Disability Rights Ohio Declares Victory in Groundbreaking Case: Right to Counsel for Those Under Guardianship Upheld by Ohio Supreme Court

Today, the Ohion Supreme Court unanimously affirmed the right of individuals under guardianship to be represented by a court-appointed lawyer during review hearings to determine whether they continue to need a guardian. Disability Rights Ohio brought this case on behalf of Mr. James McQueen, who resides in a locked nursing facility in Cuyahoga County by order of his court-appointed guardian, who is neither a family member nor a friend. Mr. McQueen no longer wishes to live in the facility and had applied for a review of his case to end guardianship.

Under Ohio law, a guardian is appointed for someone who can no longer make his or her own decisions. Once guardianship is granted, the ward loses legal power over his or her own affairs. Given this significant removal of individual rights, citizens in Ohio have long had a right to an attorney before a guardian is appointed. This case breaks new ground by affirming the continued right of these individuals to a lawyer at all subsequent review hearings. Mr. McQueen will now receive his day in court with an attorney.

“This landmark decision will have a lasting statewide impact,” says Kerstin Sjoberg-Witt, Legal Director of Disability Rights Ohio. “Anyone under a guardianship, both currently and in the future, now has a clear legal right to an attorney when challenging the need for a guardian.”

The court’s decision was unanimous. All of the Justices agreed that the right to a review hearing included the right to a court-appointed attorney under R.C. 2111.49(C) (emphasis added): “a hearing shall be held in accordance with section 2111.02 of the Revised Code to evaluate the continued necessity of the guardianship.” Therefore, to not provide an attorney would make the “accordance with” language “meaningless.”

Additional language in the ruling clarified that where the law provides for an appointed attorney, mandamus is an appropriate avenue to use when a lower court fails to appoint an attorney. Mandamus is a legal remedy that forces a court or other government entity to uphold a law or make a ruling on a law as written.

Full Article and Source:
Disability Rights Ohio declares victory in groundbreaking case: Right to counsel for those under guardianship upheld by Ohio Supreme Court

See Also;
READ State ex rel. McQueen v. Cuyahoga Cty. Court of Common Please, Probate Div., Slip Opinion No. 2013-Ohio-65

Tonite on T.S. Radio: Nancy Vallone on Saving Daniellle Murphy

Danielle Murphy is a mildly autistic disabled adult. She lived with her aunt, Nancy Vallone, in Arizona. Nancy provided the best of care and medical treatment for Danielle and even moved to Ohio so Danielle could receive treatment from a the Cleveland Clinic Medical Center in Cleveland, OH. Shortly after the move, the Ohio’s Advocacy and Protective Services Agency (APSI) took control of Danielle’s case. They placed Danielle in a group home where she has been physically and sexually abused. APSI denies Danielle the treatment that Nancy moved to Ohio to receive.

Worst of all, APSI isolates Danielle from receiving any visitors, including her Aunt Nancy.

5:00 PST … 6:00 MST … 7:00 CST … 8:00 EST

LISTEN LIVE or listen to the archive after the show is over

See Also:
NASGA:  Danielle Rene Murphy, OH Victim

Lawless America: Paul Simmonds

Source:
Lawless America: Paul Simmonds

Ohio Resident Questions Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) Integrity

I am copying below three e-mails which I received from representatives of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) concerning the reason why the CFPB’s “privacy attorneys” blackened out what it did from the material which the CFPB now posts online at http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=CFPB-2012-0018-1047.

You can easily determine exactly what these attorneys blackened out by comparing pages 3 and 5 of the redacted version posted by the CFPB to the same pages of the unredacted version which I post online at http:\\home.roadrunner.com\~tvfields\UnredactedCFPBSubmission.pdf.

By making this comparison, you can verify the following:
• NOT redacted from page 3 is the reference to my father by the line which reads “The second example is represented by the page copied below from the medical record of my father.”
• NOT redacted from page 5 are the signatures of my father, Dr. Steinmetz, Nurse Nemeth and Dr. Sonneborn.
• What was redacted includes (1) the mention of an attorney’s involvement, (2) the mention of the attorney’s relationship to the parties, (3) the identity of Boca Raton Community Hospital, (4) all references to the fact that the patient was on a morphine drip, under a Do Not Resuscitate order, and just hours from dying of cancer.
• What remains after the redaction leaves false impressions about what was redacted. For example, it leads some people to wrongly suppose that what was redacted on page 5 was filed with the court as the patient’s Will and then contested as such. It leads others to wrongly suppose that the patient had not made out and saved his Will before these notes were entered into the medical record.

