In May of 2017, the New Mexico Supreme Court Commission studying Guardianship Reform heard testimony from an expert who spoke on behalf of professional guardians throughout the state.
Sharon Moore explained that her company, Ayudando Guardians (the word means “helping” in Spanish) adhered to “a model code of ethics” and had the trust of district judges. She said that the company accounts were audited once a year. Both Sharon and her partner Susan Harris were also certified by the National Center for Certification of Guardians
Approximately 2 months later, Sharon and her partner, Susan Harris, were charged with a decade-long sophisticated scheme to embezzle funds from client trust accounts. It was eventually discovered that 11 million in clients funds had been stolen.
How can such a thief be brazen enough to testify before the Supreme Court on behalf of the industry? And what does this say about the profession? Tonight we’ll discuss this case, its outcome, and efforts in New Mexico to reform the Guardianship system.
Tonight on TS Radio we are asking that anyone who may have information on the whereabouts of David Italiano, resident of Pennsylvania, who has been seized in an unnecessary guardianship and disappeared in the system, please contact us. David has been isolated in an undisclosed location for unknown reasons. Send info to tsrad1@outlook.com
PA, like many states, is quick to rush to guardianship vs. less restrictive ways to support a person. We have worked with many groups to find assistance to help David Italiano.
We reached out to the local Ombudsman for help but were told that there was a guardian and there was little that the Ombudsman could do. They were helpful when David requested his medical records. David wanted to know what evidence would be submitted to the court to support the need for a guardian. Sadly, this took close to 9 weeks and David received his records after the court hearing.
We escalated our conversation to Margaret Barajas, the PA State Long Term Care Ombudsman.
We had multiple meetings with her that went nowhere. We met with her supervisor, PA Sec. of Aging, Mr. Robert Torres, to request his office facilitate a meeting with the guardian.
I have attached communication from the Pennsylvania Council on Independent Living and the reply from the PA Dept of Aging regarding the request to meet.
We filed complaints with the PA Office of Civil Rights but with no signed release from David, they would not act.
We had the same response from the Federal Office of Civil Rights, they wanted a release to follow up on the allegation of an abusive/unnecessary guardian.
We had a meeting with staff from ACL to discuss the conflict of interest with the Area Agencies on Aging (AAA) serving in the role of guardian. As we discussed today the AAA is his guardian, provider, Rep Payee in addition to serving as the Ombudsman and the Adult Protective Services agency for Huntingdon County.
At one point the AAA/Guardian told us that they would not facilitate a care plan meeting for David as it was a duplication of services to have both agencies working to help David. We explained that there is no duplication of services as we are federally funded and mandated to provide Transition Services.
We have reached out to PA State Rep Jeff Wheeland for help. Like many of the others, he would not get involved due to their being a guardian.
We contacted Senator Robert Casey’s office to request help. Both Senator Casey and his policy person for the Elderly and Disabled population, Michael Gamel-McCormick agree that the guardianship system is badly broken, there was nothing that they could offer in the way of help. Senator Casey is drafting legislation to be introduced to the 118th congress to address systemic changes that are needed to protect people from unnecessary guardianship.
We spoke with the Community Legal Aid office in Philadelphia, but they would not commit to helping David.
We filed a complaint with the PA Dept of Health that went nowhere. We were in touch with an advocate, Dr. Janet Parker. Dr. Parker is with an organization called Medical Whistle Blowers. She was very interested in helping us but without a signed release of information from David, she was not able to bring this to the attention of the United Nations.
We also reached out to some local press. No one would get involved due to the guardian.
We facilitated a meeting with David and Joe Shapiro from NPR. Again, the guardian was the reason that Mr. Shapiro would not get involved.
I think that sums up our efforts to find David.
There are two things that really strike me about this situation. First is that prior to the AAA becoming his guardian, both the facility and the initial guardian, Jim Malee, were supportive of David not needing this level of care.
The second is that the initial guardianship was put in place “to protect him from his wife.” His wife is now deceased, she is clearly no longer a threat to David.
The annual WHISTLEBLOWERS SUMMIT – normally in DC but this year it will be held virtually – has begun!
Every year, we are most anxious for Marti Oakley’s panel on guardianship abuse. This year MARTI’S PANEL WILL BE WEDNESDAY, 7/28 AT HIGH NOON EST! The virtual event is free but you must register to view it. A video showing how to REGISTER and access the various panels is at this URL: https://www.whistleblowersummit.com/summit-schedule
Here’s a summary of what Marti’s panel will be discussing: Guardianship Abuses (T.S. Network)
“We will discuss the Guardianship system, the legal and psychological abuse the victim is subjected to, and what changes are needed. The legislation that has passed along with pending legislation both national and international guardianship issues. We will discuss the predatory nature of guardianship and the prosecution of the predators. Many do not know that Guardianship is the loss of all legal capacity. It is now coming to the public’s attention with the recent Britney Spears case. But this has been an ongoing issue for decades. And our panel of advocates and victims has been at the forefront of seeking justice for well over a decade.
In coordination with the National Association to Stop Guardian Abuse (NASGA) we have contributed to legislation, met with senators and representatives, and publicly exposed the issues for more than a decade via the radio shows and numerous articles and multiple web pages. We are now actively working with groups internationally who are encountering the same issues and we are forming a global coalition. We have created a platform for those victimized, their families and friends, to give them a voice.”
