In dealing with Child Protective Services, an anonymous reporter, or mandated reporter in fear of losing the state professional license, they will hold ex parte hearings where one is not even in attendance and immediately placed on the Central Registry, sometimes with a letter of notification....sometimes.
So, now, these actions are to be public in child welfare proceedings?
What about Foster Care?
Will these proceedings be public?
Better request legal advisement from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops because they are busy, busy, busy, hiding their assets, considering there are all those tiny human cases they are facing.
Education secretary Betsy DeVos has introduced a new rule that could make it harder for child abuse victims to come forward at school.
The Trump admin introduced changes to Title IX to be rolled out this month about how sexual assault and harassment chargers are handled at K-12 schools and on college campuses.
Alterations to Title IX still state the survivor will be taken seriously, according to Ms DeVos, but that the accused cannot be presumed guilty.
"Our proposed rule recognises that we can continue to combat sexual misconduct without abandoning due process," she said about the change.
When President Barack Obama was in office, his administration laid out guidelines for schools that would help them handle complaints of sexual assault and violence. But Ms DeVos claims these guidelines were unfair to all the parties involved.
Backlash about the changes to Title IX has resonated across the public, specifically for the impact it will have on college campuses.
But people are also concerned about what this could mean for children in elementary, middle, or high school when they want to report abuse. Their reasoning is the new mandate will go largely unfunded, with the government anticipating it will save $360m over the next 10 years, so it could create a loss in resources within the schools.
"Schools are not all prepared to handle these incidents as they occur right now," Joel Levin, a co-founder of the nonprofit Stop Sexual Assault In Schools organisation, told Politico.
"The new regulations will just create a more chaotic environment," he said. "The Department of Education has tried to bring some college or higher education-level Title IX rules into K-12, where they don't really work."
Under the new rules it allows, but does not require, for K-12 schools to hold hearings where the victim's advocates or representatives can question the perpetrator.
The rule also requires the victim to write a formal, signed statement to be given to a selected group of staff at the school when reporting assault or sexual harassment.
Critics are worried this would encourage students to avoid reporting abuse at their schools, specifically if it occurs from a teacher or staff member in the building.
"To me, the most damaging things that they're doing are just making it harder for students to report sexual harassment," Levin told the publication. "There's already barriers for K-12 students. A lot of students don't report because they don't think the school is going to do anything about it, or they'll be blamed, or (the school) won't discipline the perpetrator."
Another change Ms DeVos made to Title IX alters how sexual assault and harassment is defined in the law to provide protection for the victim. Currently, the rule states its "unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature".
Ms DeVos is now advocating for the phrasing to state a need for quid pro quo services between the perpetrator and the victim that are "so severe, pervasive and objectively offensive that it effectively deprives a person of equal access to educational programmes or activities." If this change is made, it would discount sexual misconduct and allow for sexual acts to happen that do not drive the victim out of their school or off campus.
Critics say Ms DeVos is not reforming the laws; she is instead rolling back the strides made by organisations to help victims report and handle abuse on a federal level.
The following is a snapshot in time of the discussion chat during the hearing.
I have chosen not to identify the posters as it will be much more fun to figure out which comments are my own.
As this is the prelude to parental rights, I thought it only proper to do it in one of my genres of choice,, in the spirit of Da Dialetica, with a side of spicy dipping sauce.
This is about Medicaid fraud in child welfare, but Judiciary will not tell you that, being all busy trying to find out what is in the Mueller Report, and all.
Enjoy the pretty man looking over everyone's right shoulder.
Happy Child Abuse Propaganda Month!
FUN FACT! DNA & RNA have no gender phenotype,
Now, they are talking about "trans" kids and sports....yet nothing about kids being trafficked through these Title IX programs from overseas. Riiiiiiiiiiiiight.........
Oh my, Judiciary is talking "gender identity" medical stuff in winning races. Weeeeeeeeeeeee......
I propose a bill to prove your sexual orientation by submitting video evidence to the courts,
Aw man, you seriously want to drag the Dark Web into this realm? There are things you can't unsee...removing eyes doesn't help and neither does injecting bleach into the brain. Think we only have 52 genders now?
I hate to even consider what may be there......
Collins is talking about the sports doctors administrating hormone injections when needed to kids.
They are talking about child protection. How about stop labeling and love the body you were given?
This is covering up the epigenetic research they do on kids.
Zoe is asking the pastor for Southern Baptist take on LBQRSTUV.
Ok, I guess I have to take a tally of how many times they drop MLK. We are up to 2.
The reverend spoke of race and sex being the same....through a story of a story that was told to him by his daddy about MLK.
Gender Identity Disorder?
How about just letting someone be what they want instead of forcing labels...that they use for predictive modeling crap..
The prefrontal cortex for decision making and critical thinking skills ...isn't fully developed in children.
And To alter them with hormones before 18, is child abuse.
They are talking about using kids for T-level research.
Oh don't get me started on the threats CRISPR poses.....screw superpowers.....let's talk cascade effect from altering just one gene......they have NO clue exactly what they are doing. To a large degree they have a very basic understanding but long term....no way.
Gohmert says, "Only women carry children".. Well that is not true. We can produce humans outside the womb. HA! 46th allelal default
To possess is to own as it's cargo when you breech the waters of birth...
Faith Based is going to lose money if they accept LBQRSTUV. I told you. This is about chattel law. Property law is gender specific.
Hakeem did not talk about pregnancy discrimination.
I got another gender discrimination issue. Child Support, Title IVD is a male program.
OOOOOOOOOOOOO Nadler is getting feisty
He’s very nervous! He won’t allow anything that hurts HIS defense!
He has his crew in his office coordinating responses with HQ. I am waiting to see if he calls for bathroom breaks to go get coaching from #perkinscoiesucks
They are using RFRA as a reason to stop the LBQRSTUV.
ALL of the earmarks are being hit for this hearing to open the door for trafficking tiny humans.
McClintock rocked by asking why society regulates who people should dress and act.
This is the second congressional testimony from this chick. I have to find her name. Do you know the likelihood of one person being the go to person on a subject matter? This is personal for her, not for humanity.
Ha! That’s right mr McClintock—the questions are coming in a way that don’t makes sense but it does if you want to shape a defense.
Raskin is naming great members of Judiciary who have stood up for civil rights....but fails to name the one man he used to follow around like a puppy dog.
Raskin says this will help children in adoption. Huh?
