Jeb must act NOW, and he can, says Keyes (Also with JOSEPH FARAH)

http://www.renewamerica.us ^ | 3-25-05

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Jeb must act NOW, and he can, says Keyes
Governor has 'supreme executive power'

March 25, 2005
RenewAmerica staff

Thursday, Alan Keyes appeared on MSNBC's Scarborough Country with Joe Scarborough, and on Joseph Farah's national radio show, and declared that Gov. Jeb Bush not only possesses the "supreme executive authority in the state," but must act now to save Terri Schiavo.

When asked if Gov. Bush has done enough to help the disabled woman, Keyes said, "Of course not. He hasn't done anything. She is being starved to death!"

Keyes made it clear on both programs that Gov. Bush needs no permission from the courts to fulfill his statutory and constitutional duty to act in Terri's behalf, since the executive is equal to the judiciary.

To see the Joe Scarborough transcript, click here.

To see the Joseph Farah transcript, click here.

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[Zenith]

All you people are NUTS !!

There is NOTHING LEGAL that Gov Bush can do,
so LEAVE him alone and wake up to the Florida LAW.

The Court said NO to Jeb !!

[SeasideSparrow]

You asked: "Is this Jeb Bush's fault?"

Constitutionally and unequivocally -

Both he and his brother in the White House hold executive power under the constitution to take action. They break NO law by doing so.

Do some homework by reading this - and it will become more clear:

http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=43472

"....in a constitutional system based on checks and balances, one branch can run riot only if some other branch fails to exert the power necessary to constrain its actions within constitutional bounds.

This means that the rise of judicial tyranny represents a failure elsewhere in the government. Now we know that in the Schiavo case, both the Florida and the national legislatures exerted themselves in an effort to secure her basic right to life. They failed because the judiciary has the power to invalidate their actions, either in application or through the power of judicial review.

In the end, the constraint of judicial abuse is especially the responsibility of the executive branch of government, since the executive has both the opportunity and the obligation to act without the interference of the judiciary, provided that in doing so he consults the political will of the legislative power.

Until and unless the people elected to wield executive power in our national and state governments recognize and act upon this responsibility, the judiciary will go unchecked, destroying the balance of power among the branches and with it our system of free, representative self-government." See link for rest of piece.

[Dawgreg]

Ha! Have you heard about Felo's "donation" to Greers campaign coffers? Gotta find that........forgot where I saw it. What a sham!

[ARCADIA]

When you've got more than 60% of the people agreeing with the judge

Do you agree with the judge? Or, are you just buying into the polling BS?

[Ben Chad]

"When you've got more than 60% of the people agreeing with the judge, the executive and legilative branches will simply be voted out by the voters if they try to make it an issue, and the courts will win in the end anyway."

It distresses me to hear freepers dignify the cooked poll in this way. The poll was cooked by disengenuous assertions and questions. If not, then it's a darker day than I thought.

[ARCADIA]

The Court said NO to Jeb !!

Read your constitution; Jeb is independent of the court. It doesn't matter what the court says, or how many times they say it. The governor is only subject to the legislature.

[Brilliant]

I don't agree with the judge, but I do buy the polls. Heck, you can see just by reviewing the posts on this website that even the conservatives are split on this issue. The liberals are not, though.

In my case, my primary objection to all this is not that I oppose the right to die, but rather that I see this case as a euthanasia case--not as a right to die case, and equally importantly, I think the judge twisted the facts and the law in order to get to the result he wanted because euthanasia is illegal, for the most part, but the right to die is not.

Most of my fellow evangelicals do not look at it that way, though. They do not appreciate the legal aspects of this matter, or even the political aspects, but see it purely as a religious issue, which is something that will not carry the day in our system of government.

[jwpjr]

re: When you've got more than 60% of the people agreeing with the judge

It's a shame these sham polls can be put together by the MSM and then reported as real 'news.' These people were polled and asked questions that didn't even jive with the true situation. Then they take the results and act as though the polls were on the up-and-up.