Panelists:
Marti Oakley, Activist and advocate on issues of guardianship abuse;
Marsha Joiner, Family member of abuse victim;
Christine (Kris) Dallas, with the Australian Association to STOP Guardianship & Administration Abuse (AASGAA);
Coz Whitten-Skaife, Family member of abuse victim; and
Mary Witten, Liaison for the National Association to Stop Guardian Abuse (NASGA)
By Nancy Gregory-McLendon (formerly Nancy Scott) June 15, 2021 – World Elder Abuse Awareness Day
I am definitely my mother’s daughter. We shared a profession (retired school teachers), a love of reading, writing, and travel. My mother was a true fighter; you don’t live to be 103 years old without having a will to live.
My mom took care of me when I was young and, as the years passed, our roles shifted as I became her caregiver. For 30 years, my mom trusted me to act as her Power of Attorney for financial and medical matters. We thought we had prepared for the inevitable – I would be responsible for managing her affairs when the time came – but we were about to learn otherwise.
What I didn’t know, (and who would know this ahead of time?) was the guardian and conservatorship arena is no place for the uninformed. The phrase, “If you are the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room” couldn’t be more wrong when it comes to guardianships.
In America, a judge can determine a person to be incapacitated and take away their civil liberties with shockingly little evidence. A judge can also ignore a power of attorney or health care directive and appoint a person of their choosing instead. A guardian can liquidate property and belongings and take percentage of the proceeds as a commission. The guardian can also isolate their ward (victim) from friends and family.
My mom and I did not seek assistance from the Jefferson County Probate Court, but that didn’t stop them from taking charge of her life. More
In January, 2019, Shelley Thomson was abducted from her home in New Braunfels, Texas under color of law. She was falsely accused of being “incapacitated” and assigned to Texas Health and Human Services (HHSC) as her guardian. She was moved to a nursing home, and her house and other possessions sold to cover guardian and nursing home expenses, as well as legal costs to keep her “incarcerated.” Her human and legal rights have been abrogated, and she undergoes daily abuse, including malnutrition, isolation, denial of exercise, involuntary or hidden drugging, neglect, and a long list of other abuses. Shelley is a scientist, articulate, has career ambitions, and advocates for herself daily against all odds in a corrupt probate system.
Shelley’s attorney, Phil Ross, has volunteered to liberate her because he believes a grave injustice has been committed. After 2 years, about 300 legal filings and appeals, he recently filed several motions, including permission for Shelley to have access to what little cash is left in her account so she can continue to defend herself; preventing the state of Texas from using that money for prepaid funeral expenses; asking for damages for using the funeral gambit as a form of illegal retaliation against Shelley and Phil; asking the court for a fair mental examination; moving the jurisdiction to a fairer state probate court; requesting a jury trial; and restoring Shelley’s capacity so she can be released from guardianship.
A court hearing on these motions is scheduled for Thursday June 3 at 9:00 am CDT, New Braunfels, Texas time. Zoom Link: https://txcourts.zoom.us/j/5022885368
This hearing is open to the public, and we invite all to attend. Irrespective of the ruling, during the hearing (but most likely after the hearing after the judge leaves the courtroom), there will be an opportunity to comment and present evidence, and this will go into the record.
For further information about the history of this case, and for fundraising support, please visit:
Join Coz and Marti tonight as they host Liz Rizzo,
Liz Rizzo was Rusty Warren’s companion. Rusty is a well known comedian from the 60’s. She had 7 gold albums from that period. Her cutting edge humor was signified in her popular routine, “Knockers Up!”. At 91, Rusty has fallen prey to guardianship trafficking. Abducted and held captive by her abductors, she is told Liz doesn’t want to see her or talk to her. This is trauma based bonding by the book. Isolated, terrified and suffering from the onset of dementia, everything is being done to dehumanize Rusty and frighten her.
“Rusty was my partner over 35 years, we built a life together. We have a Trust to protect our assets and she put her wishes in writing. Judge Lee in Tucson disregarded the Trust, taunted me about being gay and said I was not credible. I was legally Trustee of the Estate but they challenged it.”
As so many others have discovered, pre existing legal instruments are quickly discarded to allow the predators access to any assets. This was never about Rusty or her well-being. It was only about gaining access to her jointly held estate and stealing as much of it as possible. To do that, Rusty had to be taken prisoner and deprived of her legal capacity.
Please join us as we cover this case which exposes more of the hunting of the elderly for profit.
Join Coz & Marti this evening, April 22, 2021 as we host one of our favorite guests, Dr. John Reizer. Dr. Reizer publishes No Fake News, one of the most popular sites on the net.
At issue this evening is the use of the fake Covid scamdemic to cull the elderly and the chronically ill from the population. Apparently the predatory practices of professional guardians along with their equally immoral attorneys, wasn’t removing the elderly and disabled fast enough. This system ultimately results in early death for the abductee. Now with the cover of the fake pandemic, thousands more elderly will make an early exit from life. Oh! Just as an afterthought…they might want to harvest your organs too~!
To add insult to a great injury, now a test of “social usefulness” will be applied to healthcare. How old are you? If they invest in your health, what can you do that would be of value to society as a means to determine what care will be made available to you?
Retirement takes on a whole new meaning under this plan. It could be that access to meaningful healthcare will be denied as your social usefulness indicator indicates you are simply retired. We have been commodified.
Joining Marti tonight will be Elaine Mickman, alternate co-host for “In The Mix” Nothing in this broadcast is to be considered legal advise.
