Save Visitor EIN with airSlate SignNow

Save visitor EIN

hello lovely people welcome to my thesis on why the free brittany movement is a disability rights issue and why we really really need to be talking about this seriously and paying attention as a disabled person with some cognitive impairments and a child of the 90s who loved a bit of britney and maybe once was semi-held against my will but we don't really talk about that this issue is very important to me you might not care about her music you might not care about celebrities in general but this situation has much wider implications britney spears's civil rights have been drastically reduced because of her disability and it's heartbreaking since her very public breakdown in 2008 she has been subject to a court approved conservatorship known in other states as a legal guardianship that gives her father authority over her finances and many personal decisions and i realized that a lot of media at the time and some shameful outlets still treat what was clearly a mental health crisis as in some way if it wasn't amusing but it really really isn't she's an anomaly an a-list performer who pulls in millions of dollars a year but does not have control over her life or business affairs yet her situation speaks to the ease of abusing the system intended to help disabled people but in reality easily corrupted by middle-aged men she has denied autonomy over basic human rights such as the freedom to see her children or to vote fans who believe the arrangement is intended not to help but to exploit her have created the hashtag and rallying cry free britney what's the background born december 2nd 1981 britney gene spears is an american singer songwriter dancer and actress she's credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s for which she's referred to as the princess of pop she became a child star at the age of just four working on broadway and then later as a part of the mickey mouse club at the age of 15 she was signed to the record label jifra who impressed with her emotional resonance commercial appeal but especially her drive however her low vocal range was a problem as it was considered too similar to another child star christina aguilera who had also been part of the mickey mouse club and was also about to release her debut album the label set to work with the producer eric foster white for a month who shaped her voice into something higher and more popular and what we think of as papa poppy poppy not what we think of as poppy what we think of as britney it's just poppy whilst britney had originally envisioned her music to be similar to a young cheryl crowe with more of an adult style she did like that going towards pop meant that she could dance which was a passion for her her first two studio albums baby one more time released in 1989 and oops i did it again released in 2000 and yes someone really likes ellipses were global successes and became two of the biggest selling albums of all time along with making her the best-selling teenage artist of all time her second album held a 15-year record for the fastest selling album by a female artist with over 1.3 million copies sold in its first week britney has gone on to become one of the world's best-selling music artists regarded as a pop icon and has sold over 100 million records worldwide she's earned numerous awards and accolades including a grammy award seven guinness world records six mtv video music awards seven billboard music awards including the millennium award the inaugural radio disney icon award and a star in the hollywood walk of fame she's also topped the list of the most searched celebrities seven times in 12 years a record since the inception of the internet she owns the internet and yet despite all of that fame and money the second her mental health was called into question she lost her rights the ironic thing is as the free britney movement points out if we look back at her career it almost feels like she's been telling her she's too controlled all along oh my gosh if you look at the lyrics of some of her biggest hits lucky overprotective my prerogative circus piece of me and gimme more her music videos social media posts tour props and photo shoots regularly show her in a cage or chains which sure could mean a lot of things and it might even not be her decision but even if it's someone else making those selections choosing to frame her in chains or a cage doesn't that just say just as much about those making the choices the breakdown we all remember britney's 2007 breakdown that she shaved her head attacked the paparazzi locked herself in the house with her children spoke with a freight british accent and went shopping naked around this time she was also seen driving with one of her children on her lap and no seatbelts and it's important to note that leading up to that meltdown she was going through a public divorce had two children under the age of two and was being hounded by the paparazzi at a rate that celebrities aren't really today i mean it sounds like it's pretty difficult for anyone regardless of their natural mental stability genuinely watch a video of the paparazzi chasing her down the street and attempting to barge into a public restroom with her as she tearfully begs them to leave her alone and then tell me you wouldn't be shaken they also filmed through the windows of an ambulance while she was naked being taken away from a mental health hold which is dehumanizing to a point that i'm sure those of us who have also been through mental health crises or medical problems can relate to hospital does not make you feel like a person and one day soon because i'm working through my medical trauma i'll explain more about how i know just how much it sucks inside a mental health facility or perhaps you'll just have to read that fiction book i will eventually publish and i'll tell my story through someone else because just speaking vaguely about it right now makes me feel like i'm dying inside so that's great let's move on i think for many people