Linda Kincaid Reports: California Assembly Judiciary Committee vote to curb elder abuse by conservators

San Francisco’s ABC7 I-Team investigated elder abuse by the Santa Clara County Public Guardian. See Public guardian under fire for isolating elderly.

AB937 aims to curb those abuses. See I-Team investigation gets woman more visits, law proposed.
The Declaration of Independence proclaimed that all persons have the right to “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” However, some conservators routinely violate that “inalienable right” that was so clearly penned by Thomas Jefferson.

• In Stanislaus County, June Guinn has not seen her family since 2008. The conservator will not disclose June’s location. Family fears that June is dead.
• In Sacramento County, David Fettgather, a young man with Down syndrome, is allowed to see his father only on alternate weekends.
• In San Joaquin County, the Public Guardian isolated Maria Jordanou from her family for the last month of her life. Maria died believing her family abandoned her.
• In Los Angeles County, Helen Kasof was allowed only limited visitation with her son for 15 months.
• In Santa Clara County, the Public Guardian isolated Gisela Riordan and Lillie Scalia beginning in 2010. Gisela was allowed no visitors, phone calls, or mail for over two years. Lillie was isolated for a year.
• In San Bernardino County, Jean Swope was taken from her home, hidden from family, and isolated for 15 months. The conservator allowed no visitation and severely restricted phone calls.

Full Article and Source:
California Assembly Judiciary Committee vote to curb elder abuse by conservators

See Also:
Linda Kincaid Reports: Elder Abuse of June Guinn by Modesto, California Conservator

 'David Fettgather: Dependent Adult Abused by Californial Conservator'

 Linda Kincaid Reports: Silicon Valley Tax Dollars Fund Elder Abuse: Public Guardian Takes Control of Gisela Riordan

 Linda Kincaid Reports: Isolation and False Police Report in CA Facility

Disciplinary hearing begins for Wayne County Judge Bruce Morrow

(WXYZ) - Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Bruce Morrow is known by some inside his courtroom as “Cut ‘em loose Bruce,” a nickname started by those who think he’s too easy on accused criminals.

Now, it’s Morrow asking for leniency at his hearings before the Judicial Tenure Commission begin.

Today’s first witness was retired Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor Jeffrey Caminsky, who said Morrow “seemed to have some personal animus towards me.”

Caminsky said Judge Morrow improperly closed the courtroom in the high-profile murder case of Jean Pierre Orlewicz, after he’d been convicted of killing 26-year-old Daniel Sorenson.

When a hearing was held to ask for a new trial, Judge Morrow barred Channel 7 from attending.  But then he went further. Even though the defendant didn’t ask for it, Morrow closed the courtroom to the public, and the victim’s family.

Full Article and Source:
Disciplinary hearing begins for Wayne County Judge Bruce Morrow

Elmer Cerano: Guardianship bills must be changed

“Death panels,” but this time a panel of one, again rears its ugly head supported by those who cautioned against it in the past.

Several bills are pending in the Michigan Legislature that, if passed, will expand the role and the authority of Michigan guardianship laws. The bills, as written, will allow guardians to invoke a “do not resuscitate” order for a certain group of individuals with disabilities who can not communicate their wishes. This is a very dangerous first step that will allow individual and corporate guardians the authority to prohibit resuscitation of people with disabilities. Here are the problems:

1. Some guardians, primarily court-appointed public guardians, have no prior knowledge of the individual or any type of substantial relationship with the incapacitated person. We do not believe that such a person should be allowed to make decisions of this magnitude on behalf of someone they hardly know.

2. These bills, as written, do not take into account the physical health status of the patient. As result, a perfectly healthy individual could be stripped of a long life due to the decision-making of a person who very well might be a stranger.

3. It allows guardians who may be inconvenienced by — or who may financially benefit from the patient’s death — to decide whether or not to resuscitate.

Full Article and Source:
Elmer Cerano: Guardianship bills must be changed

Oregon NASGA Member Erna Boldt Writes to Her Congressman for Help.....

Dear Rep. Blumenauer:

Sometime in 2004/2005 Your Portland office was informed by the Oregon Justice Department, that I was not in the class of the "indigent". That was a direct discrimination - and abuse against an elder citizen.

This has morphed into abuse under the American with Disabilities Act, ADA, Title II, in which the protection from Judicial Fundamental Attribution Error, "a type of abuse that occurs when exploitation, deception,mischaracterization, and intimidation are being used by an opponent for the strategic purpose of confusing the Trier of Fact and diminishing Ms. Boldt's ability to function in court", was ignored.

Not only have I been discriminated against, suffered the deprivation of my assets at my age, but this last matter has driven me to insolvency, because federal laws were not upheld in my 10 years of judicial tyranny in Oregon.

Someone needs to investigate, why federal law, including the federal Uniform trust code, and the American with Disabilities act (I was diagnosed under post stroke recovery, anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder, translating into legal abuse, has been denied in Clackamas Circuit Court (5th judicial district). It is the duty of the Justice Department to investigate such complaint and disregard for my Constitutional rights.
Thank you,
Sincerely,
Erna Boldt

********************************************
In a message dated 3/5/2012 12:58:01 P.M. Pacific Standard Time, or03ebinbox@housemail.house.gov writes:
March 5, 2012
Erna Boldt

Ms. Boldt:
Thank you for taking the time to contact me.

