Judge Approves Britney Spears's Request To Hire a New Attorney

It looks like the #FreeBritney movement is moving in the right direction. According to the New York Times, Judge Brenda Penny said that Britney Spears would be allowed to hire her own lawyer to replace Samuel D. Ingham III, who has served as her legal counsel since 2008. The decision comes three weeks after Spears's testimony, which shocked fans who learned that Spears was not being permitted to remove her IUD and have more children or visit with people she met in Alcoholics Anonymous.

Back in 2008, a judge ruled that Spears was unfit to hire her own lawyer, but recent news has proven that Spears appears to be more in control of her life than previously reported. The Times notes that "Ms. Spears said that she did not know that it was possible for her to petition to terminate the conservatorship."

After her court appearance, Ingham requested to step away from the case and Spears requested that Mathew S. Rosengart, a prominent Hollywood lawyer and former federal prosecutor that has represented both Steven Spielberg and Sean Penn, replace him.

According to CNN, Jamie Spears shared that he has received death threats for his involvement in Britney's conservatorship. According to court documents, Jamie "has been the subject of innumerable and ongoing threats as well — not just recently, but for years." Britney's mother, Lynne, supported her daughter's decision to end the conservatorship, filing a petition that stated that Britney was able to care for herself.

"Now, and for the past many years, Conservatee is able to care for her person and in fact has, within the parameters of this conservatorship, earned literally hundreds of millions of dollars as an international celebrity," court documents read.

During her testimony, Britney said that her father reveled in controlling her. The Times reports that "Ms. Spears described her father as someone who had approval over everything in her life, saying, 'he loved the control.'"