Corrupticourts- Suing for false imprisonment (Probate, Courant)
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Kathleen
Oct 25, 2011, 6:57:09 AM10/25/11
to corrupticourts
http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/rick-green/hc-green-supremecourt-1025-20111024,0,6426915.column
I wanted to shout out, sitting in the dignified, ornate chambers of
the state Supreme Court Monday morning, as a string of lawyers debated
what should be a basic right.
If somebody you have hired absolutely ruins your life — shouldn't you
be able to sue them?
And yet, the Supreme Court is being asked to grant immunity to lawyers
and conservators appointed by the probate court, no matter what
devastation they create.
The court Monday began considering this fundamental question because
of the abuse that Daniel Gross, an elderly New York man, suffered
during 2005 and 2006 at the hands of a Waterbury probate court after
he became sick while visiting his daughter.
[Sample Our Free Breaking News Alert And 3 P.M. News Newsletters]
The long-running Gross case has become a battleground for probate
court, Connecticut's separate judicial system that handles wills,
estates, adoptions, name changes — but also very delicate and
controversial questions such as whether an elderly or sick person can
live independently.
After he was hospitalized and his children fought over his care, Gross
was conserved by probate court in Waterbury, which meant all his
rights were taken away. A lawyer, Jonathan Newman, was appointed to
advocate for him. A conservator, Kathleen Donovan, was appointed to
represent him.
Newman failed to object to the conservatorship, despite knowing Gross'
opposition. Donovan made sure Gross was placed in a locked ward of a
local nursing home for 10 months.
Remember that for these two people representing Gross wasn't some act
of mercy. They were hired and charged the old man for their work — the
same way other lawyers and conservators do when they are appointed by
a probate judge. That's how the system works, for better or worse.
Donovan and Newman (supported by the state's probate judges, by the
way) are looking for special treatment for the lawyers and
conservators who make a living off the courts. We all know that if a
physician seriously injures a patient, that person can sue. Yet in
this case, the Supreme Court is being asked to protect the people who
are appointed to work for the elderly and frail — even if they royally
screw up.
Gross finally got out of his imprisonment in 2006 when a Superior
Court judge ruled that probate court had no jurisdiction over the 86-
year-old New York man.
Before his death in 2007, Gross and his daughter sued and the U.S. 2nd
Circuit Court of Appeals, while agreeing that Waterbury Probate Judge
Thomas Brunnock deserves immunity, referred a key question to the
Connecticut Supreme Court: Should lawyers and conservators also be
granted immunity from lawsuits?
"What you are really suggesting is immunity from malpractice,''
Justice Ian McClachlan said at one point to an attorney for Gross's
court-appointed lawyer during Monday's arguments.
Unbelievably, that's precisely what lawyers for Newman and Donovan
want.
A lawyer for Gross, Sally Zanger, reminded the justices that "people
lose their freedom" when a conservator is appointed. "We really need
to be concerned about frail and elderly people who are conserved,''
Zanger said.
Richard Roberts, a lawyer for Donovan, argued that a conservator "is
but an agent of the court,'' merely carrying out the court's wishes.
"You shouldn't have to look over your shoulder when you are making
these judgment calls."
These judgment calls left Gross, a man who lived independently in his
own home on Long Island, locked in a Waterbury nursing home for nearly
a year.
These judgment calls meant that even when Gross fled home to New York
at one point, his conservator pulled him out of a Long Island hospital
and brought him back to Connecticut.
These judgment calls can destroy someone's life.
Attorneys for Donovan and Newman say it will be nearly impossible to
find people willing to become court-appointed conservators or lawyers
if people are allowed to sue. This is doubtful, since lawyers, like
physicians, have malpractice insurance. Among the thousands of
conservators who are appointed every year in Connecticut, only a
relative handful end up in lawsuits.
"We are not talking about the system grinding to a halt if is
conservators are not immune,'' Zanger told the justices Monday.