Considering what was and was not redacted, I have concluded that, contrary to the reason given in these e-mails, the redactions were NOT to protect the personal privacy of others.

To make this point even clearer, I post online at http:\\home.roadrunner.com\~tvfields\ReasonableRedactions.pdf what these redacted pages might have looked like if the purpose of the redaction was just to protect the personal privacy of others.
~ Tom Fields

—– E-Mails Received from the CFPB —–
From: CFPB_Ombudsman@cfpb.gov 7:42 PM
To: tvfields@oh.rr.com
Subject: RE: Update re. Request for Congressman LaTourette’s Assistance

Mr. Fields — Thank you for sharing this email with our office. It appears that you unfortunately may not have received the subsequent email that we sent to you, which explains that the information you requested be posted contains confidential information. Todd Vanlaere, who is posting the comments, offered to post your comment without the confidential information if you wish to resend it to him. Again, he can be reached at: todd.vanlaere@cfpb.gov.

We are attaching our previous email for your reference.

Thank you again for contacting the Ombudsman’s Office, CFPB Ombudsman’s Office
Tel: 855 830 7880 (Toll-free)
Fax: 202 435 7888
consumerfinance.gov
*************************

From: Todd.Vanlaere@cfpb.gov [mailto:Todd.Vanlaere@cfpb.gov]
Sent: Wednesday, September 05, 2012 3:54 PM
To: tvfields@oh.rr.com
Subject: RE: Request for Clarification

Dear Mr. Fields:

I just wanted to touch base with you and let you know that I’ve received your email, and I am aware of your concerns about your submission. Your concerns are being addressed and I anticipate that I will be able to post your submission soon, but please advised that there will be some redaction. If you’d like me to send you the final redacted version of what our privacy attorneys clear to post prior to posting it, I’m happy to do so.

Thanks,
Todd
*************************

From: Todd.Vanlaere@cfpb.gov [mailto:Todd.Vanlaere@cfpb.gov]
Sent: Thursday, September 06, 2012 9:20 AM
To: tvfields@oh.rr.com
Cc: CFPB_Ombudsman@cfpb.gov; Hubert.Humphrey@cfpb.gov; Brett.Kitt@cfpb.gov
Subject: re. Request for Clarification

Dear Mr. Fields:

I have attached a redacted copy of what you have submitted to us. As a matter of policy, we redact comments that discuss individuals other than the commenter to protect their personal privacy. Therefore, as you can see, a lot of your document has been redacted. Per your request, I will not post anything for public viewing until you approve it.

Thanks,
Todd

Petition: Mom, It’s Christmas 2012 – Your Daughters Will Never Stop Fighting for Your Freedom

STOP The Injustice Of An Innocent Woman Being Held Against Her Will, Isolated From Family & Friends For The Past Five Years In A Nursing Facility Through No Fault Of Her Own.

Why Are We Forcing Our Tax Payers To Pay Out HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS A YEAR Forcing Mollie Florkey To Be Held Prisoner In A Nursing Home When It’s Not Necessary ?

SIGN THE PETITION

See Also:
NASGA:Mollie Florkey, Ohio Victim

Ohio Resident and Advocate Reaches Out to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)

This summer, I attended the forum on financial abuse whose agenda appears online(see FN:1). Hubert “Skip” Humphrey III, the head of the CFPB’s effort to protect older Americans, gave the keynote speech. Other presenters included Bob Blancato, the Elder Justice Coalition’s national coordinator, and Richard Browdie, current chairman of the National Council on Aging’s board of directors. I introduced myself to each of these presenters and delivered to them a document which, with a few changes, the CFPB now makes available for viewing at and downloading (see FN:2) This document focuses on the need to: (1) prevent the financial exploitation of individuals with severe cognitive impairment at the time they execute wills, trusts, POAs, deeds, mortgages and other important legal/financial documents, and (2) prevent the ruinous litigation which often results under such circumstances.

I began the original document with an introduction to the 3-minute video that ABC News broadcast and currently presents online (see FN: 3) as part of the full report which appears online (see FN: 4). Those who have watched this video and read the full report appreciate the following:

(1) the video was recorded in a hospital by the attorney who appears in the video;
(2) this attorney was disbarred and indicted for the actions he recorded in this video, in which he takes advantage of an 88-year old widow’s infirmity to obtain from her a Will and Power of Attorney;
(3) this video and report exemplify the lack of protection provided under such circumstances by our current laws and legislation, including the Elder Justice Act, the Elder Abuse Victims Act, the Older Americans Act, the Americans With Disabilities Act, state APS laws, and state guardianship laws.