To speak to the hosts: 917-388-4520 and hit #1 to be put in the cue.
We are not attorneys, but the current state of affairs on so many levels has required the public to do their own legal research in an effort to understand just what exactly the BAR associations and the so-called judiciary are using to get away with the abduction, isolation, and theft of estates under guardianship.
We will be talking about our research into legal capacity, legal agency, and legal status; three areas of law the predators do not appear to want the public to have knowledge of. It is through the avoidance of these things that victims of the guardianship racket lose the right to their own identity, their medical treatment wishes and their estates. They also lose the right to freely associate with family, friends, and religious leaders. Isolation is a known form of human torture. This is what allows the predators to designate the victims as “things”, “units” and “merchandise”. We have been commodified! Seen by the predators as nothing more than a commodity to profit from.
Join us we take a look at just how deep this racket runs. The very people who are supposed to advocate for the law are the same people who twist it, abuse it and select only those things that will be benefit them personally in choosiing what to uphold or what to ignore.
No person shall be “deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law” — unless, it seems, that person becomes a victim of probate or family courts. At that point, such deprivation of liberty happens more often than most of us realize.
It happened to Marguerite Trent Caddis of Birmingham, Alabama. A probate judge appointed a stranger as her guardian, and she was forced into a nursing home against her will. By the time the courts were finished with the Caddis estate, there was $3.76 left, to be divided equally between her three daughters.
Her story joins those of retired Alabama schoolteacher Marian Leonard and Golden Flake heiress Joann Bashinsky, each of whom were placed under court-appointed guardianships by Jefferson County Probate Judge Alan King, who has since retired. Even after the death of a loved one, the court battles don’t end. Guardianship abuse leaves grieving heirs, like Leonard’s daughter Nancy Scott and Bashinsky’s grandson Landon Ash, bearing the brunt of the financial burden and emotional heartache of desperate ongoing battles against the probate courts and guardians as they attempt to honor the wishes of their loved one. These are lives which ended, not peacefully, but embroiled in bitter legal battles that refuse to end even at the grave.
Let me ask you: Have you heard even one attorney or probate hearing examiner ever refer to the right and preservation of legal capacity for any of the elderly men or women who are targeted, kidnapped and imprisoned in the guardianship racket? Have you heard any probate examiner say they will consider the least restrictive alternative structure for protecting the lives of those targeted for estate theft and exploitation, and then actually follow through with that? No? There is a reason for that. The probate examiner, ministerial clerk, or magistrate is involved heavily in the guardianship racket.
All the while, our elected officials feign disbelief, claim they had no idea what was happening, insist it must be an isolated situation, that no one told them this was happening, and then claim they will look into it and get back to you. They won’t and they don’t. They all know to a greater degree than you or I do exactly what is happening and yet sit silently doing nothing to prevent and stop this system of human trafficking altogether.
“Legal capacity is a human right, “a social and legal status accorded independent of a person’s particular capabilities. Whether an individual has the cognitive ability to understand and appreciate consequences of her decisions—the traditional threshold of the common law—is simply not determinative of whether she has legal capacity. Even if she does not possess those decision-making abilities, she cannot be stripped of her legal capacity.” [1]
In probate tribunals, the living, breathing, man or woman suffers a civil death. These victims are summarily stripped of their identity. Effectively commodified, they lose all rights including, where they choose to live, what medical treatments they do or do not, want. They lose the right to freely associate with family and friends and are stored in a warehouse called a “nursing” home. Most are not allowed phones or any other means of outside contact. Although statutes in every state claim that isolation should be a last resort, in virtually every case it is the first action taken by the predator guardian. And no one says a word about this!
In addition to the loss of legal capacity the victim has also lost the right to and recognition of, “legal agency”. Once in grip of the probate tribunal and their associated lawyers and professional predatory guardians, the loss of legal capacity is complete. They lose all rights to access and control their own assets and may not enter into contracts of any kind or make any decisions regarding their own assets and property.
A number of human rights theorists further break down legal capacity into two parts: “legal status,” which is the ability to hold rights that the state must recognize, and “legal agency,” which is the ability to have one’s decisions recognized by the law. Both of these rights are summarily dismissed and rendered moot in the human trafficking system of guardianship
It just gets worse
So why are they using the term “best interests” and using that as a means and a reason to discard pre-standing legal instruments to determine what the victim intended or wanted? And why are probate examiners allowed to discard these legal instruments that state specifically what the victim would want if these situations occurred? Why aren’t they using a best interpretation of the will and preferences? Why? Because its difficult to steal an estate if you are forced to consider what the victim wanted as opposed to what the guardians want.
Yet everyday across the country, individuals are never informed that they have a right to their legal capacity. Using contrived incapacitation or mental competency as a metric to deprive individuals of their rights to make their own decisions and to be recognized as a living, breathing man or woman, the right to legal capacity is summarily disregarded. This is a major deprivation of rights under US Code 242. [2] It is also a declaration of civil death. You don’t exist. You died, but just haven’t stopped breathing yet.
Here in the US, probate tribunals were established specifically to avoid the constitution and any rights associated with that document. These are not courts of law. These are specially designed tribunals created to allow the unfettered theft of estates and ordinary assets by operating outside of the common law and any rights you thought you had. You have no rights, no protection from these predators and can be subject to probate facilitated kidnapping and imprisonment whenever one of these predators decides you have something they want. Its a system set up for easy pickings for the professional predators, and few, if any, penalties for them.