Raskin is pushing adoption. I will thrash him. Listen to him talking about child placement.
moral discovery?? Whew
Raskin is pushing foster care. I want to jump through my computer and smack him for pushing adoption.
That’s my local DA’s mentor who is pushing for juvenile court- at this point I don’t think I could recognize what a normal justice system would look like
We just took our 6th grader out of public school- she couldn’t take constantly being confronted about her “preferred pronoun” by teachers- it was really f’ing with her head- she said to us “ I have the right to be a kid!” -way too young for this - it’s morphed into calling a boy who wants to be called her a he = hate speech GMAFB
There are only 2 genders. Asshole and Non-asshole. The spirit has no gender. The US is a very dumb nation.
Keep dropping your hearfilled comments and observations. I will be doing a full report on the "Legal Geniuses" (trademark pending) hearing. I already tweeted so they know it is coming. I like to watch them in my stats.
MLK mentions tally update: 7
does she mean her daughter is or is not gay? Nonconformist? Neutrality
All of this is so ironic, how they love to hear themselves , investigate each other etc- and never accountable for what they profit from- meanwhile there’s barely a shred of justice, understanding or sympathy for people at your local court house🙄
Not boys vs. girls....thems vs. thems these days.
All these protected classes do it lead to discrimination against others. The Constitution is very clear....equal protection under the laws.
I think she’s admitting she’s clueless
I think there are two shows playing simultaneously.
The boys vs girls are the hidden ones. Front and center are the thems vs thems/those. Nonconformists vs traditionalists
Jayapal is crying because she only found out 2 years ago that her 22 year old son was gay. She is a horrible mother.....or just really dumb. It is your child! You know before they can talk and walk.
Why is she crying, like she is embarrassed?
It will not stop. These witnesses are begging for HBCU protections. HBCUs have to stop stealin' first.
Her Flatulent Boviness expels words from her mouth......
Interesting....someone in the chat mentioned Lupron being used as a hormone blocker in kids and reminded folks it is a pallative prostate cancer med.
Kiddy lab rats
Start preaching.
Epigenetics
Even throwing out Nazis! Geesch!
I told you.....#coloredrevolution
Does no one understand "equal protections?" Get rid of protected classes because that is biased and racist and anti-american. I don't see "the poors" getting such elaborate protections.
Not even close.
This hearing was set up to push NLP in the re-engineering of child welfare. That chick is the "go-to" gal to push propaganda for profit because she is highly deficient in any legal basis of chattel law. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuro-linguistic_programming
"The irrevocable life insurance trust (ILIT) is
a valuable and commonlyused estate planning
tool. An ILIT can be beneficial for clients having
liquidity needs at death due to support obligations
for dependants or transfer taxes imposed on
assets held outside the ILIT." ~ HuschBlackwell, 2007
Husch Blackwell is the law firm Engler hired to audit Michigan State University.
I do not know why, but I immediately thought of the Children's Trust Fund when I saw they were from Kansas.
This was meant for me to find.
These are the schemes of the children's trusts.
They are specifically training through Continuing Education Credits for the Michigan State Bar attorney licensing, Insurance Wagering, when it comes to corporate parents.
These people are wagering on the trust fund, not the individual.
This is why they are pushing the co-optimization of abortion to be recognized as termination of parental rights.
"The guardian or conservator has an insurable interest in the life of the individual for whom the guardian or conservator was appointed."
That is why they are trying to "de-gender" everything.
This is legal trust nomenclature for foreign privateering the children's trust funds.
You can come in as a Child Placing Agency and get legal corporate guardianship, where you then go get some life insurance on the kid, paying the premiums probably under Medicaid, to take out a loan on the policy, wagering on the viability of the trust.
Now, since the administrator of the trust is called an "interested individual", you have a situation of NO-NAME, where you only know that there exists a pecuniary interest in the trust, not the individual, or in this instance, the child, and not who is running ops.
Are these foster children?
Are there other schemes for all the children of "The Poors"?
Are these Social Impact Bonds?
Is this predictive modeling crap?
Does the sun rise every morning?
But, it gets better.
So, it is now, not, illegal to wager on the death of the trust, and not the death of the child.
Then, just because I am very good at being morbid when it comes to child welfare in Michigan, I am going to go out there and say, only because Engler was up in this mix, that these law firms were taking out these ILIT policies.
This is the point I am inserting the entire termination of parental rights in the womb called "aborting birth" to expedite the paperwork for the insurance policies.
I am going to eventually have to map this out..
This is chattel law and I am going to go push the proverbial envelope and say that these people are pushing terminating parental rights as a form of civil asset forfeiture, where this pushes up equity in these corporate shape shifters who leverage the guardianship of the Medicaid cost reimbursement of dumb services which are also federally funded as human subject research projects of foreign universities to keep stealin' by taking out multiple mortgages on properties they got from other property tax and mortgage fraud schemes?
The termination of parental rights, or rather abortion, is the death of the child, where the corporate parent can cash in on the trust, and just issue a new birth certificate through a new birth called adoption?
These people have been expediting this child welfare rebranding.
Is this how all these Public Private Partnerships got leveraged with the Office of Michigan Attorney General?
It very much so looks that way to me.
Hey Bill, Smooches!
Dana Nessel had no idea of what she stepped into with these massively overlapping federal investigations, because she refused to listen to the people.
Do it very slowly, my precious ones, I want to watch and savor each and every morsel of my moments of retribution.
As the fallout from the Larry Nassar sex abuse scandal lingers at Michigan State University, the Board of Trustees may pursue the path that General Motors followed to move past a massive safety recall.
Officials at the state's largest public university are considering whether to authorize an independent investigation into how Nassar's decades of molestation and assaults were allowed to occur.
Dan Kelly, vice-president, MSU Board of Trustees
The hope is that such a probe could satisfy demands for a full accounting while protecting sensitive information from public dissemination — similar to how GM resolved the crisis surrounding a faulty ignition switch that was blamed for causing at least 12 deaths.
The independent investigation is being discussed by the trustees' Committee on Audit, Risk and Compliance, chaired by board Vice Chairman Dan Kelly, who said after the last board meeting Feb. 15 that he hopes such an inquiry will occur.
"There needs to be more done in terms of public disclosures," Kelly said.
Board Chairwoman Dianne Byrum added, "There (are) multiple conversations going on about how we can assist the survivors in their healing.
"Everything is on the table right now for discussion."
Trustee Brian Mosallam, who has long called for an independent investigation, said last week that nothing is finalized but there are active discussions about the nature and scope of a possible independent investigation.
