Nina Kohn (’03), Professor of Law and Faculty Director of Online Education at Syracuse University College of Law, contributed an opinion to The Hill pointing to state courts’ failures in adjudicating conservatorships and steps Congress can take to fix the probate court system (“Michael Oher’s Shocking Conservatorship Exposes Court Failures,” Aug. 23). “Oher’s case … lays the core problem bare: courts unnecessarily strip people of their rights and then fail to monitor the risky arrangements they create. . . . Congress could jumpstart court improvement by appropriating funds for state court systems to adopt needed reforms. For example, they could make funding for court improvement available to states that adopt the Uniform Act designed to prevent these types of court failures. . . . And recognizing that the federal Constitution is violated when states strip people of constitutional rights without due process, Congress could create new avenues of redress for people whose rights are unlawfully removed.”
