Chic Justice

🚨 THE COURTS BELONG TO THE PEOPLE. YOUR VOICE MATTERS. Has Michigan’s probate system left you fighting to see someone you love, defending their wishes, or struggling to afford another day in court? I know how personal this fight is. Behind every case number is a person, a family, and a life that cannot be replaced. In 2027, Voices in Probate (VIPs) is teaming up with Howe and White for a People’s Listening Tour to hear and document your experiences. Dates and locations are coming soon. Were your loved one’s chosen protections ignored? Were you denied a hearing, threatened with jail, or left with mounting legal bills and unanswered questions? We want your story—and the records that support it, including denial letters. If you spoke at the 2019 Listening Tour, we also want to know: What happened after you were heard? Request an intake form: 📧 [email protected] 🌐 mijudicialintegrityproject.c… Accountability starts with making the record impossible to ignore. Share these flyers. Help us reach the families who still believe no one is listening. #VoicesInProbate #MichiganJudicialIntegrityProject #GuardianshipAbuse #ProbateReform #justiceforbettyhayes

THE STORY THAT CONNECTED MY MOTHER’S GUARDIANSHIP TO AN INVESTIGATION PUBLISHED YEARS BEFORE OUR NIGHTMARE BEGAN. In 2019, investigative journalist Gretchen Rachel Hammond published The Fortress, a five-part investigation exposing deeply troubling practices within Michigan’s probate courts. I had no idea how important that investigation would become in my own life. While researching my mother’s court-appointed guardian ad litem, Melinda Cameron, I discovered Part Three of the series, Profiting from Protection. There was Cameron’s name, connected to the heartbreaking story of an elderly Michigan man named Thomas Howard. Howard had a neighbor and friend, Dr. Bashar Abou-Rass, who cared enough to fight for him. When Howard was placed in a care facility, Dr. Abou-Rass reported that he repeatedly fell, was hospitalized twice, and desperately wanted to return home. Howard’s pleas were heartbreaking: He wanted to go home. At a December 2016 hearing, Cameron was Howard’s court-appointed attorney. According to Hammond’s investigation and the hearing transcript, Cameron acknowledged Howard’s objections to guardianship, yet waived his appearance, accepted the independent medical examination, and recommended the appointment of professional conservator Thomas Brennan Fraser. The court discussed Howard’s assets, estimated at approximately $1.2 million. Judge Kathleen Ryan removed Dr. Abou-Rass as guardian and appointed Fraser as Howard’s full guardian and conservator. Howard’s future was decided in an 18-minute hearing. Dr. Abou-Rass believed the outcome had been predetermined. Hammond also documented his allegation that Cameron made an offensive remark about his country of origin. Cameron disputed that allegation, and the Attorney Grievance Commission took no disciplinary action. Years later, the very same Melinda Cameron would serve as guardian ad litem in my mother’s Wayne County probate proceedings. My mother, Betty Hayes, had an estate plan designed to protect her wishes and keep her family involved. Yet our family spent years fighting court-appointed professionals, challenging accountings, and watching extraordinary amounts of money disappear into legal proceedings. I have spent an extraordinary amount of my own money fighting for my mother. I know firsthand what it feels like to walk into a probate courtroom believing the system exists to protect someone you love, only to find yourself fighting to protect that person from the consequences of the proceedings themselves. That is why The Fortress means so much to me. Gretchen was investigating these problems years before my mother’s case began. She documented names, court records, financial transactions, testimony, and families whose experiences might otherwise never have been heard. And that is why I was so deeply honored when Gretchen Rachel Hammond asked me to represent the Michigan side of her new book, American Unpeople: The Lawful Kidnapping of America’s Disposable Class. This isn’t simply another book to me. It represents years of suffering, families torn apart, vulnerable people whose voices were ignored. I know what it is like to be one of those families. I know how isolating this fight can become. And I know how important it is when someone with the courage and investigative ability of Gretchen Rachel Hammond is willing to expose what families have been desperately trying to tell the public. My hope is that people read this book before someone they love becomes vulnerable, because by the time a family discovers how devastating a contested guardianship can become, the emotional and financial damage may already be enormous. This is personal. And this is why I will never stop fighting for accountability. American Unpeople goes on sale November 17, 2026. Please read The Fortress, Part Three: Profiting from Protection, and remember Thomas Howard. ppjg.wordpress.com/2019/08/2… Get Your Copy Here:⬇️ a.co/d/09hlvFpt #JusticeforBettyHayes #guardianship