He said he has made numerous statements that an independent investigation is needed for "public consumption for a number of reasons."
In May, he wrote a statement called "New Day at MSU" that said: "We must immediately begin an independent internal review of the Larry Nassar matter to demonstrate to our courageous survivors, their families and all other MSU stakeholders (and government and regulatory authorities) that drastic voluntary remediation is better late than never."
The issue is heating up as MSU faces criticism from Nassar victims and state investigators for withholding more than 6,000 documents from the Michigan Attorney General's Office, citing attorney-client privilege. That probe has resulted in criminal charges against three former MSU officials, including ex-president Lou Anna Simon, but many say a deeper, broader inquiry is needed.
Those critics argue the AG's investigationis limited in scope and is not enough for MSU to understand what happened, to make changes and to ultimately allow victims, their families and the community to create a better culture.
"We need to look at what happened and why it happened," said Rachael Denhollander, the first woman to publicly accuse Nassar of sexual assault. "If we don’t find out those answers, it will be very difficult in looking forward."
GM, the nation's largest automaker, found itself in a similar situation five years ago, as scrutiny mounted over what the company knew and when it knew it about the defective ignition switches used in its Chevrolet Cobalt compact cars.
At the time, the automaker had known for more than a decade about the problems and faced several investigations, yet hadn't begun three recalls of the affected cars until January2014.
CEO Mary Barra, who had been on the job for two months, apologized shortly after the recalls, emphasized it had taken too long and added she had told Anton Valukas, a former U.S. attorney who was leading GM's internal review, that there would be no roadblocks or "sacred cows."
Two and a half months later, Valukas delivered an independent report that found a "pattern of incompetence and neglect" led to the delay of the recalls by nearly a decade. In response, GM fired 15 employees, disciplined five others and made major changes at the company to identify, elevate and train around safety issues.
"We failed these customers," Barra told employees during a town hall meeting in June 2014 after the report was released. "We must face up to it and learn from it. To that end, on behalf of GM, we pledge that we will use the findings and recommendations from this report as a template for strengthening our company."
Experts say an independent investigation is often the first thing an entity will do to resolve an issue and demonstrate transparency.
"It looks good to the outside world to have a third-party investigator," said Michelle Krebs, a Detroit-based executive analyst for Autotrader, a car shopping website operated by Cox Automotive. "Internally, it allows them to do it in a way that internal politics can’t get in the way. It is indeed a third party, not someone in the company who has bias."
Krebs noted that Ford Motor Co. announced last month that employee concerns prompted an outside investigation of whether incorrect computer modeling might have caused it to misstate fuel economy and emissions for government testing.
She also pointed to a 2010 third party investigation conducted as Toyota recalled millions of vehicles after reports of unintended acceleration that were suspected in the deaths of at least 89 people.
"You need to get out in front of it, fast," Krebs said. "Because then you get it over with more quickly.
Then you can get on with your business; otherwise, it’s this cloud that hangs over the company, the institution, longer than it needs to and it delays putting into practice new processes to prevent it from ever happening again."
That's exactly what MSU needs, Denhollander said. Nassar was enabled in his crimes by conduct at MSU that was not necessarily illegal, such as reporting failures, communication silos and training shortfalls, she said.
"This is a healthy step that many organizations have taken much faster than MSU," Denhollander said. "We want to know what went wrong so we can deal with it."
Many have called on Michigan State to do an independent investigation since the earliest public allegations against Nassar in September 2016. But until now, the idea has faced resistance from many university leaders.
Then-university spokesman Jason Cody addressed it in November 2017.
"As for the call for an independent investigation, the FBI and MSU Police Department conducted a joint investigation earlier this year to determine whether any university employee other than Nassar engaged in criminal conduct," Cody said. "The results of that investigation were sent to the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan. We have no reason to believe that any criminal conduct was found."
More recently, former interim President John Engler addressed an independent investigation days before he was forced to resign under pressure In January, saying that such a probe had already been done by Husch Blackwell, a Kansas City law firm that examined MSU's Title IX process.
"There are some people who want to continue to investigate and inquire into lots of things," Engler said. "I wouldn't support any more. ... We're trying to get rid of lawyers and consultants now. We're trying to go back to work."
In January 2018, MSU trustees asked then-Attorney General Bill Schuette to do an investigation into the university's role in the Nassar scandal in the wake of testimony by more than 150 women about the former sports doctor's crimes. The university promised it would cooperate.
MSU handed over reams of documents, including some that had nothing to do with the Nassar investigation.
Officials at the attorney general's office, under Schuette and his successor, Dana Nessel, have alleged that MSU blocked its investigation by withholding documents under attorney-client privilege. Part of MSU's argument for doing so is that the university is still in litigation with insurance companies.
As lawyers in the Attorney General's Office went to court to have a judge review the withheld documents, Nessel said in January that it appears her office is not going to see the majority of those documents because MSU has "fought this office every step of the way."
Proponents of an independent investigation at MSU say an outside investigator could review the privileged documents to see what's in them and include them in a final report without making attorney-client discussions public.
"We want answers. All the answers," said Sterling Riethman, who was among the scores of gymnasts and other athletes assaulted by Nassar. "To get those, we need both an independent investigation and the remaining documents to be turned over to the AG’s office.
"If MSU wants to show us that they’ve truly turned a corner, the solution is simple: Engage and encourage the independent investigation we’ve been advocating for, and release the remaining documents to the AG’s office."
BRIEF SUMMARY: The bills would put in place additional protections for certain assets of wards and protected individuals, in order to prevent misuse or fraud by guardians and conservators.
FISCAL IMPACT: These bills would have a minimal fiscal impact on the judiciary system. The bills' new requirements may cause an increase in administrative workload for some courts, depending upon the number of relevant cases they handle.
THE APPARENT PROBLEM:
In recent years, several high profile stories about guardians and conservators bilking elderly or disabled individuals of their life savings have received media attention. In 1991 and 2000, several officials with a professional guardianship business, Guardian Inc., were sentenced to prison on charges of fraud and embezzlement involving hundreds of clients in Wayne County. More recently, dozens of seniors in Eaton County have been victims of guardians and conservators with a combined loss of over $3 million.