it was alarming to see how vulnerable someone so successful through the sure the lens of money and fame could still be conservatorship in 2008 she was twice committed to a psychiatric cause this is known in california as a 5150 hold after the hold her father jamie spears petitioned the la county superior court for an emergency temporary conservatorship to be put in place until she was mentally stable but the arrangement was made permanent at the end of the year due to her allegedly having early onset dementia in her twenties thus jamie spears was appointed to watch over his daughter's estate and physical well-being meaning he has the power to negotiate business opportunities sell her property and restrict her visitors he can file for restraining orders against those he believes threaten his daughter's stability and tracks much of the minutia of britney's life every purchase she makes must be logged in annual court reports of her spending everything penny sweets i don't know if she buys penny sweets los angeles attorney andrew wallett was brought on as co-conservator to help manage the things financial assets for the last 12 years what is conservatorship you might not have heard of such a thing as conservatorship or guardianship before britney especially if you don't have a close knowledge of disability or mental health issues it's a legal proceeding in which someone usually a family member is chosen by the court to make legal decisions for the person the reasons for this can vary but they're generally used to help people with documented disability who are determined by a judge to be considered too vulnerable to careful or make decisions for themselves this isn't care in a physical sense someone who's quadriplegic might not be able to wash and dress themselves but they likely still have the capacity to make responsible choices they may have a proxy who signs things for them but legally they're not at risk of guardianship i paralyzed both of my arms when i was 17. i say i obviously i didn't do it my weird genetic nerve condition did because i wasn't able to sign official documents or anything at the bank my mother became my co-signer and shared financial control with me spoiler my arms started working again they're just really floppy now that didn't make my mother my guardian according to the state but it certainly was a stepping stone guardianship is most commonly used on young adults with intellectual disabilities and older adults with dementia it isn't clear how many people are under guardianship in the united states because they don't keep a record of that but in a 2013 report the us-based interest group focusing on issues affecting the elderly aar best guess was 1.5 million americans 1.5 million whilst guardianship can certainly be a good thing and it's very important for parents of severely disabled children who turn 18 to continue to be able to care for them the system is ripe for abuse as there are few checks on a guardian's power sam crane the legal and public policy director of the autistic self-advocacy network and a nationally recognized expert on alternatives to guardianship explained to the la times in theory family courts are supposed to oversee guardian's performance and make sure they don't take advantage of people or abuse their power but in practice for many people under guardianship there is little oversight one particularly awful example was the state of maine which whilst acting as a guardian for a disabled man sold his home for less than half of its assessed value auctioned off his beloved musical instruments and euthanized his cat not necessary the state will generally appoint a guardian who is a close family member but if there are no family available or they're fighting it out who should get the job the state can then appoint a private guardian working as a professional guardian can actually be a very lucrative career choice especially with our rapidly aging population and it's worth bearing in mind that guardianship or conservatorship is not something that the person it is supposed to be helping has to agree to there have been cases like that of rudy and renny north where the person or person supposedly being looked after are not even a afformed of the arrangement being made on their behalf the norths woke up one morning to be met by their new guardian april parks and several of her security officers who told them that they could either move into an assisted living facility of her choice be put in a psychiatric facility or go straight to jail because yes that's a thing guardians can do it took two years for family and friends to help get them out from under april control by that time she had sold their house and most of their money was gone because guardians can charge your estate everything they do from opening your envelopes to analyzing your mood that means looking at your face yes really even worse one professional guardian rebecca phil placed do not resuscitate orders on clients who did not want them resulting in at least one man's premature death obviously family members can be equally sinister but those cases are often difficult to prove and since there's no national tracking it's impossible to know how much abuse occurs under guardianship across the u.s if you want to learn more about the horrors professional guardianship and how it can really really go wrong then i suggest you watch john oliver's video on guardianship for last week tonight i will leave the link in a card above and in the description many of the last week tonight videos are location limited however so you may not be able to watch it unless you have surf shark welcome to the adverts section of my video surfjack is a vpn app and browser extension that allows you to access the internet safely and without barriers it hides your ip address meaning you can set your location to anywhere in the world and watch content that is only available in those regions i personally love surf shark because it can be used on an unlimited number of devices because let's be honest the majority