The activity of professional predatory guardians goes unchecked by the tribunal.
These tribunals were created supposedly because common law, civil and criminal courts, were overloaded with cases so a tertiary system (the tribunal system) had to be created to relieve the stress on actual courts of law. But who in their right mind sets up an alternative tribunal system and then fails to adequately fund it to allow for oversight?
Hearings are held many times without notice to the victim. Many elderly, if they are even allowed to attend hearings, do so without an attorney. There is no due process afforded in these tribunals, no right to defend yourself, no right to present evidence contradicting the charges against you by immoral attorneys and their predator friends, the guardians.
If they are allowed to attend, and, if they have their own attorney familiar to them, that person will be dismissed by the examiner. Then an attorney will be appointed for them that can be depended upon not to interfer with what has been agreed to before your appearance in the tribunal so that the theft of the estate can begin, unimpeded. The tribunal will many times fire a family attorney and appoint one who can be depended upon not to interfer with the plans already agreed to by the tribunal and the predatory guardians and their attorneys. The fix is in. No one is allowed to intervene who is not part of the criminal racket that is now fully operational.
If all else fails, the victim will be subjected to massive doses of pyschotropic drugs rendering them not only dysfunctional, but appearing to be delirious. Nothing is off limits when these predators decide that the victims’ assets should belong to them. In this condition they are summarily judged to be “incapacitated” or “incompetent”. Everyone in that tribunal knows exactly what is going on, including the victim.
It is seldom, if ever, that a victim of this predatory system is able to challenge the predator in the legal system. Isolated, traumatized, and many times chemically restrained to keep them subdued, victims are unable to assert their legal capacity and demand to be set free. This is no accident.
The elderly are being hunted by predators who do not care what happens to them. Isolated from family, friends and even religious connections, they are sequestered away from everyone. Isolated, traumatized and reduced to a commodity to be exploited and abused, they begin to wither, eventually succumbing to a miserable death at the hands of unspeakable monsters.
Guardians, attorneys and probate examiners: These are the predators among us who prey on other human beings.
Sources:
Eilionóir Flynn & Anna Arstein-Kerslake,
[1].Legislating Personhood: Realising the Right to Support in Exercising Legal Capacity, 10 INT’L J.L. IN CONTEXT 81, 83 (2014).
Definition of legal capacity
: the capability and power under law of a person to occupy a particular status or relationship with another or to engage in a particular undertaking or transaction by giving the organization legal capacity — International Court of Justice/Advisory Opinion
[2] 18 U.S. Code § 242 – Deprivation of rights under color of law
The phrase interested person refers to heirs, devisees, children, spouses, creditors, beneficiaries, and any others having a property right in, or a claim against, a trust estate or the estate of a decedent, ward, or protected person. It also refers to personal representatives and to fiduciaries.
In general usage, a human being; by statute, however, the term can include firms, labor organizations, partnerships, associations, corporations, legal representatives, trustees, trustees inBankruptcy, or receivers.
Definition of legal capacity
: the capability and power under law of a person to occupy a particular status or relationship with another or to engage in a particular undertaking or transaction by giving the organization legal capacity — International Court of Justice/Advisory Opinion
For additional information, contact Teresa Kennedy at 212-901-6913 or email elderdignity@hotmail.com.
Calls for more aggressive prosecution and the acceleration of federal reform
March 3, 2021 – Flagler County, FL – The number one Netflix movie this past week was I Care a Lot and its star Rosamund Pike just won a Golden Globe. The fictional film exposes exploitative aspects of the guardianship industry which may give you chills, but the real-life case of Dr. Lillie Sykes White is worse. Her family and other advocates have launched a petition for the U.S. Department of Justice and Senate Special Committee on Aging to investigate this predatory industry, aggressively prosecute and accelerate reform at the federal level. The petition and a video statement by Dr. White’s sister and only living sibling, Janie Sykes-Kennedy, as well as Dr. White herself, can be viewed at: https://www.change.org/StopPredatoryGuardianships
“I grew up under Jim Crow laws and the unjustness in this guardianship system reminds me of that,” said 85-year-old Sykes-Kennedy. “Families don’t stand a chance when the court itself is facilitating the exploitation and appeals are based on false statements in court records,” she added.
After spending eight years in a fraudulent guardianship in Florida and over four years isolated from loved ones, former Montgomery County Maryland school supervisor Dr. White died alone on December 30, 2020 of COVID-19. Her abduction and forced isolation by the court-appointed guardian and attorney ad litem silenced her voice, facilitated constructive fraud and put her in harm’s way. No official helped despite substantiated violations of Florida statutes by court agents.
“I’d like to go to the judge and talk with the judge and let him know my circumstances, and I can do it better than anybody else,” Dr. White said one month before she was abducted. “Nobody else can do it like I can do it because you see I’m a victim of it,” she added.
Peggy Dupree returns to update us on the underhanded efforts in Florida to not only seal guardianship cases so you cant find out how corrupted they are, to new efforts to increase the ability of these predators to trap young children and adults into what is nothing less than a legal trap that will profit those who set it into motion.
These are new laws will help trap more children and young adults in Guardianship if they are passed.
Peggy will go through how these NEW laws help the court petition for Guardianship in the State of Florida!
1. Florida Senate 2021 SB 192.
2. Florida Senate 2021 SB 662.
3. Florida Senate Bill 949.
4. State of Attorneys Office having jurisdiction of a judicial circuit court in which an Offender was sentenced for a felony offense to Petition the Sentence court to RESENTENCE the Offender.
