Why a man with intellectual disabilities has fewer rights than a convicted felon

Ryan King

By Petula Dvorak

Ryan King is 33. He has been working at a Safeway in Washington for 15 years. He pays his bills on time, budgets saving and spending money every month, uses exact change for his ride to and from work each day, makes a mean shrimp scampi, and has never been charged with a crime.

Yet, in the eyes of the courts, he has fewer rights than most convicted felons. Legally, Ryan cannot decide where to live, where to work, where to spend his free time, what medicine to take or with whom to talk.

Why? He has intellectual and developmental disabilities as well as sickle cell disease. And, as with many people like him, he is trapped in a legal guardianship that he’s longed to end for nearly a decade.

[Virginia woman with Down Syndrome becomes hero to the disabled]

 

“I love being independent,” King explains. “Everyone needs a little help sometimes. I don’t know anyone who knows everything. But just because people need a little bit of help doesn’t mean they can’t be independent.”

What’s unique in King’s case is that his legal guardians — his parents — also want to terminate their court-ordered stewardship.

Not because they don’t want to continue living with him or because they don’t want to be responsible for him. And not because they don’t love him.

Susie and Herbert King, who are in their mid-60s, have a great relationship with Ryan. The three of them obsess about episodes of “Scandal,” they go on vacations together, and they split the cooking, shopping and cleaning in their immaculately decorated Northwest D.C. home.

But they also want to give him what all parents want for their children: independence, self-determination and control over his fate.

King has some cognitive limitations and some visual and spatial limitations. He needs a little help navigating a new place. But once he’s familiar, he’s got it, he and his parents said.

In 2007, after King had worked at the Georgia Avenue Safeway for seven years and had proved that he can make sound decisions and care for himself, his parents tried to have the guardianship removed.

Denied. The D.C. judge filled out an ordinary, mass-produced form. And that ended that bid for independence.

Now they are preparing to renew their efforts to end the guardianship. And they are hoping for a different outcome from the court.

“This is planning for the future,” King explains. “And some people don’t plan.”

If anything happened to his parents, King’s guardianship would revert to the courts, and he could be forced out of his house and into a group home, be forced to quit his job, be cut off from his friends and even have all his computer passwords to his favorite sites (such as eBay) blocked.

Sound ridiculous? It’s exactly what happened to Jenny Hatch, who was pitted against her mother and stepfather in a fight against guardianship that made national headlines a few years ago.

[Virginia woman with Down syndrome seeks power to live the way she wants]

 

Jenny was living on her own in Newport News, Va., working, socializing, volunteering on political campaigns — having a robust life as a young woman with Down syndrome.

After she was struck by a car while riding her bike, a court yanked her independence, forced her to quit her job, ordered her into a group home and blocked all her computer passwords. If any of her friends wanted to see her, they had to fill out a permission slip.

She suddenly became a complete prisoner, all in the alleged name of safety.

“As far as the law was concerned, Jenny had ceased to exist. She was an ‘unperson’ who suffered a ‘civil death,’ ” said her attorney, Jonathan Martinis. “Her guardians, for all intents and purposes, became Jenny, making decisions for her, instead of her, whether she liked it or not.”

This is Ryan King’s nightmare.

After a groundbreaking legal battle, Martinis helped Jenny win back her freedom — and her life.

[Woman with Down Syndrome prevails over parents in guardianship case]

 

And he helped give power to the nationwide movement to replace these kinds of overbearing guardianships with something called supported decision-making — designed to make the person with cognitive challenges “the ultimate decision-maker” but still provide the support he or she needs to thrive, according to the National Guardianship Association. (Continue Reading)

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Why a man with intellectual disabilities has fewer rights than a convicted felon

Broward judge in PBC court, fighting for career

A Broward County judge, who was convicted of DUI last year by a Palm Beach County jury, is back in court this morning, fighting to make sure the conviction doesn’t destroy her judicial career.

Broward County Circuit Court Judge Cynthia Imperato, right,

While Circuit Court Judge Cynthia Imperato agreed to pay a $5,000 fine, to be suspended without pay for 20 days and to be publicly reprimanded, the Florida Supreme Court said it wanted more information about the events that surrounded her November 2013 arrest in Boca Raton. It ordered the Judicial Qualifications Commission to conduct a full hearing and determine the appropriate punishment.

A six-member panel is hearing evidence at the Palm Beach County  Courthouse about whether the 58-year-old tried to use her position to avoid arrest when she was pulled over by Boca police on Palmetto Park Road after attending a networking event sponsored by justice associations in Palm Beach and Broward counties. The panel is also weighing her behavior, such as refusing a Breathalyzer, during the arrest. A decision won’t be made for at least two months.

Her attorney David Rothman argued that Imperato, a former prosecutor who has been on the bench since 2003, has been punished enough. She has been pilloried in the press, he said. Further, he said, she has accepted full responsibility for her actions. Ignoring her attorney’s advice, she pulled the plug on an appeal of her conviction and served her 20-day sentence on house arrest. She even apologized to the officers who arrested her, he said.

