Subject: A Thanksgiving letter to victims of guardianship
Date: Thu, 27 Nov 2014 09:56:56 -0500
Dear Friends,
I want to take this opportunity to sincerely wish everyone a blessed Thanksgiving holiday. Though it is often difficult for us to remember, we all have things to be thankful for despite our losses and tribulations.
This may be a good moment to review the last two years of experience in our group.
I have learned that we live in troubled times. Our country, our laws, our officials have become dysfunctional and routinely fail us. Abuses of all sorts afflict our nation's citizens. Injustice is widespread and intransigent. But few governmental abuses are as egregious as the guardianship racket which hijacks civil rights of innocents and destroys families with greed driven and ferocious efficiency.
For the last two years I have immersed myself in the issues and crimes that have resulted in so much pain and suffering for members of this group including myself and my wonderful wife. I have been trying to gain a deep level of understanding about the intricacies of the guardianship system and in so doing, find a methodology and pathway through any means possible to change the horrendous situation on the ground. During that time, we have also been dealing with our own recurring legal nightmare depositions, lawsuits and extremely questionable court orders in probate court, as well as the outrageous fees, costs and legal abuse we all have endured.
I have read countless e-mails, hundreds of suggestions, sat with legislators, bar Presidents,states attorney, attorney general representatives, inspectors general and a number of highly respected attorneys intimately familiar with the workings of guardianship as we know it in Florida, and in particular in Southeast Florida. We have complained and documented abuses to every agency of state, local and federal authority that we could think of. Most recently we have managed to interest the American Civil Liberties Union in San Francisco into becoming involved in our situation.
Many of the officials I spoke with professed surprise (like a number of legislators did) that something so incredibly wrong and illegal like this was going on, but that surprise strains credulity. It is obvious that almost every person I spoke to knows that the system is broken and that large-scale abuses are occurring at a regular pace, but have no power, authority, interest or motivation to effect change. Still others were able to untangle the guardianship puzzle for me, but only up to a certain point and never with any real plan as to how to change it. Many promises were made to our group and very few were kept. The promise made to us last year the legislature to include us in the creation of reform legislation was unfortunately not fulfilled despite repeated reminders and requests for same. Instead, House Bill 5 has been introduced into this coming year's legislative session after having been created solely in consultation with the very lawyers who profit most from abusive guardianship and without any meaningful input from this victims advocacy group. That may be the biggest disappointment of all. But it does point out how we should not be deluded into thinking that any real reform legislation in Florida is even remotely possible at this time.
I learned that there are agencies involved in guardianship that none of us had ever even heard of. Yet, despite all these agencies I have yet to discover what methodology might be in place to make a formal complaint against the Guardian. There doesn't seem to be one with any motivation authority or interest In challenging the status quo.
I learned other things as well. Our very young group has been labeled as the crazies by the Elder Law section and the RP PTL section of the Florida bar. I would assume that this has something to do with certain behaviors demonstrated in Tallahassee. I learned that the legislation we proposed last year was described as"naive and overreaching" for a group that had absolutely no credibility or history, and more importantly no support in the legislature of consequence. Like MADD, if we are ever to accomplish anything legislatively, it will take many years. I was surprised to learn that I have been labeled a lightning rod (whatever that means) and an extremist, both publicly and privately. The perpetrators of guardianship abuse crimes are politically connected an extremely powerful and will stop at nothing to destroy anything or anyone who dares to expose their nefarious deeds
As expected, I learned that individual judges and court rooms across the state make the rules up as they go along. What happens in one County can be completely the opposite of what happens in another. For example, it appears that only in Miami-Dade County are probate records kept secret, and the only reason that happens is because the chief judge decided that's what she wants to do. That does not appear to be the case in any other county and state. Your stories have made it obvious that activities in probate court are frequently carried on with utter disregard for probate rules and even the very statutes that are supposed to protect rather than abuse families.
I was informed that the so-called wheel which the probate court is supposed to used to randomly select guardianship companies no longer exists. The mechanism by which the Guardian is appointed to a case appears to be completely at the pleasure of the probate judge. This might explain why certain guardians get more cases than others. The potential for corruption in such a system is unlimited.
While the actions of the predatory guardians and their lawyers are the most visible part of this racket, none of this abusive racket would be even remotely possible without the complicity of probate court judges around the state. Ultimately it is the judges and our broken Judicial system that has rained down such abuse and exploitation. Demanding change from the judicial system or even requesting accountability for the actions of Probate court judges to the Florida bar or the judicial qualifications committee is, I sadly conclude, impossible. Although I have met some good people in leadership positions at Florida Bar, the system exists to protect itself and shield its members and especially Judges from any attempts to hold them responsible for their actions.
To my disappointment I have also concluded that any lawsuits or legislation, including ADA lawsuits that we might undertake will not be effective in addressing the crimes of this well oiled highly political racket. To no one's surprise they are immediately thrown out of every court in which they have been presented.
To that end, I have directed efforts toward engaging state and federal agencies to fulfill their obligations to the public to investigate and ultimately indict members of this racket. Despite some small indications that actions might be forthcoming, results of this effort are yet to be determined.
This struggle is very taxing and lonely. Unfortunately great numbers of victims have given up hope, lost loved ones, been bankrupted, became ill, or simply no longer have the strength to be involved in this struggle. Despite the poignancy of our stories, the righteousness of our demands for justice, our tiny group has not been able to generate enough media interest or donor support to mount an effective campaign with the public or any other agency. And realistically our adversaries have unlimited political clout, enormous stores of money and influence and are highly motivated to protect their industry.
Going forward, we will only be able to facilitate redress with larger numbers in our group who are willing to dedicate their time and effort, their sworn affidavits, ACLU Questionnaires and whatever money they can into a social movement that that cannot be ignored. We must discover ways to use social media, the press, electronic media and word of mouth to tell our stories and make sure they are listened to and understood. In a word we need everyone who reads this to reach out to everyone they know with our message and our demand for redress. Anyone reading this message needs to be part of the solution and to help in any way possible.
I welcome and encourage you to reply to this message and in the spirit of the day I want to thank each and everyone of you for trying in your own way to make the world a better place.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for commenting.
Your comment will be held for approval by the blog owner.