of us have more than one nowadays an ipad a laptop a phone maybe a desktop possibly an ipod that connects to the internet well you can use search across all of them it also has 24 7 support and ad blocker and access to 15 netflix libraries whilst you're using surfjac it is also quietly keeping you safe preventing phishing attempts malware and annoying adverts from tracking you down they also have strict no logs policy meaning that they do not monitor or log anything you do whilst connected just click the link in the description of this video and use code jessica that's my name in capital letters use code jessica for 85 percent off plus three months extra free did i mention that surf shark also offers a 30-day money-back guarantee so there's really no harm in trying it there can be harm in guardianship though people who are living under conservatorship have fewer rights than those in jail what that means for brittany is that she is a 38 year old woman who is not allowed to do the following things without her father's permission and were she to do any of these he can legally lock her up in a mental health facility i'm aware that in order to reduce stigma around mental health using terms like lock up is discouraged however we are talking about someone doing this to another person without their best interests at heart why do i know her best interests aren't at heart because jamie spears can look up his daughter for doing any of the following without his permission leaving her house voting driving a car getting married having children yes that means even if she accidentally gets pregnant he can lock her up doing interviews that aren't pre-scripted speaking publicly about the conservatorship using her mobile phone or social media without being monitored going for a walk buying anything even a drink without permission looking at bank statements or seeing how her money is being spent speaking to someone without being monitored seeing her own children oh and of course hiring her own lawyer side detail she currently only has 30 custody of her two sons due to their father kevin fedelon filing a police report and then being granted a restraining order that does not allow britney's father near the boys this was following an alleged attack by jamie spears on one of the boys with reports he broke down a bedroom door to get to the child and then shook him violently which speaks well to his character according to experts in the law it's highly unusual for someone as young and productive as britney to be in probate conservatorship as fans have been pointing out two months after the hospitalization that caused the court to issue her father a temporary conservative agreement she filmed a guest appearance on how i met your mother six months after the hospitalization she dropped the womanizer video and started to promote her new album circus followed by a worldwide tour that grossed 131.8 million dollars conservatorship is typically used to protect the old infirm and mentally disabled they're intended for people who are not likely to get better and often remain in effect until the person dies if britney is so unwell why was she able to begin working again almost immediately after the order since the conservatorship began 12 years ago she has released four albums done three worldwide tours released multiple products including a successful perfume line did a four-year-long las vegas residency was a main judge on the x factor and has made around 138 million dollars a year this does indeed sound from the outside as if britney is capable now obviously it is incredibly hard to know what is going on from an outside perspective her brother brian spears said in a july 23 2020 podcast for as not seen on tv that she has always wanted to get out of the conservatorship and that for her it's a very frustrating thing to have in his own opinion there was a need for it in the beginning but not now however after 12 years of being unable to do anything for herself he felt that his sister would struggle without the conservatorship let's say it does get let go and she's on her own everyday task stuff will be a great challenge like driving she's the worst driver in the world bless her heart she really is not a good driver and she hasn't had to do that i mean brian darling i'm quite sure she'll still be able to pay someone to drive her around it's not really comparable to not being allowed to buy a coffee if she wants breaking free from a long-term guardianship is a difficult and lengthy process in fact it's rare that people do manage to make it back out as expert and guardianship sam crane explains you need to go to court and establish that the conservatorship isn't necessary anymore but because you haven't recently had the opportunity to make decisions for yourself it's extremely difficult to persuade a judge that you can make those decisions added to this judges may have unrealistic expectations of what capacity to make decisions is they may deem that since someone is still physically or mentally disabled they're not able to leave the guardianship even if their disability doesn't actually weigh on their cognitive abilities yes some people have difficulty making safe decisions on their own because of their disability that's me i know i have difficulty understanding what people are saying both because i am deaf and because i don't process particularly quickly and i know i make it seem like i can come back with a snappy one-liner for everything but that's only when i know the context of what's going on i'm at my peak energy which considering i have chronic fatigue as part of my condition equates to about an accumulation of about an hour a day i find it much easier just to smile and nod and go along with whatever someone is saying because i'm pretty much unable to sense danger work out what anyone's saying i know it seems weird doesn't it you just assume that this person here me is completely capable but i can't actually leave the house by myself because i can't drive i can't really take public transportation by