DC Appellate Court Strikes 1892 Case Law on Contracts with Mentally Ill

Replacing precedent dating back to 1892, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals ruled [5/2/13] that contracts entered into with mentally incapacitated individuals will no longer be considered automatically void.

Under the new standard, those contracts will be voidable, as opposed to inherently void. According to the ruling, a contract will be binding unless the incapacitated person or someone approved to act on his or her behalf takes steps to cancel it. If an incapacitated person or the representative does want to cancel a contract, they can only do so if it would be fair to the parties involved.

Judge Anna Blackburne-Rigsby, writing for the court, said the new standard, which is used in the majority of jurisdictions in the United States, “better comports with modern contract law and modern understandings of mental illness.”

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Court Strikes 1892 Case Law on Contracts with Mentally Ill

Linda Kincaid Reports: Guardianship in DC is all about the money

Ninety-one year old Jenny Horace is the face of “guardianship” in Washington, DC. Jenny is not allowed to see her daughter. She is held prisoner in her own home. Her refrigerator is kept locked, and she is only allowed to eat at the convenience of her “guardian.”. Jenny’s daughter Laura Francois-Eugene contributed the following comments.

It’s all about the money!

My 91-year-old mother, Jenny Horace, has been in decline for the past few years. Hence, my daily habit of visiting her home in Washington, DC after I get off work at 4:30 p.m. I often put in 10- or 12-hour days as a Program Manager for the federal government, and wouldn’t mind going straight home at the end of my shift. But I like to check-in on my mother first, and make sure she has enough food on hand, and tend to anything else she may need.

Usually these visits are a matter of routine. I have a key to the front door, let myself in and typically find her in the kitchen eating a light dinner she’s prepared, or snoozing in the glare of her living room TV set, or perhaps even in bed.

But the evening of Thursday, April 26, 2012 was different. Significantly, upsettingly different.

I arrived shortly after dusk at 6 p.m., parked on the street in front of my mother’s home, strode up the short walkway to the front door and slipped my key into the lock. But the door did not open.

Strange. It opened just fine exactly 24 hours earlier at the time of my prior visit. But it failed to open on this occasion because between then and now, a court-appointed conservator – a person my mother had never met nor approved, yet who’d been given complete legal power, authority and control over my mother’s life, medical care and financial assets – had the locks changed on the home in an attempt to bar my mom from seeing me.

The conservator’s name is Christina Forbes, a local D.C. attorney.

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Guardianship in DC is all about the money

DOJ, D.C. Bar Counsel at Odds in Ethics Case Against Ex-Prosecutor

A clash between the U.S. Justice Department and the D.C. Office of Bar Counsel over a former federal prosecutor’s alleged ethics transgression is playing out in front of a Washington attorney ethics board.

Andrew Kline, a former assistant U.S. attorney in Washington, is challenging an ethics committee’s conclusion in March that he didn’t play by the rules in a shooting case when he kept certain information to himself that the victim had earlier provided to police.

The Justice Department is backing Kline in the dispute, pending before the D.C. Court of Appeals Board on Professional Responsibility. DOJ lawyers argue that the hearing committee too broadly interpreted a prosecution conduct rule, opening the door for ethics cases and “unwarranted sanctions” against prosecutors. Kline is no longer in government service.

The D.C. Office of Bar Counsel this month filed a response to Kline and DOJ, which submitted an amicus brief in the case supporting the former assistant U.S. attorney. You can read bar counsel’s brief here and the DOJ brief here.

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DOJ, D.C. Bar Counsel at Odds in Ethics Case Against Ex-Prosecutor

Remembering our Isolated Mothers on World Elder Abuse Awareness Day

A number of moms spent Mother’s Day unlawfully imprisoned and isolated from loved ones. Those moms are victims of abusive conservators and guardians.

Jean Swope at Wildwood Canyon Villa in Yucaipa, CA
The court appointed Swope’s step-granddaughter as conservator, after the step-granddaughter abducted Swope and made false accusations against Swope’s immediate family who were caring for her. According to court records, the step-granddaughter unlawfully imprisoned and isolated Swope from loved ones for fifteen months. Swope was not allowed visitors on her 75th birthday, Christmas 2010, or Mother’s Day 2011. A court order now requires Wildwood Canyon Villa and the step-granddaughter to allow visitation.

