Category: Government

The governing body of a nation, state, or community.

When a Family Matter Turns Into a Business

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By Robin Fields, Evelyn Larrubia and Jack Leonard Nov. 13, 2005 12 AM PT Times Staff Writers Helen Jones sits in a wheelchair, surrounded by strangers who control her life. She is not allowed to answer the telephone. Her mail is screened. She cannot spend her own money. A child of the Depression, Jones, 87, worked hard for decades, driving rivets into World War II fighter planes, making neckties, threading bristles into nail-polish brushes. She saved obsessively, putting away $560,000 for her old age. Her life changed three years ago, when a woman named Melodie Scott told a court in San Bernardino that Jones was unable to manage for herself. Without asking Jones, a judge made Scott — someone she had never met — her legal guardian. Scott is a professional conservator. It was her responsibility to protect Jones and conserve her nest egg. So far, Scott has spent at least $200,000 of it. The money has gone to pay Scott’s fees, fill Jones’ house with new appliances she did not want and hire attendants to supervise her around the clock, among other expenses. Once Jones grasped what was happening, she found a lawyer and tried, unsuccessfully, to end Scott’s hold on her. “I don’t want to be a burden to anyone,” she told a judge, almost apologetically. “I just wanted to be on my own.” Jones’ world has narrowed. She used to call Dial-A-Ride and go to the market, or sit in her driveway chatting with neighbors. Now she spends her days watching television in her living room in Yucaipa, amid pots of yellow plastic flowers and lamps with no shades. The caretakers rarely take her from her house, except to see the free movie each Friday at the… Read More

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9th Circuit Finds Judge’s Comments About Perceived Disability of Disney Heir ‘Troubling’ but Protected by Judicial Immunity

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9th Circuit Finds Judge’s Comments About Perceived Disability of Disney Heir ‘Troubling’ but Protected by Judicial Immunity In a lawsuit against Los Angeles County Superior Court, the Ninth Circuit found that a judge’s comment about his reluctance to allow Walt Disney’s grandson to collect a multimillion-dollar inheritance because of a genetic disorder might be inaccurate and inappropriate but it is still protected under judicial immunity. A federal appellate court ruled judicial immunity protects a state court judge who said he was reluctant to hand over a multimillion-dollar fortune to Walt Disney’s grandson because he could have Down syndrome. The ruling comes as probate courts face national scrutiny amid Britney Spears’ legal battle to appoint her own attorney and end her 13-year conservatorship. According to an opinion Thursday from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Disney heir Bradford Lund “has languished in perhaps the Unhappiest Place on Earth: probate court.” Trustees have withheld Lund’s inheritance distributions under a provision in the trust agreement that allowed them to hold back the funds if Lund lacks maturity or financial acumen. Lund sued Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge David Cowan, as well as the state court, after Cowan said during a settlement hearing, “Do I want to give 200 million dollars, effectively, to someone who may suffer, on some level, from Down syndrome? The answer is no.” The judge then rejected the proposed settlement and appointed a guardian ad litem over Lund without a hearing, according to Thursday’s opinion. Cowan also issued an order striking a statement from Lund that objected to the judge and sought his disqualification. Lund argued the appointment of the guardian without notice or a hearing violated his due process rights and that Cowan’s comment violated… Read More

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