Time to license, audit court-appointed guardians

It ranks up there with the most despicable of crimes: people professing to care for the elderly, then stripping them of their money.

In Nevada, nobody is watching. It’s almost as if the immoral practice has the state’s approval.

We’re talking about guardians-gone-bad — private guardians, supposedly trustworthy people, who are assigned by judges to watch over wards of the court who can’t manage their own affairs and have no family nearby.

It’s expected the guardian will guard the client’s finances like a hawk, to make sure some con man doesn’t swindle money. The guardian has almost complete control over the client’s life.

But some guardians are themselves the con men, stealing from the very clients they were hired to protect. Cases come to light all the time — and are presumed to be just the tip of the iceberg.

The reason: Many states, including Nevada, have no regulations governing guardians’ behavior, much less watchdogs to be on the lookout for abuse and financial high jinks.

As a result, an evil-minded guardian can go to the bank and withdraw the client’s money, bunches at a time, and go gambling. Or go to the beauty salon for a makeover at the ward’s expense. Or run to the store to buy the client some candy bars — and withdraw $150 for his time. The courts don’t have time to check on the details.

You have to be licensed in Nevada to be a barber or beautician, but you don’t have to be licensed to run someone’s life and have virtually full control of their money. Stunning.

Consider the case of Patience Bristol, who had been a guardian for five years when she was charged in 2013 with stealing from her court-appointed wards. Metro Police investigators say she stole nearly $150,000 and $50,000 in jewelry from her clients. In two cases, police said she transferred assets into a new account only she had access to.

Bristol was charged with obtaining money under false pretenses, exploiting vulnerable people, and burglary. In a plea bargain, she confessed to one count of exploiting a court ward and was sentenced to three to eight years in prison.

She and other predators might have been thwarted had they been licensed and their backgrounds checked — and if there were sufficient financial resources for courts to hire staff to comb through guardians’ files to watch for spending patterns and the depletion of estates. But files are checked only randomly by overworked court staff, much like how so few of us are audited by the IRS.

A draft bill to address the issue, prepared with the support of former Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto; attorney Barbara Buckley, former speaker of the Nevada Assembly and executive director of the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada; and seniors advocate Sally Ramm of the state Aging and Disability Services Division, is poised to make an appearance in the Legislature this week. The would-be sponsor is Assemblyman Michael Sprinkle, D-Sparks. The bill would require guardians to be licensed and wards’ assets audited to make sure there’s no swindling going on.

“Just as there are family members who can be evil, there are guardians who do bad things, guardianship companies that do bad things and courts that are not doing the right thing,” Ramm said. “It’s infuriating.”

This is a no-brainer. If leadership doesn’t support this proposal — which could die due to inactivity this week — let’s hope they don’t become our guardians, because their values are suspect.

Full Article & Source:
Time to license, audit court-appointed guardians

Florida Will Overturned On Finding of Undue Influence By Surviving Spouse

Jeffrey Skatoff

Written by Anya Van Veen • March 19th, 2015
• Probate Litigation,

In Blinn v. Carlman, the Fourth District Court of Appeal upheld a Florida probate court’s invalidation of a will based upon undue influence by a surviving spouse.  Overturning a will on the grounds of undue influence by a surviving spouse is challenging, and this case gives insight into the kind of facts that support a finding of undue influence, and the standard the Florida appellate court uses to review the Florida probate court’s decision.

The law regarding undue influence was summarized by the Florida appellate court as follows:

“When a will is challenged on the grounds of undue influence, the influence must amount to over persuasion, duress, force, coercion, or artful or fraudulent contrivances to such an extent that there is a destruction of free agency and willpower of the testator.” Levin v. Levin, 60 So. 3d 1116, 1118 (Fla. 4th DCA 2011) (quoting Raimi v. Furlong, 702 So. 2d 1273, 1287 (Fla. 3d DCA 1997)). The doctrine of undue influence is based on the theory that the “testator is induced by various means, to execute an instrument which, although his, in outward form, is in reality not his will, but the will of another person which is substituted for that of testator.” In re Winslow’s Estate, 147 So. 2d 613, 617 (Fla. 2d DCA 1962) (citation omitted).

“Undue influence is not usually exercised openly in the presence of others, so that it may be directly proved, hence it may be proved by indirect evidence of facts and circumstances from which it may be inferred.” Gardiner v. Goertner, 149 So. 186, 190 (Fla. 1932) (citation omitted).