The Estates and Protected Individuals Code establishes the rules for when a guardian may be appointed to take care of an individual and when a conservator may be appointed to take care of an individual's financial affairs. A person can have both a guardian and a conservator appointed on his or her behalf. Generally speaking, a guardian is appointed when a finding is made by a court that a person is legally incapacitated—that is, unable to make informed decisions about his or her own care and custody. During the process to determine if an individual is legally incapacitated, a guardian ad litem is appointed to represent the best interests of the individual if he or she does not already have legal counsel of his or her own choosing. A person who has had a guardian assigned is referred to as a "ward" and a person who has had a conservator appointed to take care of his or her money or property is referred to as a "protected individual."
Most often, the person appointed as a guardian or conservator is a relative, such as a spouse, child, or parent, although a guardian or conservator can also be a neighbor, attorney, bank, or business that operates a service as professional guardians and/or conservators. In some cases, the petitioner for guardianship is a government worker, i.e, a social services caseworker. Current law requires certain duties of a guardian, a conservator, and a guardian ad litem (who may be an attorney, social worker, or volunteer). For instance, guardians and conservators are required to file documentation of how the ward is cared for and how the personal property of the protected individual is managed.
Discovering why abuses continue to happen despite current protections in law and how to stop those abuses has been the subject of several formal and informal task forces convened since the mid-1990s, the largest being a task force on guardianships and conservators convened by the state Supreme Court in the mid-1990s and a more recent one convened by the governor in 2005 and 2006 on elder abuse. Though both task forces compiled recommendations believed to be necessary to protect the state's vulnerable citizens, few of those recommendations have been implemented.
For example, Michigan law prohibits a conservator from selling the home of a protected individual in his or her care without prior court approval. Yet, there are no prohibitions in place preventing the conservator from opening up a line-of-credit loan on the home's equity, or other type of home equity loan that essentially strips the home of its value, and then through fraud or mismanagement, use up the proceeds. It is believed that requiring a conservator to obtain court approval before a home equity loan could be secured would give an additional layer of oversight that could stop unnecessary or intentionally fraudulent loans from being made, thus protecting the assets of the protected individual.
In light of the growing numbers of guardian and conservator appointments, and the continuing problems with foreclosures associated with refinance loans, legislation has been offered to implement several more recommendations of the task forces.
THE CONTENT OF THE BILLS:
House Bills 4619, 5192, and 6272 taken together would amend several sections of the Estates and Protected Individuals Code (EPIC) to require a guardian ad litem to ask about the amount of assets considered as "liquid assets" belonging to the individual and include an estimate of the amount in his or her report to the court; grant a court discretion under certain circumstances to order the guardian to petition for appointment of a conservator; prohibit a conservator from selling, mortgaging, or disposing of the protected individual's property without court approval; and require, with certain exceptions, a conservator to furnish a bond.
House Bill 5192 and 6272 are tie-barred to each other and to House Bill 4619 (previously reported). Consequently, the bills could not go into effect unless the bills to which they are tie-barred are also enacted into law. House Bill 4619, previously reported by the Senior Health, Security, and Retirement Committee, has passed the House and is pending Senate committee action.
House Bill 4916
House Bill 4619 would amend the Estates and Protected Individuals Code (MCL 700.5305). In addition to the current duties of a guardian ad litem (GAL) appointed for an individual alleged to be incapacitated, the bill would require a GAL to ask the individual and the petitioner for guardianship about the amount of cash and property readily convertible into cash that is in the individual's estate (liquid assets).
Under the bill, if a court determined that the total amount of cash and property readily convertible into cash exceeded the limit for administering a small estate under Section 3982 of the act, or if the court determined that financial protection was required for the ward for another reason, a court could order the guardian to petition for the appointment of a conservator or for another protective order for the ward's estate. If a conservator had not been appointed for a ward's estate, and the guardian determined that there were more liquid assets in the ward's estate than were reported by the guardian ad litem, the guardian would have to report the amount of the additional cash or property to the court.
As a part of his or her duties, a guardian ad litem must also make numerous determinations. The determinations must be included in the report the GAL prepares for the court. The bill would revise one of the required determinations. Currently, the GAL must determine whether there are one or more appropriate alternatives to the appointment of a full guardian. The code lists as alternatives the appointment of a limited guardian; appointment of a conservator or another protective order; or execution of a patient advocate designation, do-not-resuscitate declaration (DNR), or durable power of attorney. The bill would require the GAL to also determine whether one or more actions should be taken in addition to the appointment of a guardian, and would require the GAL to consider the appropriateness of at least each of the listed alternatives described above as alternatives or additional actions to the appointment of a guardian (e.g., guardian and conservator, or guardian and DNR order, etc.). In addition, in the report informing the court of the determinations, a GAL would have to include an estimate of the amount of cash and property readily convertible into cash that is in the individual’s estate.
House Bill 5192
The bill would amend the Estates and Protected Individuals Code (MCL 700.5410) to require a conservator to furnish a bond if the estate in question exceeded the small estate threshold. Specifically, a court would have to require the conservator, with some exceptions, to furnish a bond if the court determined that the value of cash and property readily convertible into cash in the estate and in the conservator's control exceeded the small estate threshold for administering a decedent's estate, adjusted under Section 1210 for the year in which the conservator was appointed. This requirement would not apply if one or more of the following applied:
·The estate contained no property readily convertible to cash and the cash was in a restricted account with a financial institution.
·The conservator had been granted trust powers under Section 4401 of the Banking Code.
·The court determined that requiring a bond would impose a financial hardship on the estate.
·The court stated on the record the reasons why a bond was not necessary.
The bill would take effect April 1, 2011.
House Bill 6272
The bill would amend the Estates and Protected Individuals Code (MCL 700.5422 and 700.5423) to specifically prohibit a conservator from mortgaging, pledging, or causing a lien to be placed on the protected individual's home without court approval. Currently, a conservator must obtain approval from the court in order to sell or otherwise dispose of the protected individual's real property (in general, land and buildings or fixtures on the land) or interest in real property. A sale or other disposal of real property or an interest in real property can only be approved if, after a hearing with notice to interested persons and consideration of evidence of the value of the property, the court determines the sale or disposal of the real property is in the protected individual's best interest. Under the bill, these provisions would also extend to a conservator's ability to mortgage, pledge, or cause a lien to be placed on the protected individual's real property or interest in real property.
A conservator would be required to record an order allowing the sale, disposal, mortgage, or pledge or placement of a lien on real property in the records of the register of deeds for the county in which the real property is located. Unless the order had been recorded or a person to whom an interest in the property was transferred had been given a copy of the order, the person would not be entitled to presume that the conservator had the power to make the transaction.
