SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Disability rights activists and advocates for Britney SpearsWednesday’s California proposal to give more protections to those who are court-ordered was supported by the Senate ConservatorshipsWhile promoting more flexible alternatives,
The volatile Spears case was again boiling in Los Angeles County courtrooms.
The hearing to settle lingering issues in the aftermath of Spears’ conservatorship, which was terminated in November, quickly descended into a series of angry accusations between attorneys for Spears and her father, and the case appears headed for a long trial to determine the truth of allegations of misconduct against him.
This case is Exhibit 1 for Disability Voices United and Disability Rights California. It includes Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund and Free Britney L.A., who claim that probate conservatorships, also known as probate conservatorships, are misused and overused in California.
They most often involve people with developmental or intellectual disabilities or those with age-related issues like dementia or Alzheimer’s.
Advocate groups argue that Spears and other conservatees can be trapped in a system that strips them of civil rights and makes it difficult to advocate for their own interests.
The Professional Fiduciary Association of California, which represents many of those appointed as conservators, did not immediately comment but said answers to many questions about the process can be found atcaliforniaconservatorshipfacts.com.
“Conservatorships should be rare, and the last resort,”Judy Mark, president and CEO of Disability Voices united, a Southern California advocacy group, stated that. “The default should be that people with disabilities retain their rights and get support when they need it.”
The groups backed Brian Maienschein’s legislation as Democratic Assemblyman. This will make it easier to end conservatorships and allow people who want out to get them.
Instead, they promote what is known as “supported decision-making”Agreements are a less restrictive option. These agreements allow disabled people to choose someone who will help them understand, make, and communicate their decisions, while still allowing the individual to make the final decision.
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Advocates for Washington, D.C., Alaska, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Nevada, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Texas, Washington, Wisconsin, and Alaska have already adopted this option.
California law stipulates that conservatorships are only to be ordered if the judge finds them the least restrictive. Advocates argue that conservatorships are sometimes imposed without considering other options.
Maienschein’s bill would require that before granting a conservatorship, judges first document that all other alternatives including supported decision-making have been considered.
It would incorporate supported decision-making in California law, as well as back that alternative by providing grant programs and training.
It would also make it easier for probate conservatorships to be ended by mandating a periodic assessment, which includes asking conservators if they wish to reduce or eliminate the conservatorship altogether.
Conservators would also be required to consult with the conservatees and make decisions that reflect the conservatee’s wishes or previously expressed preferences.
Maienschein worked as a law clerk in San Diego Superior Court, where he oversaw conservatorships.
“I saw firsthand the role that the court plays in establishing conservatorships, and the potential for abuse,”During an online news conference, he stated these words. “The system in California is in desperate need of reform.”
He called Spears “arguably the world’s most famous conservatee,” but said his bill would aid the many others who don’t have “the benefit of worldwide fame to shine a light on her case.”
Spears drew widespread attention to the issue, culminating in November when a Los Angeles judge ended the conservatorship that controlled the pop singer’s life and money for nearly 14 years.
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Britney Spears’ lawyer Mathew Rosengart heads back to court for fiery hearing
But the fallout continued at Wednesday’s hearing, when Spears’ attorney Mathew Rosengart objected to Superior Court Judge Brenda Penny approving the many outstanding attorneys’ fees in the case until the trial is held.
Rosengart repeated allegations from a New York Times documentary that James Spears bugged his daughter’s phone and home, saying they were among many instances of “serious misconduct, potentially criminal misconduct, on the part of Mr. Spears.”
James Spears’ attorney Alex Weingarten said the accusations, along with allegations of financial misdealing, are “all nonsense.”
“Virtually everything that is alleged in those objections is either demonstrably false or out of context,” Weingarten said.
Weingarten intends to file a motion seeking a mass unsealing document from the entire conservatorship. “we need that truth to come out.”Rosengart stated that he would also object to it.
Penny ordered the final transfer of Spears’ assets back to her from the court conservator, and ruled that the November order terminating the conservatorship be sealed. She advised the attorneys to go back to court in July when she might order the trial.
Britney sang did not attend the hearing.
“I believe that if AB1663 had been in effect 13 years ago, the court would have been unable to conserve Britney Spears, and now Britney’s story lights the way for where changes in our laws need to be made,”Mark, from Disability Voices United.
Advocates said it is unclear how many people are under conservatorships in California because the data isn’t collected. They said Spears’ battle is an example of how conservatorships are too easily imposed and too difficult to end.
She was a 26-year-old new mother who’d had several public mental health struggles during the height of her career in 2008, when her father sought the conservatorship, at first on a temporary basis.
Spears was not present in court to hear her father’s constitutional rights. She also wasn’t allowed to take any less restrictive measures before placing her under conservatorship, according Leanne Simmons, Free Britney L.A. organizer.
After a long struggle for her rights, Spears was granted the right to choose her own lawyer.
“While unique in many ways, it follows a very common pattern of exploitation within the probate court system here in California,”Simmons stated.
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Contributing: Andrew Dalton (Associated Press).