The Florida Supreme Court has established a set of non-exhaustive factors for courts to consider on the issue of undue influence or active procurement: (a) presence of the beneficiary at the execution of the will; (b) presence of the beneficiary on those occasions when the testator expressed a desire to make a will; (c) recommendation by the beneficiary of an attorney to draw the will; (d) knowledge of the contents of the will by the beneficiary prior to execution; (e) giving of instructions on preparation of the will by the beneficiary to the attorney drawing the will; (f) securing of witnesses to the will by the beneficiary; and (g) safekeeping of the will by the beneficiary subsequent to execution.  In re Estate of Carpenter, 253 So. 2d 697, 702 (Fla. 1971).

The facts in this case were strong.   In 2007, appellant Demetra Blinn married Richard Blinn when he was 82 years old.  From 2006 on, Richard suffered from progressive dementia.  The evidence showed that Richard’s behavior was inappropriate, he made imprudent financial decisions, his business was failing because of his deteriorating condition, and he sent money to mail-away scams.  In June 2011 Richard was found totally incapacitated.  His daughter, appellee Patty Carlman, was appointed as his guardian.

Patty sought to invalidate Decedent’s April 2, 2008 will.  The April 2008 will left everything to Demetra.  The prior wills left everything to Patty, including a will that was executed eight months after Richard met Demetra.

The appellate court noted that the April 2008 Will was executed “under most suspicious circumstances.”  Two lawyers, a referring lawyer and a drafting lawyer, were involved.  The testimony of the lawyers sharply conflicted regarding the preparation of the 2008 will.  As the appellate court stated: “If both lawyers are to be believed, Richard’s April 2008 will drafted itself and miraculously appeared at the drafting lawyer’s office on April 2.”

Demetra professed no knowledge of the appointment with the drafting lawyer until the morning the will was executed, despite the fact that the drafting lawyer had obtained a copy of Demetra’s earlier will and trust.  Demetra provided the drafting lawyer two “doctor letters” stating that both Demetra and Richard were of sound mind.  The “doctor letters” had been written nine months before the execution of the 2008 will.  The appellate court stated that “This conduct suggests that, on her own, appellant was trying to overcome legitimate concerns about the circumstances surrounding the April, 2008 will.”

In addition, the Florida probate court found that both before and after the marriage Demetra alienated Richard from his family.  Evidence showed that Demetra aggressively pushed the idea onto Richard that his daughter Patty was stealing from him, without any evidence of Patty’s wrongdoing.  Indeed, evidence was presented of a voice message accidentally left by Demetra, where Demetra was screaming at Decedent about how Patty was stealing from Richard. Additional evidence showed that Demetra requested beneficiary changes on life insurance, and directly contacted the drafting attorney’s law firm to send her Richard’s estate planning documents and a durable power of attorney in her favor.  The Florida probate court found that if appellant “were so bold as to openly display such influence over [the decedent], then the court could ‘reasonably infer that similar or greater influence was occurring in the dark during their marriage’  and that decedent was “susceptible to undue influence due to his declining physical state, anxiety disorders depression, and progressive dementia.”

The Florida probate court’s “findings in a will contest shall not be overturned where there is substantial competent evidence to support those findings, unless the probate judge has misapprehended the evidence as a whole.”  The Florida appellate court found that the final judgment invalidating the will was supported by substantial competent evidence and affirmed the judgment.

 Anya Van Veen is a Florida probate lawyer who also handles trust litigation and guardianship litigation.

Full Article & Source:
Florida Will Overturned On Finding of Undue Influence By Surviving Spouse

Bank May be Liable for Failure to Stop Elder Abuse

Jeffrey Skatoff

Written by Jeffrey Skatoff • March 9th, 2015
• Guardianship Litigation,  Resources,  Other Resources,

In what may be a first in Florida, a bank can be held liable for the failure to stop elder abuse arising from the draining of a senior's bank account by an abuser.

In Ginder v. Bank of America, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25562 (M.D. Fla. 2015), Mrs. Ginder, an 81 year old woman, deposited her life savings into various Bank of America accounts.  Just prior to the exploitation described in the lawsuit, the account values were approximately $175,000. The alleged exploiter, Mr. Knight, portrayed himself as an employee of Bank of America and caused Mrs. Ginder to write checks and transfer funds to other people.

Mrs. Ginder alleged that Bank of America had opened suspicious activity reports on the accounts, but failed to notify her or to stop the activity.  Mrs. Ginder also alleged that her daughter had also been in contact with the bank and had warned them of the activity.

