Last ChanceBy: Rana Goodman / Political EditorThis will be the last article from The VegasVoice concerning the guardianship judgeand our urgent plea for our readers to respond tofinally end this scandal. If seniors do care, there is no way to reward the“judge” who allowed all this to unfold.Along with Publisher Dan we have invested over six years in tryingto clean up the system and it now comes down to this –your vote for Family Court, Department E. Duringthose years, the names of April Parks, (nowsitting in jail), hearing master Jon Norheim,and Judge Charles (Chuck) Hoskin wereetched into our memory.As we stated at our guardianshipseminars, if and when Norheim orHoskin ever thought of becomingcandidates for election, we vowed wewould do everything in our power tooppose them and make sure they neveragain sat on the bench.The Las Vegas Review Journal, in itsSeptember editorial summed up what weuncovered:Judge Charles Hoskin was appointed in2009, but he was knee-deep in the guardianshipscandal that received national attention in 2015 andrevealed a system in which court-appointed guardianswere exploiting vulnerable seniors. The lack of oversightwas appalling.While The Vegas Voice did everything possible to reform theguardianship scandal in Nevada, Charles (Chuck) Hoskin was thepresiding Family Court judge. His gavel came down most (if not all)times in favor of private, for-profit guardians (or the public guardian)rather than family members who begged the court to let them take careEditorialof their loved ones.These rulings left seniors financially devastated, because once aguardianship is granted, the guardian has total control of the “protectedperson” (formally referred to as Ward). They controlled where theylived, had unconditional access to their bank accounts, trusts, will, safedeposit box - all of their possessions. Absolutely everything.Many times, the protected person, was moved into group homesor nursing facilities, never understanding why their familymembers were refused the right to care for them.If you are a recent reader of The Vegas Voiceyou may wonder why I am so against CharlesHoskin’s re-election to the bench. Simplystated, it is due to all those year investigatingand uncovering the heart-wrenchingguardianship cases that ripped familiesapart, leaving seniors financiallydevastated,Judge Hoskin never lifted a finger tostop the carnage. At best he was willfullyignorant (to match his arrogance) inassuring the public that the guardianshipissues were “overblown.”A very kind and wise jurist, Supreme CourtJudge Myron Leavitt, once told me many yearsago that Justice Court and Family Court were courts of“justice” as much as courts of law.I believe that a Family Court judge must possess compassion, besympathetic, and have a consciousness of “other’s distress.” These aretraits that Charles “Chuck” Hoskin absolutely does not possess.For all those Vegas Voice readers who followed our guardianshipcoverage, attended our seminars and asked, “what can I do?” thisis your moment, your opportunity to finally erase that guardianshipdisgrace.For Family Court, Department E – throw the “Chuck out” and electThomas Kurtz.30We had the bad guys thrown in jail, we passed new guardianship laws and now there’s one more thing we need todo – replace the guardianship judge responsible for all the carnage. Time to “throw the Chuck out!”November 2020
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