The bill would take effect April 1, 2011.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
The bills are reintroductions of House Bills 5186-5188 of the 2007-2008 legislative session. Those bills were passed by the House of Representatives but failed to see Senate action. Supporters of last year’s initiative included the AARP Michigan, the Michigan Probate Judges Association, and the Michigan Probate Court Association.
ARGUMENTS:
For:
In many cases, petitions to appoint guardians for individuals are filed by people unfamiliar with the duties of guardians or conservators. Petitions are also filed by social service workers or health care workers who may not be familiar with the personal details of the individual. Thus, it often happens that an individual for whom a guardian is appointed has a substantial estate that should be under the management of a conservator. If the guardian is not astute in money management, or is corrupt, the ward's assets can easily be frittered away or stolen.
One easy way to identify those cases in which a conservator should also be appointed is to have the guardian ad litem (GAL) assigned by the court make some initial inquiries as to the amount of cash and personal or real property – that could be easily converted into cash – that is owned by the individual. The GAL process is a fairly quick assessment of the individual's situation, and many GALs are either volunteers or paid below current market for their services. Therefore, the bill would not require an exact figure, which could take days or weeks to determine. However, even a few well placed questions can identify an estate that perhaps should be under the management of a conservator.
To that end, House Bill 4196 would require the GAL to include an estimate of the individual's liquid assets in the section of his or her report to the court in which a determination of whether or not an appointment of a conservator or another protective order would be an appropriate alternative or additional action to appointment of a guardian. The bill would also establish a threshold for the size of the estate for which a court could--but would not be mandated to--require the newly appointed guardian to petition for a conservator to manage the estate. If the guardian found assets that the GAL did not know about, and therefore did not report to the court, the bill would put an onus on the guardian to report those assets. The court could then reconsider whether a conservator should be appointed.
Identifying the amount of the liquid assets up front could also alert the potential guardian that if a conservator were not appointed, it would be his or her duty to responsibly manage the ward's estate. Knowing the amount of the funds involved may also help the court in its determination as to the suitability of a particular person's appointment as guardian.
For:
House Bill 6272 would close a loophole in the law that enables a conservator to obtain a mortgage or home equity loan on the home of a protected individual (the person found to be legally incapacitated). Reportedly, there have been cases of conservators stripping homes of equity through various loan products and then either embezzling those funds or mismanaging them. Regardless, the result is that when the protected individual needs that equity to provide for his or her needs, or to pass on to an heir, it is gone. Requiring court approval should add an extra layer of protection. This is particularly important in light of the numerous mortgage products offered today and the problems that have arisen from subprime loans.
For:
House Bill 5192 would address another concern raised by the Michigan Supreme Court and Governor Granholm's task forces to end elder abuse. Under the bill, a conservator would have to furnish a bond if the estate exceeded the small estate threshold. If the conservator mismanaged or pilfered the assets, the bond would cover the loss to the protected individual. Basically, requiring a bond would provide another layer of oversight which should discourage fraud. Insurance companies providing the bonds also have the resources to aggressively go after "bad apples" and collect from those conservators the money paid out by the bond. An insurer is also apt to deny a bond to a person who has a sketchy credit history, a criminal history, or otherwise appears to be a bad risk; thus, without a bond, the person could not be appointed conservator.
So that the bond requirement would not provide hardship or be ordered unnecessarily, there would be several exceptions. For instance, if the conservator were the spouse or child of the individual, and it appeared the relative would provide proper care and management of the assets, a court would not have to require a bond, though the court would have to record the reasons why it determined the bond was unnecessary.
For:
As a package, the bills would provide a few more layers of oversight and protection for those for whom a guardian and/or conservator is appointed and would do so with minimal to no cost to the state. The measures won't cure all that ails the system, but will screen out some bad actors from being appointed guardians or conservators, will identify upfront some estates that should go into conservatorship that would be missed under the present process, and will provide a financial mechanism for protected individuals cheated by a conservator to recoup some or all of their losses.
Against:
The bills are an excellent first step in implementing some quick, low-cost fixes. However, according to an article published in AARP The Magazine entitled "Stolen Lives" in February, 2004, even professional guardians receive little training and are not required in most jurisdictions to be certified. By comparison, those certified by the National Guardianship Foundation, the certification arm of the National Guardianship Association, must adhere to a code of ethics and undergo continuing education. According to the article, "the vast majority of the (then) estimated 600,000 Americans under guardianship are receiving care from people without certification." Requiring certification of professional guardians, or even providing some minimal training and refresher courses for friends or family members appointed as guardians, could also help to protect the assets of wards from mismanagement or out and out fraud.
POSITIONS:
A representative of Elder Law of Michigan testified in support of House Bill 4619. (6-10-10)
A representative of the Michigan Advocacy Project indicated support for House Bill 4619. (6-10-10)
A representative of the Office of Services to the Aging testified in support of House Bills 5192 and 6272. (7-21-10)
The Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan (PAAM) indicated support for House Bills 5192 and 6272. (7-21-10)
A representative of the Long Term Care Ombudsman indicated support for House Bills 5192 and 6272. (7-21-10)
The Michigan Bankers Association indicated a position of neutrality on House Bill 5192.
Bob Young, the man John Engler brought in to be the chief lawyer at Michigan State University, has been fired, just weeks after Engler stepped down as interim president under pressure.
Young, the university's vice president and general counsel, will walk away with nearly $1.3 million — the full amount of his three-year contract, Emily Guerrant, MSU spokeswoman confirmed. Young worked for the university for eight months.
MSU acting President Satish Udpa announced the dismissal of Young in a statement, but did not address why he was let go.
“We appreciate that Bob stepped in last year to help the university with the settlement and many legal issues facing MSU. It was a time of transition in the general counsel’s office,” Udpa said.
He added that Brian Quinn, deputy general counsel, will take on the role of acting general counsel.
Reached on Saturday, Guerrant would not explain why Udpa wanted to fire Young but said the former Michigan Supreme Court justice would get the full payout of his contract.
"He's not happy about it," Guerrant said of Udpa having to honor Young's contract that was ended more than two years early. "But he will do it."
Rachael Denhollander, the first woman to accuse Nassar of sexual assault, tweeted Saturday that "this is the first specific time I can say MSU valued what is right, and the message it is sending MORE than money."
"Thank you, (Michigan State)," she tweeted. "Thank you to acting President Udpa, and to the members of the Board of Trustees) who supported this. This means a great deal to survivors."