To that end, Plaintiff attempts to establish a duty by showing that BOA violated Florida's Adult Protective Services Act (the "Act"). In relevant part, the Act requires any bank "who knows, or has reasonable cause to suspect, that a vulnerable adult has been or is being . . . exploited" to report such exploitation to the Florida Department of Children and Families. The Act defines "vulnerable adult" to include any person over eighteen years of age who is unable to perform everyday activities due to "the infirmities of aging." Id.  The Florida Legislature has illuminated that a primary purpose of the Act's mandatory reporting requirement is to "cause the protective services of the state to be brought to bear in an effort to prevent further . . . exploitation of vulnerable adults." 

BOA does not dispute that Plaintiff is a vulnerable adult within the meaning of the Act or that BOA failed to report that it suspected Plaintiff was being exploited. Instead, BOA argues that the Act does not provide a private right of action for its failure to report.[I]t is true that the Act provides no private right of action for Plaintiff to sue BOA. Mora v. S. Broward Hosp. Dist., 710 So. 2d 633, 634 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1998). However, Count 1 does not sue BOA for violating the Act, but rather sues BOA under a theory of common law negligence. Because Florida courts allow the inference of the breach of a legal duty from the violation of a statute, Kohl, 149 So. 3d at 132, the Court may look to the Act in answering whether BOA had a legal duty to Plaintiff.

Accepting these facts as true, the Court is able to reasonably infer that BOA knew of Plaintiff's exploitation, but failed to report the exploitation to the Florida Department of Children and Families, in violation of the Act. Consequently, the Court is also able to reasonably infer that the Act confers a duty on BOA to act to protect victims of elder exploitation and that BOA breached that duty in this case.

This is the first case to my knowledge that places common law negligence liability on a bank for the failure to stop elder abuse.   

Attorney Jeffrey Skatoff handles elder abuse claims throughout the State of Florida.

Full Article & Source:
Bank May be Liable for Failure to Stop Elder Abuse

Cher Promises To Help 96-Year-Old Woman With Dementia Return Home

McLEAN, Va. (AP) — A judge says a 96-year-old woman whose late-life marriage to a 95-year-old beau made national news should be returned to her longtime northern Virginia home after the musician Cher promised to pay to fix it up.

In a court deposition, Cher said she was inspired last year when she a saw news story about Edith Hill and her newlywed husband, Eddie Harrison.

Hill and Harrison were separated after their marriage became embroiled in a court dispute over whether Hill had the mental capacity to marry her companion. Court records indicate that Hill suffers from mild dementia.

Harrison died in December, just weeks after Hill was taken away to Florida on the recommendation of a court-appointed guardian, but a custody dispute continued over who should care for Hill and where she should live.

Cher said she will help pay for needed upgrades to Hill's family home in Alexandria.

In a telephone interview, Cher expressed frustration that Eddie and Edith had been split up against their wishes.

"This whole thing is a travesty, what happens to old people," she said. "Once they do the repairs and she comes back home, it's going to be bittersweet because she only wanted to be with him."

Earlier this month, after Cher offered to pay for the home improvements, a judge ordered that Hill should return to Alexandria once repairs are complete.

"Mom's coming home!" said Hill's daughter, Rebecca Wright, of Annandale, in a phone interview Tuesday. Wright had been the biggest supporter of Hill and Harrison's marriage.

In December, a court-appointed guardian for Hill, Jessica Niesen, had Hill moved to Florida to live with another daughter. Harrison stayed in Virginia. Later that month, Harrison died.

"He actually gave his life to this effort," Wright said of Harrison and his battle to have his union with Hill recognized and to live with his wife. Wright said he was heartbroken when Hill was moved to Florida and gloomy about his prospects of ever seeing her again. The two had been companions for more than a decade before they married.

The custody case over Hill remains ongoing, despite the judge's order that Hill be returned to Alexandria.  (Continue Reading)

Full Article & Source:
Cher Promises To Help 96-Year-Old Woman With Dementia Return Home

See Also:
Marriage of Newlyweds, Ages 96 and 95, Questioned

Newlywed Man, 95, Dies After Wife Taken Away

Why Elder Abuse Is Everyone's Problem

What you're about to read makes me angry, because it's a true story. A story of elder abuse.