5. The Florida Commissioner shall consult with State Surgeon General, The Agency For Persons With Disabilities, representation from the education community in the State of Florida, the retention of Video recordings!!!
Luanne Fleming who interviewed James Lowry and family last week will be joining the show. The link to the original broadcast is below.
Tonight our guests will be Christopher Lowry, his brother James F. Lowry and Jame’s girlfriend Rita Driscoll. James F. Lowry lives in Grand Rapids Michigan with his girlfriend of 11 years Rita Driscoll. At least he did until he became a prisoner of “the system” (youtube video) https://youtu.be/alg7tt418Yc James has a 30 year old son Steven Lowry who lives in Newberry, Michigan.
James F. Lowry 60 years, old suffered a stroke in August of 2019. James and his family want him to go home. Why is the Court Appointed Guardian not letting him? The guardian, Chasity Powers in Grand Rapids Michigan, Kent County, refuses to allow him to go home where he wants to be. No explanation for holding him hostage in an institution.
Listen to the initial coverage of James F. Lowry on Luanne Fleming’s “Hidden Truth Revealed” on blogtalk radio.
Luanne Flemming host of “Hidden Truth Revealed” will be co-hosting and will be joined by Phil Ross, attorney for Shelley Thomson. Shelley will also be calling in so that we can hear from her personally.
Shelley Thomson is in a New Braunfels, Texas nursing home (Colonial Manor). She does not belong there and is desperate to be liberated.
Under the guise of guardianship, Texas Health and Human Services Commission took her computer, all her money and assets – and (HHSC) used her disability as an excuse to abduct her, steal her house, her cat, and move her into an abusive nursing home. Her guardian has threatened her with violence. Shelley is held prisoner with no right to leave her room, no visitors, and no exercise.
Shelley Thomson was labeled as incapacitated falsely and maliciously by the state of Texas. State guardianship fraud is a national scandal. Under the guise of protection, states target victims for their money, and treat them worse than prisoners. Shelley’s guardian has threatened her with violence and she has been drugged against her will.
If Shelley cannot pick her own psychiatrist, the court will assign their own, and they will choose the cheapest expert to rubber stamp a denial of capacity once again.
A GoFundMe campaign to raise enough money for Shelley to hire her own psychiatrist, and to help defray expenses of her lawyer who has represented her for over 13 months pro bono. Please click on the link, read the ad and donate. Thanks!
Tonight on “In the Mix”, we will be talking about the current plague of fake posters, fake profiles and others who attempt to disrupt and derail postings and pages.
A fair number of people on the net, most especially those infamous glory hogs, have multiple profiles. These are used to threaten, disparage, and marginalize (or at least attempt to) others who most likely have them blocked for obvious reasons. In one particular case, our stalker has developed at least six different profiles in an attempt to stalk our pages. How do we know? We know because this particular individual is so narcissistic, they use their own face on each one.
Join us as we discuss online stalkers, especially those in the guardianship racket. Ever wonder if these guardians and conservators or fiduciary corporations stalk social media? We can guarantee you they do! To join in please call 917-388-4520 and hit the #1 immediately.
Join us this evening as Lisa Belanger joins the show to talk about the Netflix series “Dirty Money-#5” Guardians Inc. This episode features Lisa and exposes the ongoing targeting, isolation, and theft of estates from vulnerable seniors and the disabled.
Guardianship has become nothing more than a government sanctioned and facilitated system of human trafficking for profit. One of the most insidious parts of this disgusting system is the forcing of the victim to pay all of the expenses of those involved in the predatory guardianship. Doing so makes the theft of estates so much easier and more efficient.
Estates are stolen, homes are sold, trusts are broken into, wills are discarded, bank accounts raided, and personal items and family memorabilia are disposed of. Everything that defined that elder’s life is wiped out, thrown away, discarded. They have been effectively erased.
While we are encouraged to regard lawyers, doctors, guardians, attorney’s and others as somehow deserving of respect, this issue has clearly exposed the fact that many of these people are the worst among us. For those in any one of these professions who have enough integrity, sense of honor and morals, attempting to defend a victim from these predators can be career suicide.
As despicable as many of these professionals are, that individual sitting on the bench is the worst of them all. Everything revolves around the cooperation of this individual to make sure the system runs smoothly.
Visit her at Medway Manor Nursing Home, in Massachusetts. Messages for her via email at JusticeforMargaret@Mail.com
Justice for Margaret Cook
Margaret Cook is an elderly, disabled Massachusetts woman whose property, civil liberties, life savings, and right to the pursuit of happiness as an American citizen have all been taken away.
She is currently held against her will at Medway Manor nursing home, in Massachusetts, despite an independent psych exam which stated that she was competent enough to live at home, with in-home care, as she has desperately asked. She has been stopped from going to her home, even for a Christmas, Thanksgiving or birthday visit, for a year and a half.
See her video statement if you have access to: vimeo.com/395830770
Imagine if you were removed from your home, told you could never return, and held against your will while your property, and every penny from your bank accounts is taken away.
Imagine that your bills and your taxes are up to date. Imagine that you have had no criminal record in your entire life.
Something like this could only happen in some far away country, a place without respect for human rights and freedoms, right?
You would be wrong. There is a woman named Margaret Cook who would like you to know that this tragedy could happen to anyone. She is in the state of Massachusetts, in the United States. More
There is no Constitutional provision for negating of law into unlawful or illegal statutes.
