Legal Action Filed for Esteemed Sociologist and Criminologist Doris Cooper’s Rights

Original article: Presentan recurso de protección a favor de la reconocida socióloga y criminóloga Doris Cooper

By Siempre Viva en Vivo

Sponsored by lawyer Claudia Orellana González, journalist and LGBTIQ+ human rights activist Víctor Hugo Robles, known as «the Che of gays,» has filed a legal protection action on behalf of renowned sociologist Doris Cooper Mayr, who was declared incapacitated at her daughter’s request in 2018 and is currently confined and isolated at the Fundación Ángel de mi Guarda, a nursing home in the Ñuñoa commune that restricts her communication, calls, and visits.

The constitutional protection action, submitted on January 22, 2026, targets Katia Banurra, Doris Copper’s daughter, her half-brother, architect Alberto Moreira Mayr, and the Fundación Ángel de mi Guarda, represented legally by Gloria Godoy Ramos.

«Mrs. Doris Cooper is a prominent sociologist and criminologist, a university academic, and a television panelist on high-profile public issues. Until a few years ago, she maintained an active intellectual, teaching, and public life. However, under a now-questioned declaration of incapacity, she has been stripped of her autonomy,» states the legal document.

According to the submission, «in the file Rol V-68-2019 of the 20th Civil Court of Santiago, the affected party was declared incapacitated for dementia in a voluntary process initiated by her daughter, Katia Bannura.»

«Following the suicide of her only brother fourteen years ago, Bannura became the sole child and closest relative of the alleged incapacitated person, who, in her request for incapacitation, presented a COMPIN certificate stating that Doris Cooper suffers from severe mental and physical disabilities (70%), classified as irreversible with no possibility of reevaluation, as confirmed in the certification,» adds the document.

«However, based on the reality, my client, who is a personal friend of Mrs. Doris, after various attempts to visit her, found that when he does manage to see her, Doris demonstrates high mental comprehension and is physically normal. In this respect, it generates a tremendous contradiction for Mr. Víctor Hugo regarding the definitive determination of the COMPIN, as they were unequivocal in their report to decree the incapacitation, stating she suffers from severe mental and physical disabilities (70%), classified as irreversible and with no possibility of reevaluation,» emphasizes the legal action.

She Is Completely Lucid

The plaintiffs argue that «if Mrs. Doris Cooper was suffering from senile dementia, as reported, these conditions should worsen over time. However, to this day, we can see the affected person in an interview conducted by my client, when he was able to be with her, as someone who is fully capable, showing no signs of dementia; on the contrary, she is evidently lucid.»

It is also noted that Robles accessed the diagnosis of Doris Cooper conducted by professionals at the Fundación Ángel de mi Guarda. There it is stated that «after being evaluated by the geriatrician of the residence, it is considered that Doris does not have a loss of reality judgment, does not show symptoms indicating dementia, and her speech is coherent without short- and long-term memory loss.»

«She only presents severe malnourishment, alongside untreated depression, which I believe is fully justified by the death of her son, as well as subsequent mistreatment and abuse received from her daughter Katia,» adds the medical diagnosis.

The testimony and story of Doris Cooper were published on January 17 on «La Voz de los que Sobran,» generating concern and unease, especially among Doris’s former students, academics, and the general community. You can read it in full through this link.

Check the protection resource filed on behalf of Doris Cooper HERE

We will continue to provide updates.