[In 2010], prosecutors in Seattle charged Christopher Wise with the murder of his mother, Ruby. His crime? Letting her rot to death with eight huge pressure sores, several to the bone, while he played Internet poker and lived off her pension. His excuse? She didn't want to go to a nursing home or a doctor; he was just respecting her wishes.

Ruby Wise was imprisoned in her bed by immobility, dementia, and isolation. She moaned and cried out for help continuously in the weeks before her death. Neighbors closed their windows and her son put in earplugs to muffle her cries. No one called Adult Protective Services or 911. It's hard to believe the response would have been the same had the cries come from a child, a younger woman, or a dog.

-- Testimony by Marie-Therese Connolly, Director, Life Long Justice (an elder justice initiative of Appleseed) before the Senate Special Committee on Aging, March 2011

We have an enormous problem with elder abuse, by which I mean the physical, psychological or sexual harm, neglect (self-neglect or by a caregiver) or financial exploitation of vulnerable older people. Elder abuse in all its forms is ugly, painful, costly and simply wrong. The problem is also bigger than most people realize. It's seriously under-reported, but an estimated one in 10 older people experiences some kind of abuse every year.

The most common form of abuse is financial exploitation, what Richard Cordray, director of the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, has called "the signature crime of the 21st century." Perpetrated by family, "friends," caregivers and predatory outsiders, this problem is sufficiently complex and important that I will devote an entire post to it soon.

Elder abuse experts say a key challenge is that abuse "flies under the radar." Excuses abound, as does a lack of awareness and preparation. It gets excused ("she bruises so easily"), rationalized ("he was going to inherit that money soon anyway") or simply missed by good people in a position to help who didn't know what to look for, or how to intervene.

Perhaps it surprises you to see elder abuse included in this series on older adult health, but in fact they are closely related. We now know that elder abuse has devastating and far-reaching health consequences, and triples the risk of premature death, compared to a group of older adults with similar medical problems who do not experience abuse. Compared with their peers, victims of elder abuse are also three times more likely to be admitted to the hospital and four times more likely to be admitted to a nursing home .

"These things really jar your senses," says Lidia Vognar, MD, assistant professor at Brown University's Alpert School of Medicine, a scholar at the Hartford Center for Excellence in Geriatric Medicine there, and an expert on elder abuse, who often works with Adult Protective Services, the agency primarily tasked with intervention in cases of reported abuse. "We must break down the taboos that surround elder abuse. There is no reason for anyone to be silent."

If there is any good news here, it is that elder abuse has become a domain of increasing scientific scrutiny, with more research, education, and awareness in the past twenty years. In an arena like this, where health care, finances, the law, and social services intersect, knowledge is power, and empowerment is a big part of the solution.

Here are some important things to know:

Who's at risk?
No victim of abuse is ever to blame for mistreatment, but it is true that some people are at increased risk.

As a group, women suffer disproportionately more from abuse, and may suffer more physical and psychological damage from it. The older people are, the higher their risk. Other at-risk groups include people who are socially isolated; people who need a lot of help with activities of daily living, such as bathing, dressing, or using the bathroom; people with disabilities; people who live with someone with mental illness or substance abuse issues; and people with mental impairments or dementia. The last group, those with cognitive problems, faces considerable risk that gets even greater if their disease causes them to "act out" with difficult behaviors.

Who are the abusers?
90 percent of elder abuse and neglect is perpetrated by someone well known to the victim, usually family members, specifically grown children or spouses. While there is no excusing such behavior, and it demands the full available range of prevention and intervention, it is also worth reflecting on why it happens.

The stresses of caregiving, particularly long-term caregiving for someone whose problems may be extremely demanding, can be overwhelming. While important new research reminds us that, for some, even dementia caregiving can be well managed and yield positive experiences, many people who find themselves thrust into the role are ill-equipped for it. Many who never harm the person they are caring for find instead that it takes a terrible toll on their own physical and emotional health. Physical and emotional illnesses are more common, and these dedicated caregivers do not have time or energy to attend to their own health care needs.

So why do some caregivers turn nasty or neglectful, while others never do? The problem is important enough that the National Center on Elder Abuse has a publication dedicated to the topic, Preventing Abuse by Family Caregivers. Factors influencing the likelihood of abuse may include how well caregivers and the person receiving care got along in the past; how the caregivers perceive the job and the amount of support they feel they get from family, social networks, and the community; and whether the person receiving care has shown aggressive or difficult behaviors.  (Continue Reading)

Full Article & Source:
Why Elder Abuse Is Everyone's Problem

Elder abuse definitions updated with House-approved proposal

A bill aimed at improving responses to elder abuse victims got unanimous support from the Ohio House today.