When Young's contract began in June, officials said could be dismissed for any reason, but that he would only be denied pay if terminated for cause.
Many MSU officials and several board members, could not be reached for comment Friday evening. A message seeking comment from Young was left at the MSU general counsel's office.
Trustee Joel Ferguson declined comment, saying board members agreed not to talk about the issue and let the university-issued statement stand.
Young, a former chief justice of the Michigan Supreme Court and a longtime ally of Engler, had angered victims of serial sex abuser Larry Nassar while serving as MSU's point person in negotiations that resulted in a $500 million settlement with more than 300 women.
"Fantastic news to end the day," tweeted Jacob Denhollander, the husband of Denhollander.
John Manly, an attorney who represented the majority of Nassar's victims in the $500 million settlement with MSU, called Young "John Engler's legal attack dog."
"Instead of attacking the university's insurance companies and encouraging them to settle the cases, instead he chose a tactic where he would try to attack the survivors," Manly said. "He always treated the survivors as adversaries."
Manly said Young should have advised MSU to embrace the survivors, admit responsibility and apologize, arguing that would have lowered the amount MSU paid.
Instead, Manly said, Young "revictimized the survivors and utterly decimated MSU’s reputation."
Manly also said Young, as MSU's lead counsel, did not cooperate with the Michigan Attorney General's investigation into Michigan State and worked to withhold information under attorney-client privilege.
Manly also said a report from the U.S. Department of Education that slammed MSU for its noncompliance with the Clery Act "was sitting on his desk" since December but the board did not know about it.
"I think that is a big part of" his firing, said Manly.
Engler, who took over MSU as interim president in February 2018 after the resignation of President Lou Anna Simon, brought in Young later that month to join a new legal team as the school struggled to cope with the fallout from the Larry Nassar sex abuse scandal.
After the historic $500 million settlement was reached in May, Engler appointed Young as vice president and general counsel, effective June 1.
That month, the Board of Trustees approved Young's three-year contract, which came with a $425,000 salary.Trustees Dan Kelly, Dianne Byrum and Brian Mosallam voted no.
During the meeting, one of Nassar's victims, Kaylee Lorincz, lobbied the board to refrain from permanently hiring Young.
Then Engler was asked why Young was given a three-year contract when Engler, as interim president, would be gone before then, Engler said MSU needed to persuade Young to leave his law firm, that Young had negotiated the $500 million settlement and by the time the agreement is complete, Young's remaining time with MSU would be about 2 1/2 years.
"So somebody who has been part of that negotiation should be there to see it to its conclusion," Engler said.
Engler stepped down Jan. 16 at the request of trustees after he sparked a backlash by saying that some of Nassar's victims were "enjoying" the spotlight.
Steve Penny, former president of USA Gymnastics, was arrested Wednesday night for allegedly tampering with evidence in the case of disgraced team doctor Larry Nassar.
Penny was arrested by the U.S. Marshals service in Tennessee on a warrant issued by the state of Texas. He was indicted by a grand jury on a charge of tampering with evidence, a felony, on Sept. 28.
He allegedly removed documents from the Karolyi Ranch, the U.S. gymnastics' training facility in Huntsville, Texas, related to Nassar's activity at the gym.
I bet those were financial docs of what they were doing with the tiny humans.
"The indictment further alleges that the removal of the documents was done for the purpose of impairing the ongoing investigation by destroying or hiding the documents," the U.S. Marshals said in a press release. He allegedly ordered the documents be sent to him at USA Gymnastics headquarters in Indianapolis. Those documents have never been recovered, authorities said.
U.S. Marshals Service ~ Nice modernization of the perp walk.The U.S. Marshals Service shared a photo of former USA Gymnastics President Steve Penny being arrested in Gatlinburg, Tenn., on Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2018, for allegedly tampering with evidence in the Larry Nassar case.+
Penny was taken into custody at a cabin in rural Gatlinburg, Tennessee, by the U.S. Marshals and Smoky Mountains Fugitive Task Force, according to authorities. He is awaiting extradition to Texas.
He faces up to 10 years in prison, if convicted.
The Karolyi Ranch was operated by Bela Karolyi and wife Marta Karolyi, the two people tasked with selecting and developing athletes for the U.S. national team. It served as the national team's training facility from 2001 until earlier this year. Nassar worked at the facility and several of his accusers said they were abused by him at the facility.
Penny resigned as USA Gymnastics president in March 2017 amid allegations of sexual abuse against Nassar. Nassar pleaded guilty to seven counts of child molestation, but more than 130 women and girls, including Olympic gold medalists Simone Biles, Gabby Douglas and Aly Raisman, have accused him of assaulting them. Many of those accusers testified at a hearing in January when he was sentenced to up to 175 years in prison. He pleaded guilty in two other cases — one pertaining to assault and another possession of child pornography — as well.
Rhonda Faehn, Penny's former deputy, testified to the Senate in June that she brought up allegations of misconduct to him and she was told to keep quiet. Penny, who appeared before the same committee, chose to plead the Fifth and not testify.
AFP/Getty Images, FILEFormer Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar stands in Ingham County Circuit Court on Nov. 22, 2017 in Lansing, Mich.more +
In a statement, USA Gymnastics said that it had "learned of the charges filed against its former CEO Steve Penny, who resigned in March 2017. We support law enforcement's efforts and have fully cooperated with the investigations by the Texas Rangers, Congress and others, and will continue to do so to help the survivors and our community heal from this tragedy."
USA Gymnastics has been in near-constant turmoil since the Indianapolis Star broke the story in September 2016 of Nassar's abuse of gymnasts under his care, both with the U.S. national team, where he was the team doctor, and at Michigan State University, where he was a faculty member. Nassar had been dismissed from his job with the U.S. national team in 2015, but only said it was done due to "athlete concerns."
After Penny's departure in March 2017, he was replaced by Kerry Perry in November 2017. But Perry's tenure was marked by consistent criticism over the handling of the Nassar scandal as well. She resigned less than a year after being named as Penny's replacement.
Perry was criticized by stars, like Raisman, over her lack of transparency about how the organization planned to protect athletes going forward. She resigned days after she hired Mary Lee Tracy, in part to replace the Karolyis, as the sport's top coach. The hiring of Tracy received condemnation from athletes because she supported Nassar in the immediate wake of accusations against him.
