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Free Britney!

Ernie M said:
Correction:
I believe I need to make a correction to an earlier post #117 where I incorrectly said a psych eval led to Britney Spears being deemed incapacitated and that led to the conservatorship. The correction apparently is that:

BRITNEY SPEARS IS IN A VOLUNTARY CONSERVATORSHIP

According to an ABC News video, legal expert Christopher Melcher, said,
Melcher
1:33
This is what they’re calling a voluntary conservatorship. There was never a determination by the court that she was incapacitated. And so she was convinced into agreeing to it. And then now she’s finding a hard time getting out of it after all these thirteen years.

So it’s really remarkable that she would have understood the loss of liberty and freedom that she would have experienced now for thirteen years when this was initially placed on her.​

Source:

Davis, Linsey. “Britney Spears’ conservatorship ‘is a sinking ship’ at this point: Legal expert” ABC News. 13 July 2021. https[colon]//www[dot]youtube.com/watch?v=mVAThydya2Q
Click to expand...

One would think that something voluntary would end as soon as it ceases to be voluntary.
 
Ernie M said:
Correction:
I believe I need to make a correction to an earlier post #117 where I incorrectly said a psych eval led to Britney Spears being deemed incapacitated and that led to the conservatorship. The correction apparently is that:

BRITNEY SPEARS IS IN A VOLUNTARY CONSERVATORSHIP

According to an ABC News video, legal expert Christopher Melcher, said,
Melcher
1:33
This is what they’re calling a voluntary conservatorship. There was never a determination by the court that she was incapacitated. And so she was convinced into agreeing to it. And then now she’s finding a hard time getting out of it after all these thirteen years.

So it’s really remarkable that she would have understood the loss of liberty and freedom that she would have experienced now for thirteen years when this was initially placed on her.​

Source:

Davis, Linsey. “Britney Spears’ conservatorship ‘is a sinking ship’ at this point: Legal expert” ABC News. 13 July 2021. https[colon]//www[dot]youtube.com/watch?v=mVAThydya2Q
Click to expand...

Being gaslit is not agreement
 
I saw a source that said Britney originally agreed to the conservatorship arrangement because her family told her it would prevent her children being taken away. (Talk about pressure.) I can't find it again at the moment, though, so I'm entering this post under the category of "they out here sayin..."
 
jollyroger85 said:
Ernie M said:
Correction:
I believe I need to make a correction to an earlier post #117 where I incorrectly said a psych eval led to Britney Spears being deemed incapacitated and that led to the conservatorship. The correction apparently is that:

BRITNEY SPEARS IS IN A VOLUNTARY CONSERVATORSHIP

According to an ABC News video, legal expert Christopher Melcher, said,
Melcher
1:33
This is what they’re calling a voluntary conservatorship. There was never a determination by the court that she was incapacitated. And so she was convinced into agreeing to it. And then now she’s finding a hard time getting out of it after all these thirteen years.

So it’s really remarkable that she would have understood the loss of liberty and freedom that she would have experienced now for thirteen years when this was initially placed on her.​

Source:

Davis, Linsey. “Britney Spears’ conservatorship ‘is a sinking ship’ at this point: Legal expert” ABC News. 13 July 2021. https[colon]//www[dot]youtube.com/watch?v=mVAThydya2Q
Click to expand...


Being gaslit is not agreement
Click to expand...


Gaslit.

Yes, I believe that sums up Britney Spears' (of what appears to be an) abusive, exploitive, and perhaps fraudulent, conservatorship.
 
Last edited:
Butter! said:
I saw a source that said Britney originally agreed to the conservatorship arrangement because her family told her it would prevent her children being taken away. (Talk about pressure.) I can't find it again at the moment, though, so I'm entering this post under the category of "they out here sayin..."
Click to expand...


IANAL, but if so, that sounds like some people used coercion, extortion, and undue influence against Britney. I get the sense Britney was bullied, intimidated, gaslit, presented with misleading options, presented with options harmful to her, where whoever was involved withheld information from Britney.

Coercion quoted form online Oxford dictionary:
the practice of persuading someone to do something by using force or threats.

Extortion quoted form online Oxford dictionary:
the practice of obtaining something, especially money, through force or threats.

Undue influence quoted form online Oxford dictionary:
influence by which a person is induced to act otherwise than by their own free will or without adequate attention to the consequences.
 
Ernie M said:
IANAL, but if so, that sounds like some people used coercion, extortion, and undue influence against Britney. I get the sense Britney was bullied, intimidated, gaslit, presented with misleading options, presented with options harmful to her, where whoever was involved withheld information from Britney.

