Pop star Britney Spears has a new ally in her ongoing battle to free herself from the conservatorship imposed by the courts after prior mental health challenges. Now the American Civil Liberties Union has stepped up.
“People with disabilities have a right to lead self-directed lives and retain their civil rights,” the ACLU said in a tweet this week. “If Britney Spears wants to regain her civil liberties and get out of her conservatorship, we are here to help her.”
The 38-year-old Spears has asked a court to remove her father, Jamie Spears, as her conservator over her financial affairs and health arrangements. A judge on Friday extended the current arrangement for another six months.
Spears has been under conservatorship with her father since 2008 (except for a brief period when her manager, Jodi Montgomery, took over when Jamie Spears has health issues). In 2008, she was twice put under a 5150 hold in a psychiatric hospital. Among her erratic behaviors was shaving her head and attacking a photographer’s car with an umbrella.
The California Courts website defines a conservatorship as an appointment of a responsible person or organization to care for another adult who cannot care for themselves or manage their own finances.
The fan-driven #FreeBritney movement insists she is being held in the conservatorship against her will and is able to make her own choices. Court documents filed in the most recent hearing indicate Britney Spears is “strongly opposed to having [Jamie] return as the conservator of her person.”
moinatx on August 24th, 2020 at 02:41 UTC »
According to Newsweek, Variety and other sources, Britney does have a lawyer and is petitioning not to end the conservatorship but to have it shifted away from her father to Jodi Montgomery, her current care manager. Apparently Britney thinks she still needs help but doesn't want it to be her father. https://www.newsweek.com/why-does-britney-spears-have-conservatorship-1526113
Loki-Don on August 24th, 2020 at 02:35 UTC »
Wait, her dad still has control of her conservatorship? That was passed in like 2008. She did 6 years in Vegas after that and made like $100 million and yet she is still deemed incompetent? How the hell does that work?
ProfessionalLocal8 on August 24th, 2020 at 00:10 UTC »
Her mother wrote a book called Through the Storm that talks about all of the alcoholism and abuse Britney's father put the family through, and to think he is now in control of her entire life is mind blowing. Guardianship abuse is a very real thing that gets almost zero news coverage. His wife is estranged, Britney is estranged, Britney's sons have a restraining order against him for physically abusing one of them last year. It doesn't make any sense why this alcoholic abuser has been given full control of not only her money, but decisions like her food, medication and relationship arrangements. Earlier in the year, her son was on Instagram Live and when someone asked about his grandfather, he said "he's a piece of shit. He can go fucking die." She can't even hire an attorney to fight it because she has been deemed incompetent to hire legal counsel. It's disgusting.