Gisela Riordan at Villa Fontana in in San Jose, CA
The court appointed the Santa Clara County Public Guardian as Riordan’s conservator, although Riordan has a son who wishes to provide care. According to Riordan’s family, the Public Guardian unlawfully imprisoned and isolated Riordan from loved ones for over two years. Riordan was not allowed to see her family for Christmas 2011. She was allowed a one-hour supervised, paid visit with her son Marcus on Mother’s Day 2012. Riordan had lost about a third of her body weight. Her dentures are missing; she needs glasses and a hearing aid.

Jennie Horace in Washington, D.C.
The court appointed a private guardian for Horace, although Horace has a daughter who wishes to provide care. According to Horace’s family, the private guardian unlawfully imprisoned and isolated Horace from loved ones to varying degrees for two years. Horace was not allowed to see her daughter, Lisa Charles, on Mother’s Day 2012. Horace is held prisoner in her own home. Doors are locked to prevent her escape. The refrigerator is locked to prevent her eating when she wishes.

Retta Rickrow at Villas at Belleair in Clearwater, FL
The court appointed a professional guardian for Rickrow, although she has a daughter who wishes to provide care. According to Rickrow’s family, the professional guardian unlawfully imprisoned and isolated Rickrow from loved ones for two years. Just recently, Rickrow has been allowed limited, supervised, paid visitation on Sundays only. Rickrow’s 82nd birthday is June 6. She will not be allowed visitors for her birthday.

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Mother’s Day Elder Abuse

DC Council Ignores Neglect, Exploitation of Seniors

On June 22, the Elder Abuse Prevention Committee of the DC Office on Aging will host a seminar at Catholic University on “The Financial Exploitation of Our Elder and Vulnerable Populations.” Since the elderly and disabled are prime targets for scam artists and criminals, it’s critical to raise public awareness of this growing problem.

Some of the worst exploitation of vulnerable D.C. residents, many of them elderly African American women, is being perpetrated by D.C. Superior Probate Court judges and professional vultures in the legal system, who exploit seniors using the very system meant to protect them.

At a March 7 hearing before the District Council’s Committee on Human Services, Carolyn Nicholas, president of Advocates for Elder Justice and daughter of the late Council member Hilda Mason, testified that even her well-known mother and multi-millionaire stepfather were victims of neglect and financial exploitation by their court-approved conservators.

Adult Protective Services “continues to refuse to protect people who reportedly are being neglected, abused and/or financially exploited … by court-appointed guardians and conservators,” Nicholas testified. For example, three different attorneys charged Helen Caraway, a retired DC Public Schools food service worker, $250 an hour to “protect” her while the conservator pilfered $19,700 from her meager retirement savings.

APS recently refused to respond to calls from the police regarding the reported abuse of a French citizen living in D.C. Her daughter, a federal law enforcement officer, told The Examiner that she was prevented from seeing her own mother on her 91st birthday last Sunday. Meanwhile, the court-appointed conservator continues to bill her mother for “services” — which apparently don’t include repairing her long-broken dentures.

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DC Council Ignores Neglect, Exploitation of Seniors

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day – June 15

The National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA)—a component of the United States Administration on Aging—recently announced more information about the seventh annual “World Elder Abuse Awareness Day.” This year the event is marked for June 15th. That means that there is still time to learn more about the awareness occasion and to make plans to participate in some way. All of us have elder loved ones, and, hopefully, we will all reach our golden year ourselves. In that way, everyone has some stake in these issues and should work in whatever way they can to ensure that the quality of life of local seniors is considered.

The NCEA explains that the purpose of the event is to get “individuals, families, community groups, organizations, and businesses to ‘Take A Stand’ by participating in elder abuse awareness and prevention efforts.”

The White House is even getting in on the effort this year. On June 14th the White House will host a symposium as part of the education effort to share information on elder abuse and exploitation. The event is open to all those who wish to participate. The first half of the event will focus on prevention efforts. The second half will target the ways to respond to elder abuse to ensure the problem is stopped and the victims are given support. Those not in Washington D.C. can watch the event live and even pose questions to panelists via Facebook and Twitter.

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Preparations Underway for World Elder Abuse Awareness Day

Senators Press for Solution to Painkiller, Antipsychotic Abuses

Fearing an “epidemic” of death and defects from the illegal use and improper prescribing of painkilling and antipsychotic drugs, senators Thursday pressed a panel of doctors and health-care officials about how to stop the problem.

“It is tragic, it is sad, it is needless, it is fraudulent, it is horrible,” said Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D.,W.Va), chairman of the Finance subcommittee on health. “And it is costing so much money that could be spent elsewhere.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention used the term epidemic in the fall in reporting that deaths from overdoses of painkillers had more than tripled in the last decade and surpassed heroin and cocaine deaths combined. State and federal authorities have tried to arrest those running so-called pill mills, at which painkillers are sold illegally.