The only possible way to rectify this assault on the elderly and other vulnerable men and women who have been declared to have suffered a civil death at the hands of these civil tribunals, is to abolish them altogether.
The elderly in Minnesota, as they are across the country, have been, and are, being targeted for exploitation by professional, for-profit guardians. Guardianship has been described as the fastest growing cottage industry in the country. The trafficking of the elderly through the probate system has allowed the theft of estates and the accompanying isolation and abuse of the targeted individual. As a result, the greatest transfer of wealth in this country, is not from the rich to the poor, but rather, from the elderly to professional predators who game this system for profit. It is aledged that 5-10 billion is stolen annually from the elderly by these predators. Generational wealth in the form of inheritance is being stolen from intended heirs.
Its no Different in Minnesota
Minnesota government at all levels has allowed a predatory, for profit system to flourish and, has even colluded with those who profit from the trafficking through a civil tribunal system in order to facilitate the kidnapping, isolation and financial exploitation of the elderly, the disabled and other vulnerable men and women. Allegedly, many of our legislators are connected through business associations to the most virulent of these predators. The business of trafficking the elderly for profit has become so lucrative that large fiduciary corporations who profit from this activity have sprung up across the state.
Probate “courts” are civil tribunals; they are not courts of law, nor are they courts of record. Probate was to become active only upon presentation of the death certificate, and then only to determine if the estate was testate or intestate. (With a will, or without one) The only duty of probate was to determine the distribution of assets to the appropriate heirs. The probate examiner was to have only one clear purpose; fact finding. This was extended to include guardianship and conservator ship of the living man or woman. As it is used today, either of these acts against the living man or woman, causes the civil death of that man or woman. The granting of guardianship petitions is the de facto death certificate.
Sec. 11. Probate jurisdiction.
Original jurisdiction in law and equity for the administration of the estates of deceased persons and all guardianship and incompetency proceedings, including jurisdiction over the administration of trust estates and for the determination of taxes contingent upon death, shall be provided by law.More
Join Coz & Marti tonight as we highlight more of the “Ottholes on Parade”. Joining us will be Elaine Mickman and “Rebecca”.
Thanks to Judge Stanley Ott, some of the Ottholes have 100’s of “wards of the state”. Individuals who have been targeted, kidnapped, isolated and now are subjected to trauma based bonding. No one can visit them. No one can talk to them. No one can know what condition their health is in. The predators assure them that only THEY care….after all….no one else is visiting them. Of course they don’t tell the victim that they won;t allow anyone else to visit them. And could someone please explain to us how one guardian can possibly manage all the life decisions, medical care and financial decisions for hundreds of people that they themselves rarely if ever see or communicate with?
We will also be discussing the coming Montgomery County,Pennsylvania elections and the attacks coming from the courts on women involved in divorce.
A disturbing aspect of an elder law and trusts and estates practice is the discovery of elder abuse. According to the National Institute on Aging, hundreds of thousands of adults over the age of 60 are abused, neglected, or financially exploited each year. Elder abuse includes physical, emotional, and sexual abuse in addition to neglect and abandonment. The perpetrators are often relatives or friends who have influence over the individual who may be vulnerable due to illness, disability, or age. Sometimes the abuse occurs at the hands of caregivers, whether in the home or in a facility.
New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand has introduced bipartisan legislation to help protect the elderly and infirmed by improving health care worker hiring practices in long-term care and medical facilities. Too often the elderly and infirmed are harmed as a result of the individuals working in the very facilities that are charged with helping rehabilitate them.
The Promote Responsible Oversight and Targeted Employee Background Check Transparency for Seniors Act, also known as “PROTECTS,” is an act that would expand access to the National Practitioner Data Bank for Medicare and Medicaid providers to conduct background checks on employees. Specifically, PROTECTS would include Medicaid/Medicare-certified skilled nursing facilities, home health agencies, hospice programs, and pharmacies.
The Act has been endorsed by the American Health Care Association and the National Association for Home Care & Hospice. The aforesaid Data Bank would reveal malpractice for potential employees and assist facility administrators in their hiring and consequently affect the standards of care.
An FYI on how much state and national organizations care about the abuse of elderly/developmentally disabled people, if nothing else as a time saver for folks who want to report such cases.
Since I have evidence of people endangered in illegal, unlicensed facilities with subhuman conditions, which the Attorney General doesn’t want, I have been keeping a running tally of agencies both inside and outside of Michigan I called with a simple request:
“These are people whose lives are in danger. I would like to report multiple crimes. To whom do I send the addresses of these group homes, home/property owner, names of the victims and the guardians who put them there?”
Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs: Left messages. No response.
Adult Protective Services: Hung up on me.
Office of the Inspector General: No response.
Federal Bureau of Investigation: No response.
Michigan Elder Justice Initiative: “Call the Attorney General.”
State Long Term Care Ombudsman: No response.
AARP: “We have our own plans to address guardianship issues. We don’t want to talk about them.”
National Center on Elder Abuse: Received email September 11 stating they were going to try and reach out to someone in Michigan. No response to follow up messages.
Justice in Aging: No reply to voicemails.
American Society on Aging: “We don’t help people with that.”
National Consumer Voice for Long Term Care: Won’t pick up their phone. No response to voicemails.
Oakland County Prosecutor Jessica Cooper: “Good luck with that.”
Michigan State Police: “This is a civil matter.”
