Let's abolish the conservatorship system

Tuesday, November 16

Britney Spears arrives at the 29th annual GLAAD Media Awards in 2018.

Good evening everybody. Thank you for stopping by. Let's get started.

Good evening y'all. Today we have content about teamwork in the Democratic Party. We also have a col about Britney Spears and a longer conversation about conservatorships.

After Britney Spears, don't reform conservatorship system – abolish it

By Chandra Bozelko

Britney Spears's nearly 14-year-long conservatorship ended Friday, Nov. 12. But this isn't the end of the shady world of probate courts. I'm intimately aware of this system myself, having been conserved for nine years in the New Haven Probate Court under a report from a doctor. I couldn't choose where I lived, consent to medical treatment, spend the little money I had, or seek employment to add to it.

It's a system that devours people's dignity and wealth and it doesn't look like it will change anytime soon, despite the new scrutiny.

Today's Editorial Cartoon

Mike Thompson, USA TODAY

USA TODAY

•	Loose cannon Steve Bannon surrenders to authorities: Mike Thompson

A suburban mom to Democrats: We're good teammates. Take us seriously.

By Rachel Vindman

Many voters who had identified as Democrats prior to 2016 defected to Trump. They were attracted to his candor and apolitical background, and this was especially true for those who had negative views on immigration and identified as racially conservative. At the same time Trump's views were attracting new demographics, they were repelling others. By the 2018 midterm elections, when Democrats won control of the House of Representatives, it was clear many suburban voters rejected Trump's rhetoric, prompting Sen. Lindsay Graham to trade his MAGA hat for his Captain Obvious hat and say, "We've got to address the suburban women problem, because it's real."

So why does it sometimes seem as if the Democrats also have a so-called suburban women problem? Are we trusted? Are our voices heard and respected?

Trial of men accused of killing Arbery shows systemic racism in court

By Rachel K. Paulose

While the alleged killers of Ahmaud Arbery force their case to trial, one of their attorneys is propagating in the courtroom the systemic injustice that led to Arbery's murder.

Kevin Gough represents William Bryan, one of three men who chased down and killed the unarmed Arbery as he jogged through the residential neighborhood of Brunswick, Georgia. Bryan filmed the fatal attack on Arbery.

Arbery's death spurred protests, cast the spotlight once again on the daily lethal threats faced by people of color and inspired legal change when the governor of Georgia introduced a bill to reform Georgia's citizen arrest law under which Arbery's alleged killers claimed they were acting.

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Columns on qualified immunity

We are doing a series examining the issue of qualified immunity. For more on the series read here.

•	Administrators who violate the 1st Amendment rights do not deserve protection of qualified immunity
•	Fix qualified immunity travesty that lets police off the hook after violating civil rights
•	A bad cop sexually assaulted me. Qualified immunity protected him and his boss.
•	Ending qualified immunity won't ruin cops' finances