Coercion quoted form online Oxford dictionary:
the practice of persuading someone to do something by using force or threats.

Extortion quoted form online Oxford dictionary:
the practice of obtaining something, especially money, through force or threats.

Undue influence quoted form online Oxford dictionary:
influence by which a person is induced to act otherwise than by their own free will or without adequate attention to the consequences.
Click to expand...

As a fellow NAL, I agree!
 
Belz... said:
Ernie M said:
Correction:
I believe I need to make a correction to an earlier post #117 where I incorrectly said a psych eval led to Britney Spears being deemed incapacitated and that led to the conservatorship. The correction apparently is that:

BRITNEY SPEARS IS IN A VOLUNTARY CONSERVATORSHIP

According to an ABC News video, legal expert Christopher Melcher, said,
Melcher
1:33
This is what they’re calling a voluntary conservatorship. There was never a determination by the court that she was incapacitated. And so she was convinced into agreeing to it. And then now she’s finding a hard time getting out of it after all these thirteen years.

So it’s really remarkable that she would have understood the loss of liberty and freedom that she would have experienced now for thirteen years when this was initially placed on her.​

Source:

Davis, Linsey. “Britney Spears’ conservatorship ‘is a sinking ship’ at this point: Legal expert” ABC News. 13 July 2021. https[colon]//www[dot]youtube.com/watch?v=mVAThydya2Q
Click to expand...


One would think that something voluntary would end as soon as it ceases to be voluntary.
Click to expand...


Once a person is in the horrifically-broken conservatorship/guardianship system, typically the conservatee (in a conservatorship) or ward (in a guardianship) gets out by DYING.

Britney Spears' case is unusual in that information about her conservatorship has been made public on a grand scale. For the majority of conservatorships and guardianships and abusive & exploitive power of attorney cases–most are not public and you never hear about them.

Much information is kept from public scrutiny due to a biased and harmful network of laws, nepotism, cronyism, and favoritism.

Nepotism quoted form online Oxford dictionary:
the practice among those with power or influence of favoring relatives or friends, especially by giving them jobs.

Cronyism quoted form online Oxford dictionary:
the appointment of friends and associates to positions of authority, without proper regard to their qualifications.

Favoritism quoted form online Oxford dictionary:
the practice of giving unfair preferential treatment to one person or group at the expense of another.

The Free Britney movement has been instrumental in bringing to light some of the highly-problematic and harmful issues of conservatorships/guardianships/power of attorney abuse.

Tracing the money flow would help define the who/what/where/when/why/how, was involved in this apparently abusive, exploitive, and fraudulent conservatorship. A (public) financial accounting is needed.

I stand with those who support efforts to Free Britney. I also stand with efforts to hold those accountable who I believe robbed Britney Spears of quality of life, civil and constitutional liberties, finances, and emotional stability.

Free Britney and shed light on the abusive systems.
 
Ernie M said:
IANAL, but if so, that sounds like some people used coercion, extortion, and undue influence against Britney. I get the sense Britney was bullied, intimidated, gaslit, presented with misleading options, presented with options harmful to her, where whoever was involved withheld information from Britney.
.....
Click to expand...

It's important to note that Spears became her family's meal ticket as a performer around age 11, and an international pop star at 16. She's had limited education and "normal" life experience, and she was controlled and manipulated for gain way before the conservatorship. It's not a surprise that at some point she would flip out, but that reflects her circumstances more than some permanent incapacity. Her situation should have ended a long time ago.
 
Seems like the ace in the hole needed is either a sympathetic or negligent judge, to disregard or paper over matters that would challenge the arrangement.
 
Belz... said:
Ernie M said:
Free Britney and shed light on the abusive systems.
Click to expand...


The more I hear about this conservatorship system, the less I like it.
Click to expand...


I CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING MOVIES TO BE CULTURALLY AND HISTORICALLY SIGNIFICANT:

I Care a Lot. Netflix. Written and Directed by J Blakeson. Release date 19 February 2021.

Exquisite. Superlative. Excellent cinematography. Don’t be put off by negative reviews which were likely written by those who don’t want you to understand the devastation, control, and lucrative abilities of a broken guardianship/conservatorship/trust, system.