myself because i tend to just watch my stop go by and then my brain says that the best thing to do is just stay on the bus until it circles back to that stop which i know as i say out loud is a terrible idea but in the moment it makes perfect sense i go to events as part of my job but i need someone there to remind me to eat drink sit down go to the loo take any medication i need to and then they have to get me home once i'm brain fogged afterwards because because i don't even know my own name after i've stood up for two hours at home my wife checks everything i sign i don't make business decisions without her and i try to show her pricey things before i buy them because i have an amazing ability to misread situations buy the wrong thing and get scammed like an incredibly trusting old lady but that doesn't mean i need to be under a conservatorship it just means i need to be empowered to help myself i make the choices and other people give me guidance and then help me to enact those choices bear in mind though that all disabilities are different and just because i have a certain disability that reflects me cognitively it doesn't mean that other people with a similar disability or even those with one that from the outside looks more severe need the same level of help having a cognitive problem does not make you a lesser person who does not deserve rights or access to their own money i am very fortunate to have people in my life who genuinely have my best interests at heart but even that doesn't always mean an easy way out when it comes to guardianship even with the full backing of the conservator or guardian leaving guardianship can be difficult ryan king a man with developmental disabilities from washington dc had his parents full support for ending their guardianship over him but it still took nine years for the court to agree he was capable and allow him to run his own affairs nine years in addition to the lack of opportunity to demonstrate competent decision making money is also a large barrier in the ability to challenge conservatorship since people under such a legal motion aren't able to have access to their own finances in order to pay a lawyer to get them out what does this mean for britney every year britney pays 1.1 million dollars in fees for the conservatorship to continue including paying her father a 130 000 salary and paying a lawyer she isn't allowed to choose she is allowed an allowance of around a grand and a half a week to cover all bills shopping and essentials which sure sounds like a lot but keep in mind that her net worth is 250 million dollars she earned that money she could spend it if she damn well likes there is an argument that britney is a very special case and that she isn't a typical person nor can she return to being so her estate is hugely wealthy and very complicated to manage meaning that she could be subject to undue influence a factor judges consider along with mental capacity when deciding whether a conservatorship should continue psychologist stacy wood an expert witness in probate conservatorship cases stated that i imagine a person with that kind of wealth would be attracting a lot of people towards them many of whom may not have their best interests at heart this could protect her from that indeed in june jamie spears sought to extend the restraining order against brittany's former friend and manager sam lefty who her family allege encouraged brittany down a destructive path lufty denied this and is a vocal supporter of the free britney movement whilst protecting someone is indeed the intention of a guardianship order they are intended for people who absolutely cannot take care of themselves generally elderly people with severe dementia all those decaying health but if britney isn't mentally capable of doing anything for herself why is she still working from my own point of view i am largely incapacitated to the extent that i need help but a guardianship order would be completely overblown yet at the same time i would definitely not be able to contend with britney's very punishing schedule even though i where i do work myself i i make youtube videos it's this this is my work spoiler i know the argument could be that britney's alleged mental disability because that's what dementia is and my physical cognitive one aren't comparable but her ability to dance and sing to a high level would be affected by dementia why the renewed interest in january of last year brittany was placed in a mental health facility for three months after being seen driving her car to pick up burgers with her boyfriend in the seat next to her she wasn't alone she then refused to take us to dating medication saying she didn't need it she later testified to a judge in court documents that she was held in the facility against her will by her father this then leached the press and the free britney movement picked up speed again bearing on a judge to open an investigation into the impact and legality of her conservatorship and the effect it had on her life britney's mother lin also commented on social media posts agreeing that britney was being trapped by her father in march 2019 co-conservator andrew wallett resigned writing in court filings that it would be in britney's best interests for him to do so and that if he did not step down immediately britney would suffer substantial detriment irreparable harm and immediate danger which is alarming just the previous november he had been granted a significant raise to 426 grand a year more than brittany gets after arguing he had brought stability and leadership to the spears estate which under his guidance had grown by 20 million perhaps he disagreed with how things were being run when britney was checked into a mental health facility for a month-long stay on april the 3rd friends were on red alert and the podcast britney's gram hosted by comedians tess barker and barbara gray put out an emergency episode without their usual light-hearted tone they asserted that britney was being micromanaged by her handlers and held captive