBIDDING COMMUNICATION WITH THE PUBLIC OR THE PRESS - IN EXTRAORDINARY COURT ORDER

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Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP
07 Sep, 2023, 11:53 ET

 

Libra Max, Whistleblower and Advocate Against Guardianship Abuse, Represented by Civil Rights Law Firm Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel, LP, Faces Sanctions for Violating Order

September 8 Hearing in Manhattan

NEW YORK, Sept. 7, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Attorneys for Libra Max, the daughter of world famous artist Peter Max, today disclosed that their client has been silenced by New York State Supreme Court Justice Lisa A. Sokoloff (Index No. 500198/2015) under an extraordinary court order forbidding her from speaking publicly or to the press about her father's circumstances or releasing filings and transcripts of court proceedings from the case where she is challenging her father's guardianship. [The order was issued in the wake of a news report where the judge in the case was quoted; the judge objected that the quote lacked context and made it appear that she had spoken to the press in violation of the canon of judicial ethics.] 

The June 27, 2023 written "gag" order followed a similar April 10, 2023 ruling by Justice Sokoloff. Both have had the effect of forbidding Ms. Max from speaking freely about the New York State Court System's handling of her father's guardianship, as well as her attempts to shed light on alleged violations of the law, improper court proceedings, and the secrecy of guardianship courts in New York. 

"Gag orders like this one are extremely uncommon, and rarely lawful. They restrict freedom of speech—a core value in our constitutional system," said Ms. Max's attorney, Andrew G. Celli, Jr. of the law firm of Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel, LP, an expert in First Amendment and civil rights law. "This order meets none of the requirements for a constitutional gag order; it is unsupported by any of the necessary legal justifications, and it is so broad as to forbid speech of the highest constitutional value – speech critical of government. We believe it is flatly unconstitutional and we are challenging it at every level. In the meantime, however, the Court is threatening to sanction Ms. Max for exercising her free speech rights. This is un-American."

Ms. Max's involvement with the guardianship system began when she reported what she regarded as abuse within the system and spoke out against the guardianship imposed on her father, the artist Peter Max. An aggrieved daughter advocating for the end of her father's guardianship, Ms. Max has become a national advocate against exploitative guardianships and a whistleblower, exposing rampant abuses that have been committed at the behest of court-appointed guardians and their attorneys and ultimately with the blessing of local judges. 

Ms. Max has argued broadly that the culture of secrecy in New York's and other states' guardianship courts has resulted in denial of due process; and it has cost law-abiding citizens control over their finances, their property, their healthcare decisions, and even over whether they can see their own family.

The guardianship of Mr. Max has garnered the attention of media, lawmakers, and activists – largely due to the unyielding efforts of Ms. Max. But she points out that the issue is far larger than Peter Max's situation – about which she is now forbidden to speak.

Guardianship reform advocacy organizations identify a typical pattern of problematic guardianships: the person under guardianship is isolated, medicated, and his/her assets are liquidated. Ms. Max alleges her father's guardianship has followed the same course.

In the order, Justice Sokoloff points to news coverage of the Peter Max guardianship as stimulating her interest in the parties' statements to the press.

"While it may be uncomfortable for a court to have Libra Max criticize its actions, or for the press to scrutinize them, the law entitles Ms. Max to speak about how the judicial branch conducts itself, and it entitles the press to cover that. Ms. Max is entitled to speak about the lack of transparency in our court system, and how that is affecting her father in real time. And she is entitled to use her own family's experience to critique an area of law that has affected Americans of every stripe – from celebrities to ordinary elderly people swept into the system," said Mr. Celli, attorney for Ms. Max. "I have never before seen a court openly acknowledge that its order gagging the parties was stimulated by the fact that the judge did not like the way her remarks in court were reported in the press. It's extraordinary."

On September 8, 2023 at 12 noon at Courtroom 540, 60 Centre Street, New York, N.Y., Justice Sokoloff will be holding a hearing to determine whether Ms. Max will face sanctions and/or be held in contempt for violating the court's gag order. It is important that the media demand the transparency afforded to them in the United States Constitution by attending the hearing.

Read the gag order at: https://ecbawm.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Redacted-Gag-Order-Peter-Max-Guardianship-Case.pdf

Source:
UNCONSTITUTIONAL: NEW YORK GUARDIANSHIP JUDGE "GAGS" PETER MAX'S DAUGHTER, LAWYERS, AND OTHERS - DENYING MEDIA ACCESS AND FORBIDDING COMMUNICATION WITH THE PUBLIC OR THE PRESS - IN EXTRAORDINARY COURT ORDER

Probate Court Critic Should Pay for Breaching Settlements, Estate Guardian Says

J. Albert Diaz Circuit Judge Michael A. Genden

Coral Gables attorney Liz Consuegra Messianu and her client, probate court-appointed guardian Comprehensive Personal Care Services Inc., want to hit critic Sam Sugar where it hurts—his bank account.

In a recent court filing, Messianu argues that Sugar has cost Comprehensive Personal Care money, damaged the “entire Florida probate community” and provided numerous media interviews that violated confidentiality clauses in two settlement agreement.