Attorney David McGee, who is representing the judicial watchdog group in the proceedings, argued that the DUI arrest wasn’t her first. She was arrested in Tallahassee, where she worked as a police officer, shortly before graduating from law school in 1988.

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Broward judge in PBC court, fighting for career

Man accused of exploiting elderly woman arrested

KXXV-TV News Channel 25 - Central Texas News and Weather for Waco, Temple, Killeen |

COPPERAS COVE -Copperas Cove police have arrested a man they believe financially exploited a 77-year-old woman.

David Mitchell, the boyfriend of the elderly woman's cleaning lady has been arrested after police say the suspect made a total of eight unauthorized ATM withdrawals from the victim's account.

Mitchell who worked for the victim at the time claims he withdrew the money for the victim and gave her the money. However, the elderly woman told police she never received the money.

Mitchell was charged with exploitation of elderly or disabled persons.

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Man accused of exploiting elderly woman arrested

Steve Miller: "Guardian" April Parks Home and Office Raided by Police and Nevada AG

LAS VEGAS - In the first of what is expected to be a series of search warrants issued against suspected criminal for-profit private guardians, KTNV TV News tonight broke the new that Las Vegas Metro and Boulder City Police, along with officials from the office of the Nevada Attorney General, today enforced search warrants against private guardian April Parks, and are expected to serve similar warrants against other private guardians as the week progresses.

Contact 13 Investigates: Search Warrants Served as Police Investigate Guardianship Exploitation

American Screen Legend's Emotional Appeal To Congress To Stop 'Chronic Elder Abuse In America'

by  Martha T.S. Laham

In March 2011, the 90-year-old Mickey Rooney, a national treasure and an award-winning film legend best known for his work in such classic movies as A Family Affair (1937), Boys Town (1938), and National Velvet (1944), headed to Capitol Hill in Washington and appeared before the Senate Special Committee on Aging to address the elder abuse problem in the United States.

"I'm asking you to stop this elderly abuse. I mean to stop it. Now. Not tomorrow, not next month, but now," Rooney urged senators. He called for the passage of a law that makes elder abuse a specific crime, which will not be tolerated in America, according to a CNN report.

Rooney was no stranger to elder abuse. In February 2011, Rooney filed a lawsuit for breach of fiduciary duty, elder abuse, fraud, and other crimes against his stepson, Chris Aber, and others, ABC News reported. Rooney alleged that Aber, and his wife, failed to meet Rooney's basic needs (food and medicine), threatened and verbally abused him, stole his money for their own use, and took control of his finances, National Association to Stop Guardian Abuse (NASGA) reported.

Chris Aber maintained that Rooney submitted legal filings and gave congressional testimony at the urging of Chris' estranged brother, Mark. Chris further claimed that "his brother and sister-in-law were stealing from his stepfather [Rooney], selling his possessions on eBay," according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Let's take a close look at elder financial abuse that comes at the hands of family members and caregivers.

Behind Closed Doors

As Mickey Rooney's situation illustrates, a family household can be a dangerous place, as elder abuse frequently happens behind closed doors in a domestic setting while committed by someone closest to the elder. Unlike strangers who commit financial crimes, relatives and caregivers who perpetrate financial crimes against the elderly are involved in an ongoing trust relationship with the victim. Oftentimes the family perpetrator will misappropriate or misuse the elderly victim's money, property, or valuables for personal gain and to the disadvantage of the victim.

To get the elder to cooperate, the perpetrator will often coerce, intimidate, threaten, or even abuse the elder. Or the perpetrator may make empty promises of lifelong care to the elder. To ensure that no one comes to the elder's aid, the perpetrator will isolate the elder from family members, friends, and other concerned parties. The perpetrator may even convince the elder that no one else cares about him or her, except for the perpetrator.

The Roles of Mental Capacity, Consent, and Undue Influence

In the context of elder exploitation, it's important for us to determine if an older person understands or understood what he or she was doing when he or she engaged in a transaction, and whether she or he was coerced, tricked, or under undue influence by someone when the transaction took place, which brings us to the concepts of mental capacity, consent, and undue influence.

First, mental capacity refers to a person's functional skills used in his or her everyday life.

Determining when an elder lacks sufficient decision-making capacity is seldom black and white. For instance, an elder may not be able to make financial decisions, but he or she may still retain the capacity to make medical decisions for him- or herself. Also, diminished decision-making capacity can be sporadic and gradual. For example, elderly people with mild cognitive impairment have good days and bad ones.

Second, consent occurs when you "accept or agree" to someone's proposal, according to a report entitled "Financial Crimes Against the Elderly." You need to have sufficient mental capacity to comprehend the consequences and implications of your actions for consent to be legally binding.

Third, "undue influence refers to a person's free will being usurped by the will of another," according to an American Bar Association publication titled "Psychological Aspects of Undue Influence." State laws on undue influence vary, but most states require proof that the victim was subjugated or controlled by the perpetrator -- in other words, the victim's free will was dismantled by the perpetrator.  (Continue Reading)

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American Screen Legend's Emotional Appeal To Congress To Stop 'Chronic Elder Abuse In America'

Financial exploitation of seniors targeted by educational program

In an effort to prevent seniors from falling victim to scams and fraudulent schemes, the Carroll County State's Attorney's Office has launched an education program that is targeted at elder financial abuse.