House Bill 24 would update Ohio’s current definitions for elder abuse, which are “ significantly outdated,” said prime sponsor, Rep. Mike Dovilla, R-Berea. Crafted decades ago, they focus on physical abuse, but, increasingly, financial abuse has become just as much of a problem, he said.

The House also voted unanimously to create a new domestic relations judgeship in Delaware County.

This is the third time in three sessions that the House has passed the elder abuse bill, which Dovilla said is the first comprehensive reforms to adult protective services law in two decades.

He noted that the most recent report from Ohio Adult Protective Services found 16,300 reports of abuse, neglect and exploitation of adults age 60 and older. For every report of abuse, Dovilla said, an estimated five are unreported, according to a study requested by Congress.

The bill would create a state-managed registry to help identify patterns of elder abuse.

“For the first time, Ohio will be able to accurately monitor and track the abuse of our senior citizens,” Dovilla said.

The bill would expand the list of people required to report elderly abuse or exploitation to a county department of job and family services. This includes pharmacists, hospital employees, firefighters, bank employees and accountants.

“If it can be caught early, people can be protected from emptied bank accounts, improper transfers of property and unwise investments,” Beth Kowalczyk, chief policy officer for the Ohio Association of Area Agencies on Aging Bank, recently told lawmakers. “Bank employees and financial planners are frequently in a position to see what may be going on in an older adult’s home.”

The bill also would develop an ongoing training program for protective service caseworkers.

“Getting ahead of this is more important than ever,” said Rep. Wes Retherford, R-Hamilton. “ With this bill we can take a proactive approach and get these cases investigated before someone is drained of their life’s savings.”

The bill now goes to the Senate.

Meanwhile, Delaware County, one of the fastest-growing counties in the nation, could add another judge if the bill that passed the House also gets Senate approval.

Rep. Andrew Brenner, R-Powell, said the decision to make the new judgeship a domestic relations position came after talking to attorneys who work in the court, and the current common pleas judges. The new judge would focus on issues including divorces, paternity and child support.

Brenner noted that Delaware County’s population jumped from 66,000 in 1990 to 175,000 in 2010, and is close to passing 200,000. “We are seeing an increased caseload,” he said, noting the Ohio Supreme Court recommended that the judgeship be created. 

Full Article & Source:
Elder abuse definitions updated with House-approved proposal

2015 White House Conference on Aging - New York Listening Session

WHO: New York State Office for the Aging, the Association on Aging in NY, AARP New York WHAT: A New York Statewide effort to inform the White House Conference on Aging

WHERE: TBD

WHEN: Thursday, March 26th, 2015 Time—TBD

The New York State Office for Aging, in collaboration with AARP New York, and the Association on Aging in New York (Aging NY) is seeking your participation in a statewide effort to solicit input to inform the 2015 White House Conference on Aging.

RSVP to Sharon.Foley@aging.ny.gov

The listening sessions are designed to collect specific recommendations from stakeholders, which will be summarized and conveyed at the White House Conference on Aging.

The White House Conference on Aging will focus on the following themes:
*Retirement security: Financial security in retirement provides essential peace of mind for older Americans, but it requires attention during our working lives to ensure that we are well prepared for retirement.
*Healthy aging: As medical advances progress, the opportunities for older Americans to maintain their health and vitality should progress. Community supports, including housing, are important tools to promote this vitality.
*Long-term services and supports: Older Americans overwhelmingly prefer to remain independent in the community as they age. To accomplish this, they need supports, including a caregiving network and well supported workforce.
*Elder justice: Seniors, particularly the oldest older Americans, can be vulnerable to financial exploitation, abuse, and neglect. The Elder Justice Act was enacted as a part of the Affordable Care Act and we need to realize its vision of protecting seniors from scam artists and others seeking to take advantage of them.

If you are unable to attend the listening session, please provide your recommendations online: http://www.agingny.org/WhiteHouseConferenceonAging.aspx

New York State Information Gathering to Inform White House Conference on Aging

See Also:
White House Conference on Aging Website

House advances guardianship bill

TALLAHASSEE A House bill that would expand the oversight of professional guardians in Florida cleared the Children, Families and Seniors subcommittee today.

