Help me free my family from abusive guardianship
Donation protected
I need about/at least $10,000 by mid-Summer 2021 at the latest! We are moving to trial, and the case is still compromised from my lack of representation. I currently lack the funds to approach a lawyer for help without being dismissed, because capitalism. Please share.
I am in a very complex legal case where an autistic, intellectually disabled relative of mine who I love very dearly is being subject to a potentially permanent guardianship with their abusive parents. Let me tell you about this person. They love music and horses. They're autistic, non-speaking, and have severely unmet communication needs. They are in multiple demographics more vulnerable to covid, and institutionalized in congregate care, a known danger.
[UPDATE: I learned recently that my relative has ostensibly been fully vaccinated against covid-19. That doesn't make their life safe, but at least that is ostensibly not a concern. Though I have only their parents' word to go on here.]
Their parents kept them locked in their room at night for years and years, boarding up the windows, removing the lights from inside, taking away everything but their bed, and all without a sanitary way to relieve themself, for up to about 12 hours at a time. They deprived the disabled person of language as well. I have no way of knowing if this is still happening to them in quarantine. Their parents are liars and I don't believe a word they say. This relative is currently 19 and reportedly can't read even being enrolled in one of the supposedly "best schools" according to their parents. The school is an ABA institution with a documented history of (alleged) abuse and throwing elderly people to the ground.
Due to federal regulations, any organization that receives federal funding for pro bono work cannot do anything for non-guardians. This means that people trying to keep their family safe from those the system presumes competence in (abusive parents) have no chance if they're poor. Disabled people are kept systematically poor and then systematically excluded from all free aid. So, even legal assistance groups dedicated to disability rights can't help people facing abusive permanent guardianships. I am fighting for my relative's freedom, and I desperately need legal representation. I've learned that no one will use their pro-bono slots for this except disabled lawyers who are subject to their own burnout. I'm currently all alone in the legal system, forced to represent myself. There's a saying among lawyers that "a man who represents himself has a fool for a client," and I'm being forced to be that fool.
They need your help. Your donations will 100% go to future legal fees, and if there is extra money at the end, it will go to enriching this person's free life. The current amount is an estimation and may change if/when I secure an actual lawyer for my case.
I am in a very complex legal case where an autistic, intellectually disabled relative of mine who I love very dearly is being subject to a potentially permanent guardianship with their abusive parents. Let me tell you about this person. They love music and horses. They're autistic, non-speaking, and have severely unmet communication needs. They are in multiple demographics more vulnerable to covid, and institutionalized in congregate care, a known danger.
[UPDATE: I learned recently that my relative has ostensibly been fully vaccinated against covid-19. That doesn't make their life safe, but at least that is ostensibly not a concern. Though I have only their parents' word to go on here.]
Their parents kept them locked in their room at night for years and years, boarding up the windows, removing the lights from inside, taking away everything but their bed, and all without a sanitary way to relieve themself, for up to about 12 hours at a time. They deprived the disabled person of language as well. I have no way of knowing if this is still happening to them in quarantine. Their parents are liars and I don't believe a word they say. This relative is currently 19 and reportedly can't read even being enrolled in one of the supposedly "best schools" according to their parents. The school is an ABA institution with a documented history of (alleged) abuse and throwing elderly people to the ground.
Due to federal regulations, any organization that receives federal funding for pro bono work cannot do anything for non-guardians. This means that people trying to keep their family safe from those the system presumes competence in (abusive parents) have no chance if they're poor. Disabled people are kept systematically poor and then systematically excluded from all free aid. So, even legal assistance groups dedicated to disability rights can't help people facing abusive permanent guardianships. I am fighting for my relative's freedom, and I desperately need legal representation. I've learned that no one will use their pro-bono slots for this except disabled lawyers who are subject to their own burnout. I'm currently all alone in the legal system, forced to represent myself. There's a saying among lawyers that "a man who represents himself has a fool for a client," and I'm being forced to be that fool.
They need your help. Your donations will 100% go to future legal fees, and if there is extra money at the end, it will go to enriching this person's free life. The current amount is an estimation and may change if/when I secure an actual lawyer for my case.
Organizer
Fallon Binns
Organizer
Burlington, VT