Superb acting. Peter Dinklage, who portrayed Tyrion Lannister on the HBO television series Game of Thrones, conveys subtle emotions and intent with his facial expressions. Rosamund Pike portrays the cruel, sadistic court-appointed guardian Marla Grayson. This film expertly captures the breadth and depth of the broken guardianship system and (broken) courts, and other enabling broken systems.

The Guardians. Directed by Billie Mintz. 2019. Available free on Amazon Prime.
There are some connections I'll make in a later post that tie-in work by different authors and reporters.

A movie you can no longer see but I consider culturally and historically significant also:

“Guardians, Inc.” Dirty Money. Directed by Kyoko Miyake. Released on Netflix, March 11, 2020 in Season 2, Episode 5.

“Guardians, Inc.” was removed from Netflix’s library due to lawsuit from attorney Nicholas Louisa.

Sadly, attorney Lisa Belanger has been disbarred.

Rachel Aviv, reporter, for The New Yorker, (“How the Elderly Lose Their Rights”) made hard-hitting points about broken and abusive guardianships.

Hopefully Netflix's, Dirty Money: "Guardian's Inc." episode will air again.
 
Belz... said:
The fact that you don't understand, or pretend not to understand, something that's self-evident isn't my fault. You can say "weasley" or "squirm" all you want, if it makes you feel better. But if you need permission to use the money I give you and can only spend it on what I tell you, then it's not your money. There's no difference with me spending my money to buy you wnat I decide you can have.

But hey, you decided that this was going to be your hill, so you can't back down now. You have to deny every argument or point.



No, I get the sarcasm because that's nearly all you're capable of. I meant you're playing words with "treated like a child".

Woosh.
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Another disturbing aspect of this is that Britney's allowance is a fraction of what her father and "her" attorney are getting, all from money that Britney has earned. Whatever Britney's mental state and ability to make her own decisions might really be, the whole situation stinks.
 
Ernie M said:
I CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING MOVIES TO BE CULTURALLY AND HISTORICALLY SIGNIFICANT:

I Care a Lot. Netflix. Written and Directed by J Blakeson. Release date 19 February 2021.

Exquisite. Superlative. Excellent cinematography. Don’t be put off by negative reviews which were likely written by those who don’t want you to understand the devastation, control, and lucrative abilities of a broken guardianship/conservatorship/trust, system.

Superb acting. Peter Dinklage, who portrayed Tyrion Lannister on the HBO television series Game of Thrones, conveys subtle emotions and intent with his facial expressions. Rosamund Pike portrays the cruel, sadistic court-appointed guardian Marla Grayson. This film expertly captures the breadth and depth of the broken guardianship system and (broken) courts, and other enabling broken systems.
Click to expand...

I loved and hated it. I was right there with hating Rosamund Pike's character, I mean I was snarling. It could have been a very satisfying movie for me but

I didn't like how he joined her in the end. I felt like the movie itself was surrendering to her, and the shooting at the end was not very satisfying. What I really wanted was gangster-Tyrion's mom to rally the goons, rescue him, and take care of her decisively.
 
Bob001 said:
It's important to note that Spears became her family's meal ticket as a performer around age 11, and an international pop star at 16. She's had limited education and "normal" life experience, and she was controlled and manipulated for gain way before the conservatorship. It's not a surprise that at some point she would flip out, but that reflects her circumstances more than some permanent incapacity. Her situation should have ended a long time ago.
Click to expand...

This is such a good point. I'm sure it's also easier to convince a judge that someone is mentally deficient if they are fairly uneducated and somewhat childlike, the way Spears can often come across.

There's a reason so many thrillers are based around a premise of the protagonist suddenly having to prove they're not insane in a corrupt system. Once someone has declared you crazy, anything you do can be construed as evidence of said craziness. Try to run away - crazy. Just sit there and take it - see, she knows she needs help, poor crazy girl. Scream and yell - crazy. Try to talk calmly - "You seem agitated, why are you so agitated? Perhaps you need a rest." Really think about it for a moment! There's nothing you can do once you're in that situation.

All the people out there paternally tutting "Well, she's just too erratic, clearly she needs this sort of guidance" need to pull their heads out of their asses, frankly. None of us would be safe from this if someone wanted to do it to us. Not as long as there's a system in place that allows for such shady arrangements for trivial reasons (yes, in the context of permanent, involuntary conservatorships ONLY, I am calling bipolar disorder trivial).
 
I never thought I'd say this, but this thread has managed to make me care about what happens to Britney Spears. Not being sarcastic - I'm genuinely shocked and appalled that this sort of controlling abuse of a not-incapacitated person is possible and legal.
 
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