The bill (HB 1225), sponsored by Rep. Larry Ahern, R-Seminole, would create a new “Office of Public and Professional Guardians” in the Department of Elder Affairs to oversee both public and professional guardians. Currently, the DOEA only handles public guardians, who are appointed to care for frail and disabled elders who have no family or cannot afford to hire a professional guardian.
Ahern’s bill is similar to a measure (SB 1226), sponsored by Sen. Nancy Detert, R-Venice, that is moving through the Senate.

Like Detert’s bill, Ahern’s legislation would give the DOEA the authority to certify, oversee and discipline guardians across the state. The bill would also require courts to use a rotating list of professional guardians when making appointments.

Ahern said his bill was prompted by a December series in the Herald-Tribune _ “The Kindness of Strangers: Inside Elder Guardianship in Florida” _ that detailed cases of people who believe they were denied due process in court and afterward in guardianship cases.

“This is a modernization that will help, I believe, our elders be protected and also just having some more transparency and oversight of how their money is spent and the reasons why it gets spent,” Ahern said.

Full Article & Source:
House advances guardianship bill

Bill to increase mandatory retirement age for judges advances to House

HARRISBURG – A bill to amend the state constitution and raise the mandatory retirement age for Pennsylvania judges from 70 to 75 has taken another step closer to reaching the voting booths this week.

Pa. State Rep. Kate Harper, R-Montgomery

The proposal was approved by the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, said Rep. Kate Harper, R-Montgomery, prime sponsor of the measure. The bill now goes to the full House for its consideration.

Because it is a constitutional amendment, the same legislation must be adopted in two consecutive sessions of the General Assembly before it can be voted on by Pennsylvania citizens.

“Forcing a judge to retire simply because he or she meets a certain age can actually be a detriment to the justice system because we lose that judge’s knowledge and experience on the bench,” Harper said.

“I believe it is in the best interest of the Commonwealth to give capable judges the option to continue their service, and my legislation will ultimately put that question to the voters.”

Harper’s House Bill 90 seeks a ballot question to amend the Pennsylvania Constitution to increase the mandatory retirement age for justices, judges and justices of the peace from 70 to 75. The identical measure passed both the House and Senate in 2013. If it passes both chambers again in the 2015-16 legislative session, it would be placed on the ballot for the voters to decide.

The Judiciary Committee on Tuesday also adopted House Bill 89, which would implement the increased retirement age if the constitutional amendment is approved by voters.

Harper noted the current mandatory retirement age was put in place in 1968. Since that time, the average life expectancy has increased from age 70 to age 78, and many people are living well into their 80s and 90s.

At a public hearing on her proposal in 2013, a doctor testified about the mental acuity of older judges, noting that there is no sharp decline of mental functioning between age 70 and 75 and that the prevalence of dementia was relatively small. Harper noted there are processes in place through the Judicial Conduct Board and the Court of Judicial Discipline to remove judges of any age who are no longer competent to serve.

Thirty-three states, plus the District of Columbia, require mandatory retirement of judges at ages ranging from 70-75. In addition to Pennsylvania, 16 other states are considering bills that address mandatory retirement, in most cases either to increase the age or to remove it. In the federal courts, there is no age limit for serving as a judge.

Several Pennsylvania judges have attempted to settle the matter through civil suits against the previous governor. The primary argument is that the mandatory retirement age represents a violation of their civil rights.

In Driscoll v. Corbett et al., Westmoreland County Court of Common Pleas Judge John J. Driscoll, Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Senior Judge Sandra Mazer Moss and colleague Judge Joseph D. O’Keefe wanted the mandatory retirement provision nullified and declared invalid, and have the court enjoin the defendants from enforcing the provision.

In Tilson v. Corbett et al., Montgomery County Court Judge Arthur Tilson argued that the constitutional requirement is at odds with the Pennsylvania Constitution’s guarantee of equal rights. He, too, wanted the provision nullified and declared invalid.

The named defendants in both cases were Gov. Tom Corbett, Court Administrator Zygmont A. Pines and Pennsylvania Secretary of State Carol T. Aichele.

The court — which noted a “degree of discomfort” in presiding over the cases, as its members might benefit from a ruling in favor of the judges — sided with Attorney General Kathleen Kane, who represented Corbett and the other defendants.

Kane’s office argued that the judges’ claims should be presented to the state legislature, which can initiate a remedy in the form of a new constitutional amendment.

Full Article & Source:
Bill to increase mandatory retirement age for judges advances to House