as proof they had a voicemail left on the podcast hotline by a man who identified himself as a former paralegal for an attorney who had worked with a conservatorship in the message the man claimed that it was not britney's choice to end her las vegas residency but her father's amendment raised other concerns about the limits being put on her personal autonomy the podcasters say they confirmed the man's identity and his position of the legal firm a week after the podcast was released spears attempted to reassure her fans through an instagram post that all was well she just needed some privacy but that didn't stop free britney from trending or fans from spreading the hashtag across her social media accounts urging her to let them know if she needed help through wearing certain colors some of which it seems she did respond to thanks to diet pradath on instagram for these screenshots allegedly britney's team actually had twitter disable the free britney hashtag at one point and regularly threatens any celebrity who speaks out using the hashtag with a lawsuit if they don't remove their support for the movement didn't stop miley cyrus from yelling free britney during one of her concerts but when has anything ever stopped miley cyrus jamie spears also sued absolute britney blogger anthony elliott accusing him of spreading false and defamatory information in the name of the free britney movement which kind of makes me feel don't sue me i'm still not worth it free britney has become a social media obsession allowing fans to interpret their favorite celebrities actions through a personal lens but more than that britney is a vessel for discussing the place of women in entertainment and the right that we deny those with mental illnesses it doesn't matter if you personally don't like her music or her style choices or even the fact that she wants drove with a baby on her lap she's still a woman living a heavily restricted life who wishes to escape it all because of an alleged mental impairment and if that can happen to one of the richest and most famous women in the world with an army of fans what does that mean for the rest of us andy mayores a probate attorney who has written about her conservatorship notes that whilst in 2008 britney may have been a danger to herself and her children at what point is it appropriate to scale back the restrictions and let her try living her life without them she had a court date on the 22nd of july 2020 to consider whether the conservatorship would be continued but sadly the zoom hearing was interrupted by outside forces and thus the judge was forced to end proceedings without hearing the case the conservatorship will therefore stay in place until further notice better options than conservatorship so where did she go from here well conservatorship doesn't have to be the only option and there are other lesser options available that could help ease brittany back into having more control if that's what she wants power of attorney is a less restrictive option that helps people with cognitive disabilities make good decisions when you give someone else power fraternity that person can manage your medical decisions and finances but they can't necessarily go against your wishes you also have the power to change who has that power of attorney whenever you like which considering jamie himself has admitted that their relationship has always been strained sounds pretty great for brittany also who allows a man whose grandchildren have a restraining order against him control of his vulnerable and disabled daughter apparently her care manager jody montgomery is now named as conservator but many believe that it is in name only and her father continues on a newer option is called supported decision making which is a more informal arrangement than guardianship allowing a disabled person who may have difficulty making decisions to consult family and friends but allows that person to retain their legal rights it works in a way that the chosen supporter will accompany the disabled person to the doctor's office or the bank to help explain the options in a way they know the disabled person will understand but the decision on what they then do is up to the disabled person although this supporter can advise based on prior knowledge i want option b are you sure you really enjoyed option a last time i did i don't remember yeah it's the one with the unicorns ah i'm so that would be a great trip to the doctor if a person tended to spend large amounts of money and possibly then extra spending money could be placed in a different account and managed by a financial advisor who can give advice different states do things differently which honestly as a british person i find baffling aren't you meant to be one country spot the colonialist english education say sorry where else in scotland an island in california where britney lives supported decision making is an option for disabled people and their families but there is no specific legal recognition of it yet look obviously the details of britney's conservatorship and her own personal circumstances aren't known to me i don't know the exact nature of her disability and i don't know what level of support she needs but britney is legally a disabled woman who's petitioned a court to be freed from her restrictions and currently is being denied that because of her disabilities and what does that say about our culture as a whole when we have an incredibly rich incredibly famous 38 year old woman who is strong enough to be in the public eye and perform for large crowds but is supposedly not strong enough to look after her own money or children that must have all her rights removed which of us is safe and now i've scared myself so share this video scare some other people and maybe collectively we can free britney but hey before you click the video in my end card which you're definitely about to do don't forget to click the surf shark link in the description and use code jessica for 85 off plus three extra months for [Music] free [Music] you