Story at a glance
- A bipartisan pair of U.S. Representatives introduced a bill Tuesday that could create a pathway for individuals to request a new guardian or conservator without proving abuse or fraud.
- “Abusive conservatorships can be an unending nightmare, and tragically we don’t know how many people are being held captive against their will under the broken guardianship system,” Rep. Charlie Crist (D-Fla.) said in a statement.
- “Under the Free Act, we would free Britney along with the countless numbers of seniors and persons with disabilities being abused and exploited by the broken system,” Crist added.
A bipartisan pair of U.S. Representatives, inspired by Britney Spears’ fight to end her own allegedly abusive guardianship, introduced a bill Tuesday that could create a pathway for individuals to request a new guardian without proving abuse or fraud.
The Freedom and Right to Emancipate from Exploitation (FREE) Act, introduced by Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) and Rep. Charlie Crist (D-Fla.) would allow individuals to ask that their court-appointed conservator or guardian be replaced by a public guardian employed by a particular state, a family member or a private agent.
“Abusive conservatorships can be an unending nightmare, and tragically we don’t know how many people are being held captive against their will under the broken guardianship system,” Crist said in a statement. “Under the Free Act, we would free Britney along with the countless numbers of seniors and persons with disabilities being abused and exploited by the broken system.”
“To see a woman like Britney Spears have her most basic human rights permanently stripped away from her under the guise of ‘protection’ should be illegal,” Mace added in the statement.
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Spears petitioned a court in June to end the conservatorship controlled by her father and co-conservator Jamie Spears. The 39-year-old former pop star alleges that the current arrangement has denied her basic rights, such as having more children, riding along with her boyfriend in his car and marriage.
“I would like to progressively move forward, and I want to have the real deal. I want to be able to get married and have a baby,” Spears said. “I was told right now on the conservatorship I’m not able to get married or have a baby.”
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A judge denied on June 30 Spears’ request to remove her father as a co-conservator. But Spears won the right last week to appoint her own representative for the first time, according to The Guardian. Former federal prosecutor Matthew Rosengart is now representing Spears, and he has vowed to remove Jamie Spears as conservator “unless he resigns first.”
The Justice Department estimates that around 1.3 million people are living under restrictive guardianships, with the conservators and guardians controlling more than $50 billion in assets.
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