House GOP members demand Democrats hold hearing on conservatorships, cite Britney Spears case

March 9, 2021

The letter reads:

"The House Committee on the Judiciary is charged with safeguarding the rights afforded to Americans by the U.S. Constitution. These rights include having the free will to guide one’s own affairs and the legal autonomy over one's own finances. When situations suggest the unjust deprivation of those rights by the government, we have an obligation to conduct oversight and explore potential remedies.

"In recent years, there has been growing public concern about the use of conservatorships to effectively deprive individuals of personal freedoms at the behest of others through the manipulation of the courts.1 A project funded by the U.S. Department of Justice to examine conservator exploitation found that 'financial exploitation by conservators often goes unchecked by courts' and there is a 'dire need for guardianship/conservatorship reform.'

"Moreover, the American Civil Liberties Union recently voiced that 'conservatorships should be viewed with skepticism and used as a last resort' but that in 'most cases, it's done routinely and without substantive engagement.' The ACLU is concerned that individuals are being 'stripped of virtually all of their civil rights through guardianships and conservatorships' and has called for the exploration of reforms to ensure that unnecessary conservatorships can be terminated so these individuals may 'direct their own lives.' The most striking example is perhaps the case of multi-platinum performing artist Britney Spears.

"Since 2008, Ms. Spears has been under a court-ordered conservatorship. The facts and circumstances giving rise to this arrangement remain in dispute but involve questionable motives and legal tactics by her father and now-conservator, Jamie Spears.

"In court appearances in August and November of 2020, Ms. Spears' attorney represented to the court that that Ms. Spears 'strongly opposed' having her father as a conservator, that she was afraid of her father, and that she would not again perform publicly so long as this arrangement persisted.8 Despite these pleas, Mr. Spears remains a conservator of her estate.9 Despite Mr. Spears's claiming to want nothing more than to see Ms. Spears 'not need a conservatorship,' his attorney admitted in a recent documentary, 'Of the cases I’ve been involved in, I have not seen a conservatee who has successfully terminated a conservatorship.'

"Ms. Spears is not alone. There are countless other Americans unjustly stripped of their freedoms by others with little recourse. For example, Long Island resident Daniel Gross was forced against his will into a conservatorship after being hospitalized with cellulitis while visiting his daughter in Connecticut. 11 In what the judge labeled as 'a terrible miscarriage of justice,' Mr. Gross was locked in a Connecticut nursing home for 10 months despite his pleas for release.

"Given the constitutional freedoms at stake and opaqueness of these arrangements, it is incumbent upon our Committee to convene a hearing to examine whether Americans are trapped unjustly in conservatorships.

"We look forward to hearing from you on this important issue."

Britney Spears has been the focus of a #FreeBritney, where fans have advocated for her to be permitted to control her own assets, without strict oversight from her father. She is a mother to teen sons, and has been trying to work through the court system to regain control of her own money. Her father has fought her every step of the way.

She recently won a court battle, the result of which is that an additional entity must be consulted by her father as regards her funds. Britney's ultimate goal is to have the conservatorship 100 percent managed by a third party, as she has stated that she is afraid of her father, and does not get along with him.

"There's no intent or desire to create unequal power or decision-making as between the two, your honor," commented Vivian Thoreen, James Spears's attorney. "This is a way to make it consistent and to not take away powers that Mr. Spears as a conservator had."

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