Source:
Senators Press for Solution to Painkiller, Antipsychotic Abuses

DC Class Action Nursing Home Lawsuit to Go Forward

The District has lost an effort to have a federal judge throw out a class-action suit brought on behalf of nearly 3,000 nursing home residents.

Judge Ellen Huvelle on Tuesday rejected the city’s contention that it has complied with the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) by providing services to nursing home residents who want to live in the community. The ADA requires states and local governments to provide services to people with disabilities in the most integrated setting possible.

Huvelle ruled that the District’s claims fell short of those requirements on several fronts, including that the city has no meaningful plan to integrate nursing-home residents into community settings.

The case, Day v. the District of Columbia, was brought by University Legal Services, AARP Foundation Litigation and Arent Fox LLP.

Source:
DC Class Action Nursing-Home Lawsuit to Go Forward

Judge Ignores College Park Woman’s Final Wishes

When Barbara Carey moved back to College Park to care for her 88-year-old mother last March, she was well aware that Helen Carey did not want to spend her final days in a nursing home.

Court records confirm that in 2006, Helen Carey had signed a living will and durable powers of attorney specifying that she remain in her home — under her daughter’s care — until her death, with a family trust covering any necessary nursing or housekeeping expenses.

After examining Helen Carey on May 18, 2011, Dr. Peter Rabins, professor of psychiatry and behavior sciences at Johns Hopkins, stated in a report to the Prince George’s County Circuit Court that she was “an alert elderly woman … with no evidence of depression. She can remain in her home if the resources are available.”

Less than a week later, however, Judge Sherrie Krauser ignored her own medical expert and ordered Helen Carey transferred from the Lanham hospital where she had gone for observation after suffering chest pains to an Adelphi nursing home.

Attorney Jeanne Aelion, a temporary guardian appointed by Krauser, allowed her daughter only a one-hour supervised visit per week.

In a July 1, 2011, email, Helen Carey’s court-appointed attorney, W. David Allen, told Barbara Carey: “I am informed that after consulting with Dr. Peter Rabins, Helen Carey is being given Zoloft, an antidepressant. I believe this is prescribed to address her apathy.” Another email, dated Aug. 1, stated that Dr. Rabins “agreed with the use of Zoloft.”

But Barbara Carey, a physical therapist in Fairfax, knew that Zoloft (sertraline) was contraindicated for the treatment of depression in Alzheimer’s patients because Dr. Rabins himself had co-authored several articles making this very point.

She also knew her mother did not tolerate Zoloft, and that her thyroid problem mimicked symptoms of depression. On Aug. 31, she asked the court to order a second medical opinion. Her petition was denied.

Barbara Carey told The Washington Examiner that after being prevented from seeing her mother at all for two weeks, she was shocked at her condition on Sept. 15. “She was clearly still on medication. Her heart was racing. She could hardly walk.”

According to court documents obtained by The Washington Examiner, a tense standoff between the daughter and the guardian occurred that day: “My mother is in medical distress. Her pulse was over 200. The guardian was right there. I told her, ‘She is in tachycardia. She needs medical help.’ “

Five days later, while Barbara Carey was still desperately trying to get the governor’s office and the Maryland Department of Aging to intervene, Helen Carey died of cardiac arrest.

Despite Allen’s emails and Barbara Carey’s own observations, a subsequent investigation by the department found no record that Helen Carey had ever been taking any psychotropic drugs. Both Dr. Rabins and attorney Allen refused to comment when asked to explain this apparent discrepancy.

“If the investigation is correct,” Barbara Carey told The Washington Examiner, “it indicates either an error or altered records.” Medication errors should be of interest to state regulators, and altering medical records is a crime, but the state of Maryland apparently isn’t interested either way.

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Judge Ignores College Park Woman’s Final Wishes

Nearly 2 Years After Devastating Head Injury, Snowboarder is Back

Instead of riding for Kevin, snowboarders can ride with Kevin again. Kevin Pearce’s remarkable recovery will reach a major milestone next week when he gets back on snow for the first time in the two years since his life-threatening accident on the halfpipe.

“I’m kind of trippin’ that we’re finally here,” Pearce said Thursday. Pearce suffered a traumatic brain injury in an accident during practice Dec. 31, 2009, that left him in a coma. His plight spawned the slogan “I Ride 4 Kevin,” and ever since the accident, those stickers and patches have been plastered across snowboards and jackets on slopes across America.

Source:
Terri Schiavo Life and Hope Network