"We're going to try to get across to seniors No. 1 the realization that everyone's at risk," Carroll County Chief Deputy State's Attorney Kathleen C. Murphy said. "There are misconceptions that seniors who are shut-ins are the primary target or seniors who may be cognitively compromised are the targets, and that is not really, in my experience, the case."

The office's Economic Crimes Unit has scheduled seminars at county senior centers to educate the community about financial scams targeting seniors. Five sessions have been scheduled in October and November, where information will be presented about common scams and red flags of financial elder abuse, Murphy said.

Murphy said seniors aren't necessarily targets of fraudulent schemes and scams specifically because of vulnerability.

"They're targeted because of their nest eggs; because of their income and assets," Murphy said. "So we definitely want to increase awareness that people who may not consider themselves as likely victims very well could be."

There are two distinct groups of perpetrators carrying out financial crimes against senior citizens: known predators, including family members and caregivers; and strangers who typically carry out financial scams, Murphy said.

Although financial scams are often carried out by strangers, the perpetrators of exploitation cases are often somebody known to the victim, such as family members or caregivers, Murphy said.  (Continue Reading)

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Financial exploitation of seniors targeted by educational program

Guardianship program seeks volunteers

ASHTABULA — The Patrick Sorohan Volunteer Guardianship Program at Catholic Charities of Ashtabula County is in search of volunteers in the community to serve as Guardian of Person for the frail elderly living in a local health care facility. The elderly people in need have little or no financial resources, family, or other support system, and the Guardian of Person would fulfill the role of surrogate decision maker.

A volunteer guardian provides the opportunity to nurture, advocate for, and safeguard the well-being of another person in Ashtabula County, who otherwise would have no one in his or her life.

Orientation night is 5:30-7 p.m. Sept. 29 at Catholic Charities of Ashtabula County, 4200 Park Ave. (third floor of the First Merit Building). Light refreshments will be served.

To sign up or to find out more about this volunteer opportunity, contact Jeanne Myers at (440) 992-2121.

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Guardianship program seeks volunteers

FINRA approves proposal to protect seniors from financial exploitation

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), Wall Street's industry-funded watchdog, said on Thursday its board of governors approved a proposal to protect seniors and other vulnerable adults from financial exploitation.

Firms will be allowed to put on hold disbursement of funds or securities and alert a customer's trusted contact when they suspect manipulation, according to the proposal.

The proposal would amend FINRA's customer account information rule so that the name and contact information for a trusted contact person is obtained upon opening an account.

The proposal would also apply to investors 18 and older if they have mental or physical impairments that render them unable to protect their own interests and there is a reasonable belief of financial exploitation, FINRA said.

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FINRA approves proposal to protect seniors from financial exploitation

Average “grandmother scam” victim loses $4,000

The average victim of a “grandmother scam” loses $4,000 to the scammers, Ohio's Attorney General Mike DeWine said in a warning to families. So far this year, DeWine's office has received nearly 40 complaints from victims in his state.

The so-called “grandmother” or “grandparent” scam is a form of impostor scam: scammers call their victims while pretending to be the victims' grandchildren, in dire trouble and in need of money to get out of it. It's a big-enough problem that in summer of 2014, the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging held a hearing in an attempt to find some solution to the problem. An 81-year-old Cincinnati resident named Roger W. (his full name was withheld for fear that additional con artists would seek him out) told the Senate committee his story, which is sadly typical: the previous December, Roger got a call from a scammer claiming to be his grandson.

Supposedly, the grandson had been arrested for speeding and drug possession, and needed bail money. Roger and his wife eventually bought and sent $7,000 worth of prepaid (and untraceable) money cards before finally speaking to their actual grandson on the phone and learning he was fine – no speeding tickets, no police encounters at all, and certainly no calling his grandparents to request thousands of dollars for bail.

“One of the reasons this scam works is that the relationship between a grandparent and a grandchild is different than the relationship between a parent and a child,” said Attorney General DeWine. “Grandparents are more likely to send money, no questions asked. Scam artists understand this and they take advantage of it.”

Another thing that makes grandparents extra-likely to fall for this scam is that in today's age of social media, it's quite easy for the scammers to discover some genuine and specific details about the victim's family. A typical caller won't offer a generic greeting such as “Hi, Grandma, this is your grandson”; a grandparent scammer will do enough research to say “Hi, Grandma, this is Jeff. Yes, I'm doing well in my classes at Expensive State U. But I'm currently in a bit of trouble....”

DeWine suggested that, if you ever receive such a phone call, you should ask the caller questions which only an immediate family member would know (and has not shared on Twitter, Facebook, or other forms of social media).

You should also talk to your older relatives to warn them away from this scam, and also discuss ways you would communicate in the event of a true emergency. And always remember that real police fines, court costs, and other legal bills never require (or even accept) pre-paid money cards, wire transfers, or other untraceable methods of payment which the scammers demand.

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Average “grandmother scam” victim loses $4,000