[Dawgreg]

Thanks SeasideSparrow. I will look at this. I'm still hopeful that SOMEONE will take action. The courts have been running amok for way too long.

[nuconvert]

"I don't think it's petty corruption. I think it fits a general pattern of abuse of power by the court system."

From what I've read about regarding local issues in Greer's jurisdiction, drs and lawyers recommending people be admitted to hospitals, nursing homes they serve as board members on, and much more, there's a lot of "petty" stuff going on. I'm sure there's been gossip for yrs around there and it wouldn't take much to turn up local corruption and improprieties going back many yrs.

So if this is the case, would an investigation that was started several weeks ago, that turned up some evidence of possible impropriety, have been enough to cause a delay of some kind in Greer's orders, pending further investigation?

[ARCADIA]

It is not the merit of the case but the larger miscarriage of justice which is the larger issue here. People can legitimately disagree on whether a person should be allowed to end their life; especially if they are suffering from an incurable and painful disease. But, we can all agree on our desire for a fair and objective determination of fact. That is where this case has gone horribly wrong.

[nuconvert]

I read a few days ago, that prior to Greer's last election, he received more in contribution funds than any judge before, and most of the money came from local attorneys whose practices involved inheritance law and trusts. I think there's widescale local corruption going on in Greer's distrcit, and I think he's at the center of it.

[Brilliant]

Agreed. You can also see the hand of judicial activism in this, though. The miscarriage regarding the finding of fact and the hand of judicial activism are not easily separated. The judge wanted from the beginning to find that she should die. He therefore found against the evidence that she is PVS. In the process of doing so, he effectively broadened the legal definition of PVS. In cutting off food and water, he broadened the definition of extraordinary life sustaining measures. It's creeping judicial encroachment on the legislative branch. Then having accomplished that, the courts capitalized on the split among the voters to effect a power play, striking down legislation and ordering the executive to stand aside.

This issue is not a good issue for the conservatives to wage war over. They'll just lose because of where the voter's sympathy lies. By contrast, the gay marriage issue is one where they have the upper hand. Unfortunately, it was this issue that the courts have chosen to fight over. Only a few courts in extreme liberal states have chosen to fight over the gay marriage issue.

[ex-snook]

Thanks for alert.

Governors can step in and take prisoners off the death row. Terri is on the death row only because she is handicapped. The Courts are about to legitimize killing the handicapped just as they have already done with the pre-born. Next is the aged under some guise as 'mercy killing'.

The Courts are on a power grab, the executive must spare the lives of the infirm.

[Dawgreg]

I think the whole dang judiciary in Florida is corrupt! I have never in my life seen such goings on and it all started in 2000! IMHO.........

[lastchance]

Yes. Also Jeb was going to send in FDLE but when told that the local police/sheriff's office were planning on enforcing the Judge's order the plan was scuttled. We should ask ourselves why were the local law enforcement orders so set on preventing Terri's rescue? Seems like some real nasty Good Ole Boy politics at work.
Jeb was probably very reluctant to call off FDLE but a confrontation between two law enforcement agencies is not something any Governor wants to see happen.

[Smartass]

Jeb Bush IS NOT DOING all he can to save Terri!!!

Reprinted from NewsMax.com

Former Adviser Presses Gov. Bush to Launch Criminal Investigation to Save Schiavo

By Dave Eberhart, NewsMax.com

Saturday, March 26, 2005

Although Florida governor Jeb Bush has for all intents and purposes tossed in the towel in any eleventh-hour rescue of Terri Shiavo, at least one former legal advisor is admonishing the chief executive for not using the state's criminal laws as authority to intervene – without the need for family or judicial approval – and reinsert the hospice patient's feeding tube.

Richard Thompson, the president and chief counsel of the Thomas Moore Law Center, says doing so would preserve the life of a material witness in a potential criminal case.
The launching of a formal criminal investigation into possible abuse of the helpless patient would allow the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to remove Schiavo from the custody of her current guardian – husband Michael Schiavo, who has been for years dedicated to terminating the artificial feeding of his brain-damaged wife.