I appreciate you bringing this issue to my attention. Since it is a legal issue, it is very difficult for me to get involved. As a Member of Congress, it would be inappropriate for me to give advice about legal matters. I don't have jurisdiction over the legal system or civil lawsuits.

If you haven't done so already, seeking legal counsel may be your best course of action. The office of the Oregon State Bar Association is a good resource for information on legal services and has a lawyer referral service.

Their phone number is 503-684-3763.

Thank you again for contacting me.
Sincerely, Earl Blumenauer
Member of Congress

Reform Lands Maricopa County Superior Court's Probate Court Top Honor

The National Association of Court Management has awarded Maricopa County Superior Court's Probate Court with the 2013 Justice Achievement Award.
 
The award recognizes comprehensive reform efforts of judicial officers, administrators and court staff over the last three years, according to a news release from the Superior Court of Arizona.

"It is clear that over the past few years the Maricopa County Probate Court has experienced significant reform and innovation under the able leadership of Probate Presiding Judge Rosa Mroz," said Superior Court Presiding Judge Norman Davis in the release.

"The process of improvement is by its nature perpetual, and the Maricopa County Superior Court has always, and will continue to strive for excellence in providing the public with the best judicial system possible," Davis said.

The Court will accept the award at the NACM Annual Conference on July 15.

The Justice Achievement Award was established in 1988 to recognize outstanding achievement and meritorious projects that enhance the administration of justice, according to the release.

In 2010, Superior Court received a Justice Achievement Award for the re-design of its CASA website.

Source:
Reform Lands Probate Court Top Honor

Warnings of Elder Abuse

There is a growing concern of elder abuse. Aging individuals that suffer from mental diseases like dementia are particularly vulnerable to abuse. Below are warning signs that can be helpful to raise a suspicion of elder abuse. Taken individually these warnings are not inherently meaningful. However, any combination of these signs could indicate a problem with abuse.

1. The caregiver is secretive about the elder’s finances.
2. The elder is financially supporting the caregiver.
3. The caregiver isolates the elder from others.
4. The caregiver insists on being in the room when anyone else is present.
5. The caregiver has a history of substance abuse.
6. There are changes in the estate planning paperwork.
7. The caregiver moves the elder to his home without warning.

Source:
Warnings of Elder Abuse

Boomers are Killing Themselves at an Alarming Rate -- Why?

Last spring, Frank Turkaly tried to kill himself. A retiree in a Pittsburgh suburb living on disability checks, he was estranged from friends and family, mired in credit card debt and taking medication for depression, cholesterol, diabetes and high blood pressure.

It was not the life he had envisioned as a young man in the 1960s and ’70s, when “people were more in tune with each other, people were more prone to help each other,” said Turkaly, 63, who owned a camera shop and later worked at Sears. “There was not this big segregation between the poor and the rich. . . . I thought it was going to continue the same, I didn’t think it was going to change.”

Turkaly said he regrets his attempt to overdose on tranquilizers, which he attributes to social isolation. But in one grim respect he is far from alone: He is part of an alarming trend among baby boomers, whose suicide rates shot up precipitously between 1999 and 2010.

It has long held true that elderly people have higher suicide rates than the overall population. But numbers released in May by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show a dramatic spike in suicides among middle-aged people, with the highest increases among men in their 50s, whose rate went up by nearly 50 percent to 30 per 100,000; and women in their early 60s, whose rate rose by nearly 60 percent (though it is still relatively low compared with men, at 7 in 100,000). The highest rates were among white and Native American and Alaskan men. In recent years, deaths by suicide has surpassed deaths by motor vehicle crashes.

Full Article and Source:
Baby Boomers Are Killing Themselves at an Alarming Rate, Raising Question:  Why?

CA: Senate Judiciary Committee - AB937 Clarifies Conservatees' Rights

Source:
Senate Judiciary Committee - AB937 Clarifies Conservatees' Rights

Editorial: Not Enough Protection for Elders

June 14 is World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. Financial exploitation of elders is becoming the primary form of elder abuse, often involving family members or even close elderly friends who prey on seniors to gain control of assets. The elder need not have dementia to be victimized. These predators take advantage of physical disabilities — vision, hearing, mobility — to gain an elder’s trust and isolate the elder, to control communication, transportation, medical care and to access mail and credit cards, bank accounts and investments.

Legal mechanisms like power of attorney (POA), guardianship/conservatorship or healthcare proxy (HCP) can be obtained through misrepresentation, coercion, isolation and intimidation of an elder. The abuser then can use the victim’s assets to fight those trying to stop the exploitation.

Another form of abuse is “granny snatching”; an elder is taken out of state under false pretenses (a vacation?) to a perpetrator’s turf, isolated from the elder’s friends, family and familiar medical care. Once there, new legal and financial oversight (guardian, conservator, POA) is obtained. The elder rarely returns.

Full Editorial and Source:
Not Enough Protection for Elders