GarbageTalk: Is Tom Benson an Imbecile, Is He Insane Or Is He Mad?
Benson’s step-daughter (Rita), and Benson’s grand-kids (Renee and Ryan) believe he is one of the three. How do I know? Let me explain.
As you may know, and as I reported here, Tom Benson’s step-child and her children requested that a court in New Orleans order that Tom Benson undergo a psychiatric evaluation to determine whether he is competent to control his assets. The reason is because he cut them out of management of the New Orleans Saints franchise, reassigning the duty to his wife, Gayle. In response to their request, yesterday, New Orleans Civil District Court Judge Kern Reese ordered that the 87-year-old be evaluated by three physicians before March 13, 2015.
Now, in Louisiana, this type of proceeding is called interdiction. Historically, the standard for interdiction stated “[n]o person above the age of majority, who is subject to an habitual state of imbecility, insanity, or madness, shall be allowed to take care of his own person and administer his estate . . . .” This law, which referred to such people as including “lunatics and idiots” (crazy, right?), would require the individual, if the medical evaluation showed he was an imbecile, insane or mad, to be placed under the care of a curator, who would care for said lunatic or idiot.
While this law was modified to take out the archaic and demeaning language in 2001, it is clear from the historical text of the law that this was intended to be a harsh remedy. In fact, the current law says so. In other words, it is very difficult to find that someone, the interdict, has lost his capacity to make a juridical act, like entering into a contract, or modifying or extinguishing rights and obligations, i.e., changing the Saints’ succession plan.
Moreover, not only is it difficult to find the interdict incapable of such acts, if the mental exam results in such a finding, the court then has to appoint a curator to oversee Benson’s matters. And that person may be a spouse or adult child or someone else. CCP 4561(C)(1). Why wouldn’t the judge just appoint Gayle, Tom’s wife as curator? After all, she has the support of the entire Saints organization, including the president of the organization, Dennis Lauscha and its executive vice president/general manager, Mickey Loomis.
As I see it, Rita, Renee and Ryan are out. There is no way they are going to regain control. If Benson is found intelligent, sane or rational, they lose. If he is found to be an imbecile, insane or mad, I think they still lose as it makes sense for the court to appoint his wife as curator. She is closest to him, lives with him, and has the support of other professionals, regardless of whether they are in Benson’s pocket.
So why, then, are Rita, Renee and Ryan dragging Tom Benson through the mud at 87 years of age instead of trying to make peace? I see only one answer. See last week’s post for my thoughts on the matter.
Stay tuned to find out what the trio of doctors say America!
Disclaimer: GarbageTalkTM (this Column), is a news and football satire web publication. All articles contained within this Column are fiction, and contain presumably fake news. As such, any resemblance to the truth is purely coincidental. All characters and events referenced, even those based on real people, are entirely fictional. Any and all overheard conversations referenced herein have occurred solely in this author’s warped brain and are meant entirely for entertainment purposes.