Terri Schiavo Before dehydration
Posted on 03/28/2005 11:20:36 AM PST by fight_truth_decay
PING
If GOD ALMIGHTY had been lawyer or witness for the Schindlers, He would have lost.
Is he the best we've got?
i agree after all i've read (prior to this article) that the schindler's laywer completely squandered the opportunity congress gave them.
one hates to see someone die based on incompetence but that is what happened here. there was no way that the executive branch would step in again after they threw away the first chance to do so.
the laywers didn't presented anything to kick in the "de novo" clause and instead of bringing one strong argument the threw everything they had at the court hoping something would stick. they took a risk and failed horribly.
congress specifically put the de novo clause in because they saw the possible incompetance/corruption of the state case, yet it was the laywers who squandered the opportunity.
From what I can tell, Judge Greer did his own amount of bungling.
Yet, both Judge Whittemore and the Eleventh Circuit failed to come to grips with the fact that Judge Greer issued an order instructing Michael Schiavo to remove Terri's feeding tube, even specifying the exact date and time when he should do so. The state court did not merely stand idly by while permitting Michael to take such action; the court affirmatively mandated the disconnection. That ought to have counted as state action by a state actor--Judge Greer--who was a named defendant in the federal court lawsuit.
Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner! The STATE (as represented by Judge Greer) ORDERED the feeding tube removed! What does this mean? It means that Terri's constitutional rights were violated, since no one in government can deny someone LIFE without due process. This dude argues that Terri did receive due process, but in actuallity, it was only her husband's wishes that were under consideration, not Terri's. Judge Greer is WAY OUTA BOUNDS here. (As most of us already know.)
For those of you blaming Jeb Bush for Terri's death, the blame can be more appropriately placed right at the feet of the Schindler's lawyers.
>
> Actually, the attorneys threw the case to serve another agenda.
>
such as? (not disagreeing with you, just curious)
I think the initial fatal mistake in this case was the failure to object strenuously to the ex parte communication with Judge Greer that led to the appointment of Felos as co-counsel. In that communique, counsel for Schiavo claimed that the Schindlers were aware of the decision to bring in "right-to-die" counsel on issues of prolonging her life. While Mr. Schindler has said that he was unaware of any such decisions, Schindler counsel did not aggressively protest the appointment.
But, in looking this over, there have been many injustices and instances of ineffective counsel for the Schindlers. (And, having had experience with judicial corruption in a county court, I am not ruling out cronyism and judicial impropriety in this matter.) But the failure to demand the potential relief provided by Congressional action was a staggering lack of advocacy. Personally, I was appalled when I heard the nature of the complaint before a federal court.
That's what I want to know.
Jay Sekulow was on Hannity's radio show almost daily offering commentary, but did he offer his services to the Schindlers?
Who knows, maybe he and others did, and were turned down, but regardless, it seems obvious the Schindlers were outlawyered.
Terri Schiavo Before dehydration
Judicial scope has more ability and is less limited than that you have suggested, in and out of chamber.
If the Clinton-appointed federal judge were interested in protecting life, he would have dimissed the complaint without prejudice and told schindler's attorneys to re-file to re-assert the facts they presented as a 14th amendment right-to-life claim as intended by the act, if they had such a claim. Hinding behind draconian application of procedural rules doesn't justify starving a human being to death.
From a recent movie, in which a bureacrat is spouting procedure:
"Where are the kids?"
"What?"
"You know, the kids... Cowards often hide behind rules and children."
Check THIS out.
It is possible that in drafting their original complaint, the Schindlers' lawyers could not bring themselves to rely on cases that the pro-life movement abhors, and that they did so, in their second federal complaint, only when their desperation would color the courts' perception of the issue.
So the wacko right-to-lifers apparently hoistered Terri Shiavo on their own petard, emphatically proving that she was just a pawn in their game.
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