Pop star Britney Spears has a new ally in her ongoing battle to free herself from the conservatorship imposed by the courts after prior mental health challenges. Now the American Civil Liberties Union has stepped up.
“People with disabilities have a right to lead self-directed lives and retain their civil rights,” the ACLU said in a tweet this week. “If Britney Spears wants to regain her civil liberties and get out of her conservatorship, we are here to help her.”
The 38-year-old Spears has asked a court to remove her father, Jamie Spears, as her conservator over her financial affairs and health arrangements. A judge on Friday extended the current arrangement for another six months.
Spears has been under conservatorship with her father since 2008 (except for a brief period when her manager, Jodi Montgomery, took over when Jamie Spears has health issues). In 2008, she was twice put under a 5150 hold in a psychiatric hospital. Among her erratic behaviors was shaving her head and attacking a photographer’s car with an umbrella.
The California Courts website defines a conservatorship as an appointment of a responsible person or organization to care for another adult who cannot care for themselves or manage their own finances.
The fan-driven #FreeBritney movement insists she is being held in the conservatorship against her will and is able to make her own choices. Court documents filed in the most recent hearing indicate Britney Spears is “strongly opposed to having [Jamie] return as the conservator of her person.”
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