Not everyone is truly free in our land of the free and the brave. Britney Spears has been a recent high-profile example of how American citizens are regularly stripped of their rights. She is one of many.
If you have not followed the story of Spears and her conservatorship, I will summarize. In 2008, after a series of breakdowns caused by the stress of her high-pressure career, Spear’s father was awarded a conservatorship over his daughter by California courts. This conservatorship (similar to a guardianship common in many states) was based on the presumption that Spears could not sufficiently manage her personal or financial affairs. It gave her father carte blanche authority over her entire life.
In Spears’ case, it has meant she has made millions in income that she cannot access. She cannot visit her friends or hire her own attorney. She has been forced to work grueling hours to pay a team of professionals who keep her in this cycle of imprisonment by keeping her medicated and undermining her in the eyes of the court.
In the lives of many disabled people, it means that they lose the ability to make decisions in most aspects of their lives. Typically, a guardian is empowered to make decisions around the person’s finances, medical care, living arrangements and any support services they need. But guardians often overreach their powers and disregard their ward’s choices about what they eat, who they spend time with, whether they can date or marry, and even how they cut their hair.
Though courts are encouraged by state law to limit guardianships to certain decisions, they frequently grant full guardianships instead. People with intellectual disabilities or mental illness are often presumed incompetent and in need of guardianship without significant evidence of such. Guardians’ powers routinely go unchecked. And once a conservatorship or guardianship is in place, it is nearly impossible to remove it.
But there are valid, less-restrictive alternatives. During the 2021 legislative session, Colorado made one of these a legal option in our state.
The Supported Decision-making Agreement law (SB 21-075) offers a legal route for adults with disabilities to make choices about the decisions they need support to make and who they want to help them make those decisions. The power lies in the hands of the person with a disability instead of the court.
The language of the bill makes its intent clear: Adults with disabilities are presumed competent. Adults with disabilities should have opportunities to experience and practice decision-making skills. Supported decision-making allows adults with disabilities to retain authority over their lives while enlisting the help of trusted community members to help them make informed decisions.
Because Colorado guardianship law requires that less-restrictive measures be used before guardianship, we hope that supported decision-making becomes the norm in our state. If we truly value the freedom that we celebrate every July, we should ensure that freedom extends to all.
Tara Kiene is president/CEO of Community Connections Inc.