“Sugar must pay economic damages,” Messianu wrote in a petition dated July 12.

The filing comes in an ongoing adversary proceeding in a guardianship case pending before Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Michael Genden. Hearings in the case are set for August and October.

The longrunning dispute focuses on the estate of Sugar’s mother-in-law, who died in 2013. The court battle pits Messianu and Comprehensive Personal Care against Sugar, a semi-retired doctor who heads an elder abuse advocacy group called Americans Against Abusive Probate Guardianships.

Messianu’s client was plenary guardian of property belonging to Sugar’s mother-in-law, Idelle Stern, a wealthy widow whose four daughters spent years fighting over her multimillion-dollar estate.

Sugar, meanwhile, joined his wife, Judy, in battling her sisters Joyce Genauer, Rochelle Kevelson and Tikvah Lyons. Each side accused the other of siphoning millions from Stern.

Sugar, who has lobbied for legislative changes and guardianship reform in Florida and elsewhere, is an outspoken critic of the probate courts and guardians. He claims that Stern’s estate dwindled from $12 million to $6 million over five years because of mounting legal fees.

The sisters claim Sugar manipulated their frail mother to gain control of her wealth. After they petitioned to have their mother declared incompetent in 2010, the court made Stern a ward of the state and appointed Comprehensive Personal Care Services as guardian.

Until then, the Sugars had been managing Stern’s affairs, but Comprehensive Personal Care Services replaced them and filed suit for elder abuse and civil theft.

Settlement agreements reached in 2011 required Judy Sugar to repay $750,000 out of her inheritance from Stern’s trust. The agreements also included confidentiality clauses barring the parties from making or encouraging “negative, disparaging or derogatory” statements about each other.

Messianu’s recent petition against Sugar claims that he’s violating the confidentiality provisions in the settlements. It says Sugar has engaged in “a brazen pattern” of spreading false information through various media outlets, including the Miami Herald, radio interviews, social media posts, YouTube videos and publications on Sugar’s website.

“Sugar’s continued breach of the settlement agreements must be enjoined to stop his wanton and malicious publication of libelous accusations against the guardianship court and the parties, which have no basis in fact,” Messianu, a partner at Lubell Rosen, said.

Full Article and Source:
Probate Court Critic Shoudl Pay for Breaching Settlements, Estate Guardian Says

See Also:
Fight Over Big Estate Draws Fire for Running Up Legal Fees

Justina Goes to Foster Care, Her Mom is Rushed to Hospital - Pelletiers Still Denied Custody

A West Hartford, Conn., woman hoping to regain custody of her sick 15-year-old daughter from the state of Massachusetts collapsed Monday afternoon on her way from a hearing in juvenile court.

The woman, Linda Pelletier, fell to the ground outside the courtroom. Emergency personnel took her out on a stretcher.

A representative of the family said that Linda and her husband, Lou Pelletier, learned in court Monday that their daughter, Justina, would be transferred from Wayside Youth and Family Support Network in Framingham to foster care in Merrimac.

The Pelletiers have been trying to regain custody of Justina since February 2013, when she was admitted to Boston Children’s Hospital, where she spent the rest of the year before being moved to Framingham…

Patrick J. Mahoney, director of the Christian Defense Coalition in Washington, D.C., was also at the courthouse Monday. He said his organization is starting a national campaign called “Free Justina.” He was with the family when they left the courtroom and spoke with them shortly before Linda Pelletier collapsed.

“My understanding is that Justina is being moved to foster care and they are outraged by that. There is no medical care there,” Mahoney said.

The press was ordered off the fourth floor of the coutroom where the hearing was held–more of the “gag order” secrecy that surrounds the actions of DCF and Boston Children’s in this case. The judge has yet to remove the gag order, but nobody’s explained why it’s there, either.

So now, not only do the Pelletiers have to worry about their daughter’s health, they have to worry about the fact that she’s being sent home with strangers–strangers picked by DCF and, therefore, with a 1 in 10 chance of having a criminal record.

Full Article and Source:
Justina Goes to Foster Care, Her Mom is Rushed to Hospital-Pelletiers Still Denied Custody
See Also:
Free Justina - The Killing of an American Family

Family Retaliated Against for Speaking Out

The last time Lou Pelletier spoke with his 15-year-old daughter was Feb. 14 — Valentine’s Day. For this father of four, though, the day held a different meaning for his youngest valentine: It marked one year since she was taken and placed in a psychiatric ward against her parents’ will.












“We need help,” Lou Pelletier told TheBlaze in an exclusive interview, explaining why he made the decision to break a judge’s gag order and talk about the situation.

“I’m trying to save my daughter’s life,” he said.

“While still being able to live,” Jessica, one of Justina’s older sisters, added.

For more than a year, Justina Pelletier has been the center of a battle between her parents, the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families and Boston Children’s Hospital, and two controversial medical diagnoses. After her family began speaking out last November about their fight against these major institutions in court, they were placed under a gag order.

Full Article and Source:
Father so Heartbroken About Daughter Held at Hospital Against His Will, He Just Defied a Judge's Order to Talk to Us:  'I Want to Have All My Guns Blazing'