US Attorney Michigan, Civil Rights Division: No response.
All State Reps and Senators: No response except two.
Oakland County Prosecutor Jessica Cooper: “The Senator does not appreciate your constant attacks on the Attorney General.”
Michigan Sen. Peter Lucido: I can’t help you. My advice is to contact the Macomb County Bar Association, the Michigan State Police or the FBI.”
First time I can remember I’ve tried to report a crime and no one has cared. I guess if they were kids and not the elderly and developmentally disabled and if a group of attorneys and judges were not involved who have paid off people like Dana Nessel and Gretchen Whitmer, something would have been done months ago.
But let’s be honest here, America does not give a fuck about anyone it considers disposable.
I just want it clear and on record. I have attempted to report a crime. I have been fundamentally clear that lives are in danger. For whatever reason, no one wants to hear about it.
The Silver Standard with Romona Paden, contributor
This year’s Whistleblower Summit had many interesting and illumination discussion panels.
For us at the Silver Standard and The EARN Project, the panel conducted by Marti Oakley was of most interest.
Many people are drawn to the Summit just to meet Marti. They have listened to her shows on her TS Radio Network, and they appreciate her for being a leading voice for reform and her achievement in bringing this issue to the Summit. She was her usual dynamic self, shining a light into the dark corners of this growing global threat. More
After successfully taking down members of the judicial and legal community, assisting in the prosecution of more than 300 Catholic priests, Kathleen Kane was incessantly attacked with the intention of destroying her career for daring to do her job. Possessing emails from judges who had engaged in sending discriminatory emails based on race and gender, along with pornographic materials, Kane became Judicial Enemy #1 in Pennsylvania. Vowing she would take down the “good-ol’-boys” network that has turned the legal and judicial system in Pennsylvania into a modern day version of Capone’s Mafia….Kane was eventually imprisoned by one of the same judges she had been exposing. Does anyone besides us see a conflict of interest here??
We will be updating on the progress made in Alaska and also on a couple of Wisconsin cases that we are involved in and any other news that pops up today.
And thank you to all of you who have reached out in support of these shows! Thank you for taking the time to send us your thoughts and support!
In 2018, a team of journalists and a forensic examiner began an investigation into the alleged abuse of thousands of senior and developmentally disabled individuals by judges and attorneys in a Michigan probate court. This is a fraction of what was uncovered. For the full story, click here : https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019…
The unit is on the second floor of the facility and only accessible from the main entrance via a code-restricted elevator the doors of which open into a common area that looks like a hybrid of a hospital ward and prison day room.
Lahser Hills Care Center in Southfield, Michigan.
Image from Lahser Hills website
Legally deaf, Virgil (whose last name is omitted for privacy reasons) stared directly ahead. He made no eye contact, but his expression was one of despair. His only answer to questions from this investigation was given through a single tear that ran down his cheek, which he made no attempt to wipe away.
For 40 years, Virgil had lived in his childhood home in Pontiac under the care of his mother Beth. After she passed away and left the home to Virgil, the neighbors, with whom both mother and son were close, stepped in and helped wherever they could. Virgil was not a wealthy man. He had no savings to speak of, and his only income came via a Social Security check.
However, he did have property.
In late 2016, former Oakland County Public Administrator Jennifer Carney was given control over that property alongside Virgil’s income, identity, possessions, and future after he was placed under her guardianship by Oakland County Probate Court Chief Judge Kathleen Ryan.
ALLEGED MASSIVE ELDER ABUSE AND EXPLOITATION RING IN MIGHIGAN PROBATE COURTS
The guardianship system isn’t new; in fact, it’s rooted in medieval English law. Every US state still uses some form of the system, which, at its best, is designed to protect citizens who are no longer able to protect themselves by declaring them wards of the state. We know, of course, that the system is rarely at its best, with increasing reports of abuse cropping up nationwide, prompting Congressional calls for reform.
But the level of controversy over how guardianship cases are handled in one Detroit-area probate courtroom has reached such heights, the story reads more like Orwellian fiction than it does a model of the American experience.
An unsettling number of accusations have been leveraged against the court, citing abuse, neglect, robbery, and exploitation, often in cases that arguably didn’t merit guardianship in the first place. In as little as a year, “incapacitated wards” are stripped of the entirety of their savings and possessions and rendered completely reliant upon social services and benefits such as Medicaid. Even high-profile families, including the estates of Rosa Parks and Aretha Franklin, have been drawn into the quagmire.
Award-winning investigative journalist Gretchen Rachel Hammond spent the past 13 months independently investigating a systemic problem at the Oakland County Probate Court, which has allegedly been shielded by the highest levels of Michigan government for the past 30-some years. With the help of a forensic accountant, three Wayne State University Journalism School researchers, and thousands of corroborating documents, she has published a first-of-its-kind exploration into the court system, its four judges, four guardians, and the stories behind more than 2,200 wards.
Background:
In July 2018, Hammond engaged in a freelance, self-funded investigation to determine if alleged abuses at the Oakland County Probate Court were systemic.
Discoveries include the forced separation of families and isolation of the vulnerable; fraudulent petitions for guardianship by Adult Protective Services investigators; massive overbilling; the forced removal of individuals from their homes and the placement of them in nursing facilities or unlicensed group homes with subhuman living conditions; real estate fraud; and missing assets that number in the millions of dollars.