In this Tuesday, June 5, 2018 photo, former USA Gymnastics president Steve Penny invokes his right not to answer questions in a Senate Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, Insurance, and Data Security, on Capitol Hill in Washington.+
But the neverending parade of presidents didn't end with Perry's ouster.
Just this week, former Congresswoman Mary Bono, who was tasked with replacing Perry as interim president of USA Gymnastics, was forced out for a pair of scandals -- less than a week since her hiring. A day after her hiring, Biles criticized Bono, a Republican, for a photo posted on Twitter in which she was shown blacking out a Nike logo over the company's hiring of Colin Kaepernick as spokesperson. She publicly apologized for the photo.
A few days later, Raisman joined calls for Bono's ouster after discovering that Bono worked for the same law firm that worked with USA Gymnastics during the Nassar scandal and crafted excuses for his absences.
Bono was not directly involved in the law firm's representation of USA Gymnastics, but she stepped down nonetheless on Tuesday.
Penny is one of at least three people arrested in connection with the handling of the Nassar scandal. Debbie Van Horn, a trainer who worked with Nassar, was arrested last month in Walker County, Texas. She has denied charges, according to her lawyer, who spoke to the Houston Chronicle.
William Strampel, the former dean of Michigan State University's osteopathic medical school and boss of Larry Nassar while he was a sports doctor there, was charged March 27 with neglect of duty and criminal sexual conduct. His case will go to trial at a yet-to-be-scheduled date.
The nephew of Jim Jordan, Eli Stickley, passed away in an automobile accident on July 6, 2018.
Much love.
I am not making any inference to any possibility of nefarious actions behind this tragedy, but I am emphatically saying that Perkins Coie Sucks.
Our hearts are heavy today. The entire Badger wrestling family extends its most heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Eli Stickley, our brother and teammate, who passed away last night. Our thoughts and prayers are with Eli’s family and friends. pic.twitter.com/fu365srutx
— Wisconsin Wrestling (@BadgerWrestling) July 6, 2018
With that said, gather round, boys, girls, and very tiny woodland creatures for the Celestial Goddess of the Woodshed speaks:
Did not Perkins Coie, "Legal Geniuses" (trademark pending), just run the same game on another ranking member of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee to take them out of office because they formally requested the Inspector General investigations into the U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation?
Let us sit back and observe how many members of the House Freedom Caucus are compromised.
Perkins Coie, "Legal Geniuses" (trademark pending), is really good at spinning yarns on high ranking members of the U.S. House of Representatives.
But, the Celestial Goddess of the Woodshed is better unraveling those spun yarns, due to the fact that Perkins Coie, "Legal Geniuses" (trademark pending) was really, uber, mean to her Sweetie.
Jim Jordan is slated for the Committee Chairmanship of Judiciary, the Congressional Committee which possesses the powers of impeachment hearings.
When Trump impeachment hearings commence, that means Perkins Coie "Legal Geniuses" (trademark pending) will be found to have been really, uber, mean to my Sweetie.
These accusations against Jim Jordan come at a very conspicuous time considering the fact that the DOJ failed to turn the requested documents to the Judiciary and Oversight Committees surrounding the FISA debaucle.
See, I keep on telling everyone, the DOJ does not want to turn over the FISA wiretap documents to the Committees because the DOJ was wiretapping the Committee.
Jim, your friends are close, but your enemies are closer.
Fear not, my faithful servant, for the Celestial Goddess of the Woodshed shall smite them, considering the fact that they were mean to my Sweetie.
House Freedom Caucus members are being urged to stand by Rep. Jim Jordan amid allegations that he knew about, but did not report, the alleged sexual abuse of wrestlers he coached at Ohio State University in the early 1990s.
Rep. Mark Meadows, who chairs the House Freedom Caucus, called on members to support Jordan, an Ohio Republican who's one of the founders of the conservative voting bloc.
"I have always known Jim Jordan to be a man of the utmost character, honor and integrity. As the independent investigation is concluded, I'm confident people will learn the truth and it will confirm all he has said about the situation," the North Carolina Republican told CNN on Friday. "I'm proud to stand by Jim Jordan and support him 100% and call on all of my colleagues to do the same."
It remains unclear, however, whether the nearly three dozen lawmakers who make up the Freedom Caucus will heed Meadows' advice and defend Jordan publicly when they return to Capitol Hill next week.
Jordan has spoken to more than a dozen Freedom Caucus members since the allegations became public and believes he has the support of everyone with whom he has discussed the situation, a source close to Jordan noted.
CNN reached out to the offices of conservative members—including those in the Freedom Caucus—on Friday and received only a few responses, along with the one provided by Meadows. The House was not in session on Friday, and most members were in their districts for recess.
Republican Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado, also a member of the Freedom Caucus, described Jordan as "the real deal" in a statement to CNN.
"His integrity and willingness to tackle tough issues for those who don't have a voice is unmatched by anyone in Congress. It is inconceivable to me that Jim would ignore complaints of sexual abuse by athletes he clearly loved and respected."
A spokesman for another conservative member, Rep. Andy Biggs, pointed to a comment he made to USA Today in defense of Jordan.
"I know Jim and Jim has said ... this is a complete fabrication and that's good enough for me," he said. "I'm all in for Jim."
The source close to Jordan said his allies have questioned the timing of the allegations, noting the claims come at a time when Jordan is "ascendant" and are related to events that took place decades ago.
"The (Freedom Caucus) members have spoken to Jim. They believe him. They have worked with him for a long time," the source said. "It took 20 years for this to come out, and you're saying he should've known?"
Jordan himself has questioned why the claims he turned a blind eye to the alleged sexual misconduct of a university sports doctor are only just now bubbling up.
Speaking to reporters in Ohio on Thursday, Jordan noted the timing of the Ohio State allegations was "kind of interesting" given his high-profile grilling last week of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, which came during a hearing on the 2016 presidential race and Russian meddling in the election.
"The timing is kind of interesting. It's right after the big hearing with Mr. Rosenstein. It's right when there's all this talk about a speaker's race," he said.
Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Republican who sits on the Judiciary Committee with Jordan and says he spoke to the Ohio congressman this week, said he was very "frustrated" about the accusations that his colleague had overlooked sexual abuse while he was a wrestling coach more than two decades ago.
"It's BS. And the timing is suspect," Gaetz told CNN on Friday in a phone interview.
Echoing concerns Jordan and others have raised this week, Gaetz argued the wrestling scandal could be political retribution for Jordan's intense grilling of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein last week and ahead of the committee's hearing with FBI agent Peter Strzok next week.
