The fight by Advocates for Justice to free Ruth Berk, (a 55 year resident at 95 Christopher Street,) from a court-enforced imprisonment in a nursing home continues. We had hoped to have her home for the New Year but the State Court system has not been cooperative. We brought a Petition in Mandamus in the Appellate Division to have that court direct Acting Justice Tanya Kennedy to lift the guardianship and forced institutionalization which she imposed without allowing Mrs. Berk to appear at a hearing. Although the case is on the docket, the court declined to order immediate relief. Appellate Justice Barbara Kapnick suggested that we apply to Judge Kennedy to change guardians (to our office) so that Mrs. Berk would feel comfortable with the people who controlled her life. (The current guardian has NEVER met with her, and hasn’t even called to find out how she is after she had emergency surgery back in October.) So an Order to Show Cause to change guardians was submitted to Judge Kennedy on December 5, and on December 11 she refused to sign it, without even a hearing. A new Order to Show Cause has been filed, as has a Federal Habeas Corpus action, since the restraints on Mrs. Berk are similar to those on a prisoner. She cannot leave the nursing home for any reason – to see her family, to see a movie or go to a show, or even just to take a walk in the fresh air. Meanwhile the landlord, who initiated all of this, has reopened an eviction proceeding, seeking to oust Mrs. Berk and her daughter Jessica from her apartment. And guess who the judge is? Judge Kennedy! We will keep the Westview readers advised.