The real issue is fairness and whether old folks and sick people
deserve the right to fight back when they are abused by people who are
making money off them.
I wanted to shout out, sitting in the dignified, ornate chambers of
the state Supreme Court Monday morning, as a string of lawyers debated
what should be a basic right.
If somebody you have hired absolutely ruins your life — shouldn't you
be able to sue them?
And yet, the Supreme Court is being asked to grant immunity to lawyers
and conservators appointed by the probate court, no matter what
devastation they create.
The court Monday began considering this fundamental question because
of the abuse that Daniel Gross, an elderly New York man, suffered
during 2005 and 2006 at the hands of a Waterbury probate court after
he became sick while visiting his daughter.
[Sample Our Free Breaking News Alert And 3 P.M. News Newsletters]
The long-running Gross case has become a battleground for probate
court, Connecticut's separate judicial system that handles wills,
estates, adoptions, name changes — but also very delicate and
controversial questions such as whether an elderly or sick person can
live independently.
After he was hospitalized and his children fought over his care, Gross
was conserved by probate court in Waterbury, which meant all his
rights were taken away. A lawyer, Jonathan Newman, was appointed to
advocate for him. A conservator, Kathleen Donovan, was appointed to
represent him.
Newman failed to object to the conservatorship, despite knowing Gross'
opposition. Donovan made sure Gross was placed in a locked ward of a
local nursing home for 10 months.
Remember that for these two people representing Gross wasn't some act
of mercy. They were hired and charged the old man for their work — the
same way other lawyers and conservators do when they are appointed by
a probate judge. That's how the system works, for better or worse.
Donovan and Newman (supported by the state's probate judges, by the
way) are looking for special treatment for the lawyers and
conservators who make a living off the courts. We all know that if a
physician seriously injures a patient, that person can sue. Yet in
this case, the Supreme Court is being asked to protect the people who
are appointed to work for the elderly and frail — even if they royally
screw up.
Gross finally got out of his imprisonment in 2006 when a Superior
Court judge ruled that probate court had no jurisdiction over the 86-
year-old New York man.
Before his death in 2007, Gross and his daughter sued and the U.S. 2nd
Circuit Court of Appeals, while agreeing that Waterbury Probate Judge
Thomas Brunnock deserves immunity, referred a key question to the
Connecticut Supreme Court: Should lawyers and conservators also be
granted immunity from lawsuits?
"What you are really suggesting is immunity from malpractice,''
Justice Ian McClachlan said at one point to an attorney for Gross's
court-appointed lawyer during Monday's arguments.
Unbelievably, that's precisely what lawyers for Newman and Donovan
want.
A lawyer for Gross, Sally Zanger, reminded the justices that "people
lose their freedom" when a conservator is appointed. "We really need
to be concerned about frail and elderly people who are conserved,''
Zanger said.
Richard Roberts, a lawyer for Donovan, argued that a conservator "is
but an agent of the court,'' merely carrying out the court's wishes.
"You shouldn't have to look over your shoulder when you are making
these judgment calls."
These judgment calls left Gross, a man who lived independently in his
own home on Long Island, locked in a Waterbury nursing home for nearly
a year.
These judgment calls meant that even when Gross fled home to New York
at one point, his conservator pulled him out of a Long Island hospital
and brought him back to Connecticut.
These judgment calls can destroy someone's life.
Attorneys for Donovan and Newman say it will be nearly impossible to
find people willing to become court-appointed conservators or lawyers
if people are allowed to sue. This is doubtful, since lawyers, like
physicians, have malpractice insurance. Among the thousands of
conservators who are appointed every year in Connecticut, only a
relative handful end up in lawsuits.
"We are not talking about the system grinding to a halt if is
conservators are not immune,'' Zanger told the justices Monday.
The real issue is fairness and whether old folks and sick people
deserve the right to fight back when they are abused by people who are
making money off them.
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