The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is reaching out publicly to Britney Spears, following a ruling by a Los Angeles judge this week to extend its conservatory until February 1, 2021.
“People with disabilities have the right to lead self-directed lives and to preserve their civil rights,” he said. organization for non-profit tweeted earlier in the week, on August 19th. “If Britney Spears wants to regain her civil liberties and come out of her conservatory, we’re here to help her.”
On the afternoon of August 23, they shared an article published on aclu.org, entitled “How Conservatorhip Threatens Britney Spears’ Civil Rights.”
“Conservatories can result in serious financial, physical, or emotional abuse,” he said ACLU tweeted next to the link.
Conservatory “is the court that weighs the person’s life and says that you, as a person with a disability, are no longer able to make decisions about yourself and your livelihood – such as where you live, and how ‘ “You support and nurture yourself – and we’re putting someone else in place to make those decisions. Because it’s such an extreme step to take, it really needs to be a last resort,” explained Zoe Brennan. Krohn, personnel attorney with the ACLU’s Disability Rights Project, in the article.
“We do not know if Britney Spears identifies herself as a person with a disability, or what, if any, diagnosis she has received,” Brennan-Krohn said. “But by being the maintenance of a conservatory, we know that the court has ruled that it is handicapped, and has removed its civil rights because of that handicap. That is essentially a matter of civil rights / civil liberties.”
The ACLU lawyer went on to say, “What we do not know is what the info the court had, what Britney said about what she specifically wants, what other options have been tried, or what her lawyers have said. That while it is possible that this is an example of a transparent conservatory that was run as a last resort and is carefully, thoroughly and regularly reviewed, that is not the norm for conservatories, and it seems consistent with what we see in Britney’s public. “
On August 17, two days before this week’s hearing, Spears’ judge-appointed attorney, Samuel Ingham, filed a motion on behalf of the singer stating that she did not want her father to serve as her conservator. Ingham said Spears’ needs and wishes have changed since the conservatory was placed over her in 2008.
“This issue is currently receiving attention because of the popularity of Britney Spears,” Brennan-Krohn said in the ACLU article. “But she’s just one of unlimited thousands nationwide under or at risk of care or conservatory.”