Today, Thompson once more affirmed that Florida Governor Jeb Bush has the legal authority to utilize state criminal laws to prevent the death of Terri Schiavo.

Legal Memos Pointing to two legal memos prepared by the Thomas More Law Center which were delivered to Governor Bush in October of 2003, Thompson again urged Bush to launch a formal criminal investigation into the facts surrounding the disability of Schiavo.

The two letters dated October 15th and 16th point to the constitutional authority of Governor Bush to order the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate violations of criminal laws. The letters cite a number of facts suggesting Terri Schiavo is a victim of domestic abuse and neglect, and may be a victim of domestic violence.

The October 15 letter concludes that a growing number of facts establish probable cause to "conduct a full criminal investigation of the circumstances surrounding the disability of Schiavo. To date, the facts of this case have not yet been viewed through the lens of a criminal investigation. Shamefully, the government's investigatory resources have not been brought to bear on discovering the truth in this case." Speaking Thursday in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Thompson once again urged Governor Bush to launch a formal criminal investigation and remove Terri Schiavo from the custody of her current guardian. He further indicated that the consent of Schiavo's guardian is not necessary to obtain custody of Terri. Thompson also offered the assistance of attorneys from the Thomas More Law Center to assist the Governors staff if needed.

The two legal opinions were prepared and delivered to Governor Bush in October of 2003, after Schiavo's feeding tube was removed.

Thompson noted that Bush through his aides requested the legal counsel at the time, but instead chose to work with the Florida legislature to pass emergency legislation to prevent the death of Schiavo. Ironically, it was authorities from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement that rode to the rescue of the starving Shiavo on Oct. 21, 2003 - in the wake of the passage of the so-called "Terri's Law." At that time, she was six days into her enforced and life-threatening fast.

The extraordinary one-page bill was passed by the Florida legislature and signed into law by Bush in less than 24 hours, but later challenged by Schiavo's husband and held to be unconstitutional.

Judge Greer Again
Florida's Pinellas Circuit Court Judge George Greer has ruled that under general welfare regulations the state cannot take Schiavo into custody, nor provide her food or water. However, the firm judicial ruling was specifically addressed to an effort by the state's Department of Children and Families to civilly rescue the brain-injured woman by physically removing her.

At the time of Greer's ruling there was no ongoing criminal investigation – as, indeed, there is none today.

[McGavin999]

Look, Newsmax is great, but they are out of their league in this as are many of the lawyers. If Jeb can find something it will be done. Do you not think they have the finest legal minds in the country pouring over the statutes trying to find a loophole?

Going in Rambo style isn't going to save Terri and it will do irrepairable harm to the rule of law.

[Valin]

"The problem is not that Bush has not exhausted his powers. The problem is that the courts have abused their powers."


Now stop that making sense! You're ruining a prefectly good rant thread for us.

"The problem is that the courts have abused their powers."

Hugh Hewitts point.

[Gelato]

In the Florida Constitution, Article IV, Section 8, the governor has the power to "restore civil rights" and "commute punishment." This power cannot be controlled or obstructed by the judiciary.

Simply because of her physical disability, Terri Schiavo is being deprived of "the right to enjoy and defend life," guaranteed by Article I, Section 2, of the Florida Constitution. She has been given a death sentence without cause, and actually ordered to death.

Gov. Bush has stated publicly: “I am doing everything within my power to make sure that Terri is afforded at least the same right rights that criminals convicted of the most heinous crimes take for granted.”

By stating this, and his intent to “exhaust all executive options . . . to save Terri’s life,” Gov. Bush has publicly pledged to use the power granted him by the Florida Constitution to help Terri. Yet, Gov. Bush has not exercised his executive power under Article IV, Section 8, of the Florida Constitution, to restore Terri’s rights. His failure to so act will result in the death of Terri Schiavo.