Railing against injustice, one case at a time
Ordinary citizens who rail against injustices they see in the U.S. guardianship system can come across as a little unhinged.
They send emails bristling with capital letters and exclamation points. They compose blogs that read like vendettas against specific attorneys. They obsess over small details, but omit from their narratives the major complications that might explain why things went against them in court.
They call journalists — who often abandon efforts to check out their stories because of the time involved. These cases are convoluted, and much vital information is sealed from the public eye.
They form their own, usually underfunded, organizations: National Association to STOP Guardian Abuse. Boomers Against Elder Abuse. Temple Gate: Challenging the Guardianship Industry. Attorneys and other professionals in the system tend to roll their eyes when they hear these names.
Sam Sugar, an Aventura physician who founded Americans Against Abusive Probate Guardianship, says he knows why people trying to tell their stories are so often seen as suspect.
“They have been so maimed and damaged by this David-and-Goliath battle,” he says. “It’s a form of post-traumatic stress disorder.”
Elder law reform advocates on a national level take many of the critics’ points seriously. But because guardianship procedures vary from state to state, and county to county, they must struggle to make themselves heard on a case-by-case basis.
AbridgedSOURCE: The HeraldTribune Extra
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