The investigation met with constant challenges, including threats and harassment by Oakland County Sheriff’s officers. A surreal March 12, 2019 four-hour meeting between Hammond’s team and Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s staff led to a new line of inquiry and discoveries of campaign ties between Nessel, Whitmer and Oakland County Probate Court Chief Judge Kathleen Ryan and her family.
Biography
Gretchen Rachel Hammond is an award-winning freelance investigative journalist based out of Chicago. Her work has won or been nominated for four successive Chicago Press Club awards, been recognized by the National Association of Lesbian and Gay Journalists (NLGJA), and covered topics such as criminal justice, abuse at ICE detention facilities, and alleged discrimination on the part of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services leading to the unnecessary separation of children from their parents.
GRETCHEN IS AVAIL FOR INTERVIEW AND THE FULL 5 PART SERIES IS AVAIL
A Michigan court tasked with protecting its most vulnerable citizens has become home to a roiling controversy charging abuse, exploitation, robbery and neglect.
According to state and national activists, it’s a system that has been left unchecked for decades and is now so broken that it has led to unprecedented judicial overreach and the eradication of the constitutional, civil and human rights of thousands of Americans who have suffered from resulting neglect, isolation, abuse, torture and theft on a massive scale, allegedly at the hands of the same individuals assigned to protect them.
Both in Michigan and nationwide, the system is called “guardianship” and/or “conservatorship.” Once assigned to an individual that a probate or family court judge declares “legally incapacitated” and unable to manage their own affairs, often a complete stranger in the form of a court-appointed guardian or conservator assumes control over every aspect of that person’s life.
Every last possession, penny and decision is handed over to one of Michigan’s professional guardians and conservators culled from a pool of county public administrators, estate and probate attorneys or private guardianship companies.
In as little as a year, wards have been rendered completely indigent and reliant upon social services and benefits such as Medicaid. Their homes are gone, as are their savings accounts, IRAs, investment accounts, cars, personal belongings, keepsakes, heirlooms, jewelry and even their clothing. Every dollar of their social security, disability income or pensions falls under the control of their guardians with the exception of an allowance as low as $60 per month.
Inevitably, it’s the developmentally disabled and exponentially growing senior populations who are the most affected not only in Michigan but nationwide. Advocates for both groups claim that guardianship, by design, results in a “civil death” for those who are subjected to it and that, although free from any charges of wrongdoing, a person under guardianship has less rights than an imprisoned felon.
Pro-guardianship organizations claim such statements are histrionic; that a guardian has simply assumed the rights of an incapacitated individual, also called a “ward,” as a protective barrier against those who would exploit them. More
Whistleblower’s! Is brought to you in coordination with Marcel Reid and the Whistleblower’s Summit, taking place July 29 thru Aug. 1st, in Washington,D.C
How bad does the guardian-for-profit system have to become before we stop this protected racket of human trafficking of the elderly by these predatory vultures? The very idea that anyone has to flee this country to escape being trafficked in this system is unthinkable.
Join us this evening as former Minnesota resident Joanne Bougalis, tells of her mother’s capture by a professional guardian and the subsequent deterioration in her mothers’, Katherine Bougalis, health and psychological conditions that resulted from being unnecessarily institutionalized, by the guardian, and forcibly drugged with Ativan and Seroquel. After several attempts to free her mother from the guardianship which were of course rejected by the court which appears to be the protection arm of this dirty business, Joanne and her mother fled the country and are living safely and happily in Greece. Katherine’s assets which were sizable are steadily being accessed by profiteers even as she is denied any access to those same assets. While still living in Minnesota a hearing for Katherine was scheduled. She was also made unavailable for her own hearing by the guardian after a doctor’s appointment was scheduled conveniently for the same time as the hearing.
Fleeing America
The guardian has been made aware in writing three years in a row where his ward is located. He continues to fraudulently report her missing and her whereabouts unknown in his annual reports. He ignores requests to step down claiming his position is supported by the Judge. He was notified both by Katherine’s son and by Social Security of her whereabouts. He took specific steps to delay her social security, and took no steps to provide living and medical expenses for his ward, although it appears from reports the guardian is still paying (someone’s) medical expenses.
Having been stripped of all her rights, via the designation of “ward” of the state and suffering a “civil death”, could Katherine now be viewed as escaped human property? Apparently so! As her owner of record continues to bill her estate each year!
I am my mother’s full time primary carer, executor and trustee of her estate, power of attorney, and health advocate. I had arranged a two week respite at a local aged care facility between 14 February 2018 and 28 February 2018.
On Monday 26 February 2018 I had lunch with my mother at the facility and as we parted I told her that I would see her in 2 days to bring her home. The next day I called to check in on my mum only to be told by a staff member that my mother had left of her own volition, they were not obligated to answer any questions and if I wanted to speak to the solicitors they could help with their phone number, did I want it?
In short, I have not seen my mother since which is now nearly 18 months ago. I have no idea as to her whereabouts nor do I have a clue as to her well being. My mother has two progressive terminal illnesses namely Parkinson’s and Lewy Bodies Dementia. The last time I saw her she weighed 39 kilos, had a urinary tract infection and was delirious. These third party interlopers say that my mother has legal capacity, which they believe is sufficient legalese to trump the definition of medical capacity.
(Note: A urinary tract infection can often times cause delirium in older people, whether mistakenly or for other motives, misdiagnosed as dementia. It can also increase symptoms of dementia.)
I informed the local police that my mother was kidnapped however, the police have refused to assist by claiming – ‘this is a civil matter’. More
The PPJ Gazette 