I also discussed in the original document the 5-step forensic interview protocol for preventing such abuse which I advocate. This protocol is based upon recommendations of the American Medical Association and others. I identify and link many of my sources on pages 9 and 10 of the document (see FN:5).

The changes to the original document are discussed on the document’s first page. One of the changes is the addition of proposed legislation which I was encouraged to draft after the forum by the board of directors for the Ohio Association of Senior Centers. Another change is the CFPB’s redaction of some of the material. Exactly what the CFPB redacted can be easily determined by comparing pages 3 and 5 of the CFPB’s redacted version to the same pages of the unredacted version which I post online (see FN:6).

I am now waiting for the CFPB and others to answer the drafting questions which the Ohio Legislative Service Commission (LSC) has posed in its analysis of the proposed legislation.

~Tom Fields

Footnotes:
1. Agenda
2. Document
3. ABC 3 Minute Video
4. ABC Full Report: Mary Ellen’s Mansion
5. Unredacted Version

OH: Warren Lawyer is Suspended for 18 Months

The Ohio Supreme Court on Thursday suspended the law license of Warren attorney John H. Large for two years, with the final six months of that term stayed on certain conditions.

The court announced on its website the suspension was for professional misconduct in his dealings with three different clients and for making misrepresentations of fact in seeking reinstatement from a prior disciplinary suspension.

In a 7-0 opinion, the court adopted January findings by the Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline that after accepting fee advances from three clients, Large improperly deposited those unearned funds into his law office checking account rather than into a client trust account as required by state disciplinary rules.

The board forwarded to the Supreme Court seven aggravating factors against Large, including his prior one-year suspension for failing to pay income taxes and report employee wages in 2009 and testimony that the board said lacked truthfulness during his hearing. The previous one-year suspension followed a federal court case in which Large was found guilty of failing to pay the taxes from 2000 to 2004. He was sentenced to four years probation, six months in a halfway house, six months house arrest and ordered to pay $88,000 in restitution.

The board cited selfish motives when Large filed a divorce action for a woman in Lake County after she had fired him and after he received a $2,000 retainer. Large attempted to continue the relationship despite the client’s desire to terminate, according to a report.

Full Article and Source:
Warren Lawyer is Suspended for 18 Months

Partisan Judicial Elections and the Distorting Influence of Campaign Cash

Today the Center for American Progress released “Partisan Judicial Elections and the Distorting Influence of Campaign Cash,” showing that the eight states that still elect or nominate judicial candidates in partisan races—Alabama, Illinois, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Texas, West Virginia, Ohio, and Michigan—all rank among the top 10 in total judicial campaign contributions. As the amount of money has increased, these states have seen more divisiveness and partisanship reflected in the justices’ votes. The problem could be spreading, as state parties are now intervening at an unprecedented level in judicial races in two states—Montana and Florida—that have nonpartisan elections.

“As voters across the country go to the polls and are asked to vote for judges just like any other political candidate for president or the legislature, you have to stop and think about how it’s possible that judges can be impartial and fair to everyone if they are elected in partisan elections and funded by special interests,” said Andrew Blotky, Director of CAP’s Legal Progress Program.

Source:

Partisan Judicial Elections and the Distorting Influence of Campaign Cash

Download the report

Judges’ battle called ‘chaos’

Although Hamilton County’s Juvenile Court already has an administrator, Judge Tracie Hunter wants a second one – who would report directly to her.

And it will cost taxpayers an additional $106,900 per year.

After being rebuffed, Hunter filed a court order on Tuesday afternoon requiring county officials to make the hire.

Ignoring such an order could lead to a contempt action and possible jail time for county officials.
Hunter’s court order comes as juvenile court is $300,000 over budget this year. And like all county offices, it’s facing cuts next year. County officials want to cut $2.8 million from the court’s $18.5 million budget.

It also comes as Democrat Hunter and Republican John Williams, the other Juvenile Court judge, have battled for two years, first for a judgeship and now for control of the court.

Hunter accused the current Juvenile Court administrator, Curt Kissinger, of insubordination and reprimanded him prior to picking attorney Wende Cross to serve as her court administrator.

“I did it so that it will be carried out. Thus far it hasn’t been,” Hunter said of her order.

Full Article and Source:
Judges’ battle called ‘chaos’

Nursing home worker indicted on gross sexual imposition charges

CINCINNATI, OH (FOX19)- A former nursing home worker has been indicted on two counts of gross sexual imposition.

Police charged Cassimer Brian, 27, with sexual assaults on two people who were mentally or physically unable to consent or resist in a nursing home in Lebanon. The nursing home and authorities investigated the offense after another employee said they witnessed inappropriate behavior.

Full Article and Source:
Nursing home worker indicted on gross sexual imposition charges