"And if this is a message that if people ask tough questions and demand oversight like Jim Jordan has (and) that they could be targets of baseless accusations, that is not good for the Congress," Gaetz said.
Another member of Congress close to Jordan told CNN on Thursday that Jordan plans to return to Washington next week and fight the allegations.
"The plan is going to be: Fight back," the member said. The member called the allegations against Jordan "an attack on all of us," and also raised concerns about the timing.
The lawmaker questioned why more of Jordan's conservative colleagues haven't emerged publicly to defend him.
"I'm a little surprised that you haven't seen a ton of Freedom Caucus members and the Freedom Caucus as an entity universally condemning this. Compare it to Mark Sanford: When the President raps Mark Sanford, the Freedom Caucus comes out with a unified voice and says we stand with Mark Sanford and this is inappropriate," the member said, referring to Trump's recent decision to go after the Republican representative from South Carolina in a tweet and in a closed-door meeting with the House GOP conference.
A former adviser to Jordan defended him by noting the six-term congressman had helped her when she suffered sexual harassment on Capitol Hill.
"He's someone I inherently trust -- when I was a victim of sexual harassment while working on Capitol Hill ... he was a member that I sought counsel from on how to handle it and who advised me on how to report it," the former adviser said. "I don't know anyone who knows Jim that thinks he'd ever ignore wrongful behavior -- especially of this terrible degree. It's completely out of step with his character."
While Trump on Thursday publicly stood by Jordan, who is among his close allies on Capitol Hill, a White House aide said the White House is not likely to wage a sustained campaign of on-record defense for the congressman.
"I highly doubt we'll publicly defend him but I'm sure the President will continue to personally," the aide said. "I'm sure Sarah Sanders doesn't want to deal with it at all."
In the wider House Republican conference, however, some say Jordan has few allies willing to defend him against the scandal. House Speaker Paul Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican, has said he supports a full investigation of the allegations, and Jordan's office has confirmed he will cooperate with investigators.
"He's made a lot of enemies over the years. The knives are going to be out for Jim Jordan after these allegations," said a senior GOP congressional aide. "He has rubbed a lot of people the wrong way through his tactics with the Freedom Caucus. So don't expect a lot of goodwill towards him in this situation."
Jordan had privately mulled a bid for the speakership as conservatives look for ways to consolidate their power during the coming GOP leadership shuffle. But the Ohio congressman's leverage in negotiations for any position of power has been severely diminished as a result of the allegations, the senior congressional aide noted.
"I don't think he ever really had a shot, but this pretty much kills any real chance he had of winning over the conference," the aide said.
What we have here, is a situation of a former Michigan Supreme Court Justice, Bob Young, now in the private capacity of representing a former Michigan Governor, John Engler, who is in a private position representing a public university, MSU, in the public matter of a criminal investigation in the trafficking of tiny humans and child rape, which was funded through public Title IX funds, through an publicly appointed special counsel, Bill Forsyth, by a Michigan Attorney General, Bill Schuette, crying "attorney-client privilege" regarding publicly funded email communications of a public university dealing with questionable activities federal fraud.
Michigan State University has filed a motion to quash a search warrant served against it by the Michigan Attorney General's Office as part of an investigation into the school's handling of sexual abuse allegations against disgraced sports doctor Larry Nassar.
The search warrant was served this week after special prosecutor William Forsyth had threatened to obtain it for documents he said the university is "wrongfully withholding"that relate to the investigation.
But MSU said the documents the attorney general wants are privileged, and filed its motion to quash the warrant Thursday in Ingham County's 54-B District Court.
The university is willing to share all of the material with the judge and allow him to determine, case by case, if the materials are protected by privilege, said MSU spokeswoman Emily Guerrant.
“We stand behind our previous position on this issue, that the attorney general is not entitled to examine our lawyer’s communication and legal advice to the university,” said Robert Young, general counsel for MSU.
“We have been cooperating with the attorney general’s investigation, and will continue to do so,"
Young said. "We are willing to share the documents in question with the judge if he wishes to individually review our privileged communications and make an independent opinion on the issue. This continues our cooperation in the investigation and also does not waive our attorney-client privilege.”
Officials from the AG's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Unique circumstances of individual cases may
give rise to issues not addressed by this document, which may necessitate further discussion and
agreement.
I am pretty sure there is more going on than just the Title IX investigation because this protocol document was created March 18, 2019 where the file name is tagged with "assets".
Michigan State University's alumni executive director is under investigation by the school's Title IX office and has resigned, the school confirmed to the Free Press.
Scott Westerman
Scott Westerman, associate vice president for alumni relations and executive director of the MSU Alumni Association, told the school his resignation will take effect July 31. His resignation letter said he was moving to Florida to be closer to family and return to the private sector.
Bob Thomas will serve as interim director of the MSU Alumni Association while a search for a new executive director is conducted, MSU spokeswoman Emily Guerrant told the Free Press after the newspaper asked about Westerman's status.
A complaint was filed against Westerman with the school's Office for Institutional Equity on Feb. 9, Guerrant confirmed. The investigation is ongoing. Further details weren't available. The OIE investigates discrimination, harassment, and violations of the school's Anti-Discrimination Policy and Policy on Relationship Violence and Sexual Misconduct.
Westerman is the latest high profile member of MSU's administration to leave. The university is going with ongoing fallout from the Larry Nassar case, along with other federal lawsuits alleging coverups of sexual assault reports.
Westerman has been at MSU since 2010, when he took over as leader of the university's alumni association.
He came to the university to MSU from Albuquerque, N.M., where he was an area vice president for Comcast Corp.’s West Division. Westerman obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree in telecommunication from MSU in 1978. In 2001, he was awarded the MSU College of Communication Arts and Sciences Distinguished Alumnus award. Before coming to MSU as an employee, he was active in the school's alumni association, including chairing its national alumni board.
A number of MSU officals have left the university in recent months, starting with President Lou Anna Simon, who resigned under heavy pressure for her handling of the Larry Nassar case.
Athletic Director Mark Hollis stepped down as well in January, a couple of days after the NCAA announced an investigation into the school's handling of Nassar and hours before ESPN released a report critical of the athletic department handling of sexual assault accusations.
Robert Noto, the university's top lawyer, left in February. Before he left, MSU Trustee Brian Mossallam called for Noto to step down over his work during the Nassar case.
U.S. Marshals Service
AFP/Getty Images, FILE
