Lawyer: Terri still in danger

WorldNetDaily.com ^ | October 22, 2003, 5:15 p.m. Eastern | By Sarah Foster

[GovernmentShrinker]

Unless things have changed in Florida since I went to law school there, the GALs do not have to be attorneys. The GAL program was actively recruiting law students to serve as GALs while still in law school, and a couple of my classmates did it.

[EggsAckley]

Thanks, both of you.

[jwalsh07]

Judge Andrew Napolitano (Fox News) says that the Florida legislature, and Governor Bush have no Right to do what they did.

Not only do they have a right, they have a duty to preserve and defend the life of their citizens from reckless Judges, bad laws and scumbag husbands.

The Florida Supreme Court will render the Legislature's action Un-Constitutional.

The Florida Constitution demands the state protect the rights of the disabled. I might add that the rights of Terri Schiavo have been trampled by her husband and the courts. I don't think the Florida legislature can back down now or they will look like they simply did some political grandstanding. The kangaroos on the FSC do not make laws no matter what Judge NApolitano says or thinks.

[incindiary]

Do we know that Demers is neutral? I just found some stuff on him that didn't sound too good. imo this whole think stinks.

But I guess I shouldn't lose hope. We gotta keep praying.

[Lanza]

I think Judge Andrew is just mad, because a JUDGE was overruled by legislation. He's a judge, so he's looking out for his own interest.

[PleaseNoMore]

First, never lose hope.

Second, Demers has to be neutral as any guardian is accountable to the governor.

[Catspaw]

I don't think the FEEDING TUBE is even in yet, is it?? Just IVs is the last I heard about.

They're hydrating her first via IV before they insert the feeding tube, from what the news reports have said. Now if you have better medical judgment and training, feel free to contact the hospital.

[trussell]

In Colorado, a GAL is an Attorney. I researched the GAL rules for Florida and came up with this (not quite as restrictive as Colorado):


Who can be a
Guardian Ad Litem ?

Any person who has common sense and good judgment can be a Guardian Ad Litem! A GAL does not have to be a lawyer, counselor, therapist or parent, since he/she does not perform these roles for the child. A volunteer Guardian Ad Litem should be a person who has perhaps dealt with crisis in his/her own life, and is capable of helping a child in crisis. He/she should be a person who CARES... and is able to give TIME to help a child. A Guardian Ad Litem volunteer may have to "think outside the lines." Volunteers will be matched with children depending on how much time they are able to give, the seriousness of the case, and the backgrounds of the volunteer and the child.

http://www.guardianadlitem.org/about.htm

[xJones]

Schiavo had left instructions that "no family members, no anybody is to visit Terri," and that they were to be given no information about her medical condition.

I was just thinking that given her joyous responses to the presence of her family, nothing could be more emotionally comforting to her right now than seeing them. She's alone, cut off from all loved and trusted ones in that hospital, and God only knows how scared/confused she is. If she still has enough energy to be conscious, it must be so lonely for her. It breaks the heart.

[itsahoot]

Why did they not have the right to change the applicable law prospectively? If this law is unconstitutional for some reason, what constitutional provision did it violate?

The JUDGE is not exactly unbiased :)

[EggsAckley]

It breaks the heart.

Ya got that right. I've had little sleep and a bad stomach all week.

[The Red Zone]

Well not a minion, but maybe a close friend?

[Lion in Winter]

Been real concerned about Terri's parents as well. Those poor folks had to fight the devil's minions.

Thank God for all the support and prayers they have received from Freepers and others.

IT HAS BEEN A REAL FIGHT AGAINST evil for them.

[Tucson_AZ]

The statist media is begining to print 'letters to the editor' to support their pro-death position. I hope it's not because pro-Terri people are not writing. We need to write even if they chose not to print ours.

The pro-Terri media campaign must continue. Please contact your local news and talk shows, even provide them with prewritten news scripts that they can use. This seems to work better than contacting the national media.

Let the truth be proclaimed.

[fqued]

I understand that the judge gave the attorneys for the parents and the "husband" five days to agree upon a guardian.

Now that should be interesting.

[Palladin]

Judge Napolitano is getting on my last nerve.

He may know the law, but he always comes across as a bombastic arrogant s.o.b.

I wish FOX would can him.

Or at least make him change that helmet hairdo.

[Chancellor Palpatine]

Not only do they have a right, they have a duty to preserve and defend the life of their citizens from...bad laws...

Um, hate to point this out, but the findings were made according to an unambiguous law written by those same legislators. And I'll add that the findings were made after evidentiary hearings where the judge could consider all the facts - as opposed to a truncated legislative process where legislators didn't review the record or call any witnesses. As far as I could tell, those legislators didn't have anything but emails and phone messages from similarly manipulated internet activists.

It was political grandstanding.

[Chancellor Palpatine]

Now we hate Judge Napolitano, it seems.

[isrul]

So POS is still guardian, still forbidding family from seeing Terri.

I sthat why there are no reliable statements about her condition. I haven't heard any.

Are any reps of the state there to make sure nothing untoward is going on?

Why couldn't Bush designate a family member as one of the state reps? At least that would allow them acces to see Terri?

How can Demers just ignore what has been mandated by this law?

The law can't be declared unconstitutional until after a long legal process of appeals through the courts. Schiavo and Felos continue their in your face acts of depravity.

They will surely succeed in killing her if there is not some serious intervention.

If thislaw says Schiavo is not now the guardian...he isn't. where are the reps of the state? Are they too being denied access?

[Tucson_AZ]

Can we believe this? Confirmation anyone?

Notice: "They [the parents] will not be entitled to updates on her medical condition."

Michael Schiavo grants Schindlers visitation rights
Wednesday, October 22nd
Terri was transported by ambulance to Morton Plant Hospital in Clearwater on Tuesday.
The husband of Terri Schiavo, a brain-damaged woman at the center of a Florida right-to-die controversy, dropped his objections Wednesday to letting her parents visit her, attorneys said.

It was not immediately clear when Bob and Mary Schindler and Terri's siblings would be allowed to visit. They will not be entitled to updates on her medical condition.

Terri was moved late Tuesday to Morton Plant Hospital in Clearwater after Gov. Jeb Bush ordered her feeding tube reinserted.

The parents and Terri's husband and legal guardian, Michael Schiavo, have been at the center of a lengthy and contentious battle over whether Terri should be kept alive indefinitely in a persistent vegetative state with the feeding tube, as the parents want, or allowed to die, as the husband wants. A court ruled that the tube could be removed last week, but the state Legislature quickly passed a law giving the governor the right to intervene.

In another development, David Demeres, the chief judge of Pinellas County Circuit Court, ordered lawyers for both sides to reach an agreement within five days to designate an independent guardian for Terri, as required under the law signed by the governor.

The new guardian would become Terri Schiavo's advocate in legal proceedings, but Michael Schiavo would remain the decision-maker.
Michael Schiavo's attorney George Felos

If an agreement cannot be reached, Demeres said, he will appoint Dr. Jay Wolfson, a professor of health and law at Stetson University, as the guardian. Wolfson also works for the College of Public Health at Florida State University and the College of Medicine at the University of South Florida.

The law passed by the state Legislature Tuesday and quickly signed by Bush authorized the governor to issue an executive order reinserting the feeding tube and said a "guardian ad litem" should be appointed to the case.

A guardian ad litem is a person appointed by the court to represent the best interests of one or more children in a court action that may affect them. "Ad litem" is Latin for "for this litigation."
http://www.baynews9.com/site/NewsStory.cfm?storyid=26575