Posted on 05/02/2005 5:06:09 AM PDT by Quaker
NEW PORT RICHEY - Pinellas- Pasco Circuit Judge George Greer, who was thrust into the national spotlight and scrutinized by pro-life advocates during the Terri Schiavo case, was a consistent judge who followed the law, colleagues say.
His professionalism and integrity was punctuated by the way he handled the Schiavo case, said Alan Scott Miller, a New Port Richey lawyer and member of the West Pasco Bar Association.
As part of Law Week, which kicks off today, the association will award Greer, 63, its Special Justice Award.
``He's getting this award for all of his contributions on the bench, not just the Schiavo case,'' Miller said. ``It's like a lifetime achievement award for an actor.''
Greer will receive the award during a banquet Thursday at the Heritage Springs Golf and Country Club, 11345 Robert Trent Jones Parkway.
For years, Greer presided over the politically and emotionally charged Schiavo case, which ended when the 41- year-old woman died March 31, 13 days after her feeding tube was removed a third time on a court order.
Some doctors said Schiavo was in a persistent vegetative state since suffering brain damage after her heart stopped in 1990.
Her husband, Michael, fought for years to have her feeding stopped, saying his wife didn't want to be kept alive by artificial means.
Her parents, hoping she would recover, fought him in court after court.
Eventually, Florida's governor and Legislature and then Congress took up the battle.
Supporters and detractors watched as Greer made rulings backing Terri Schiavo's purported wishes and received threats on his life.
``I don't think anyone could ever say his decisions were unlawful,'' said Joan Nelson Hook, president of the West Pasco Bar Association. ``They were very thoughtful. His decisions were meticulous.
``We admired his ability to sustain the pressure not to follow the law. ... I think that shows his character.''
Steve Doran, association president-elect, echoed Hook's thoughts on Greer's handling of the Schiavo case.
``His decisions in that unfortunate case withstood the test of every appellate court in the country,'' Doran said. ``Those who are criticizing him are not seeing the big picture.''
When the association voted this month on this year's recipient of the Special Justice Award, the result was almost unanimous for Greer.
``He's a man of integrity. He's followed the flow. He's done an excellent job on the bench,'' said Miller. ``That's why he's getting this award.''
In addition to Greer's award, the Law Week celebration offers events that allow the community to get a closer look at what the West Pasco Bar Association and the law profession are about, Hook said.
``It's an opportunity to interact with all levels of the community,'' she said.
``It's not just about battles; law is a way of life.''
Here are some events:
* Representatives of the association will be at Gulf View Square mall in Port Richey offering free legal advice from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday through Friday.
* All week, 22 lawyers will visit Pasco schools to discuss the law and this week's national theme, ``The American Jury: We the People in Action.''
* The 2nd District Court of Appeal will hold a special session at 10 a.m. Wednesday at the West Pasco Government Center, 7530 Little Road, in county commission chambers.
* Business suits, shoes and accessories will be collected at area law offices for Connections, a not-for-profit organization that helps people looking for jobs.
The following law offices are collecting men's and women's apparel:
The Law Offices of Attridge, Cohen & Lucas, 7136 Little Road, New Port Richey; The O'Conner Law Group, 9735 U.S. 19, Suite 2, Port Richey; Pejot Law, 11911 Pine Forest Drive, New Port Richey; and The Law Offices of Gay & Ehrhardt, 5318 Balsam St., New Port Richey.
Reporter Lisa A. Davis can be reached at (727) 815-1083.
You're denying it?
LOL
Unfortunately as long as some people seem determined to create havoc by utilizing name-calling, advocating violence, and refusing to discuss anything in a reasonable manner, it may take a long time before anything constructive is achieved. If perhaps at all.
What are you trying to say? The true Nazis were fanatics--as distinguished from the opportunists who got on the bandwagon--as were some of the Japanese military. But what has that to do with any of this?
Who, in this debate, are you suggesting is being called upon to surrender, unconditionally?
How can one rationally analyze something while making irrational statements like the one above?
How can one be a "constitutionalist" while endorsing a states right to order the death of it's citizens absent criminality and then argue against federal judicial review?
Sorry, the analysis isn't rational. There were excesses on both sides but your link does nothing to present a rational view of the case.
The issues being contended were fourfold:
First, does an obviously conflicted husband (See the Florida 2DCA where they admit he is conflicted) have the right to decide life and death issues concerning his spouse.
Second, can the state order the death of a citizen absent criminality.
And third, when a state orders that death, should federal judicial review be available as per the 14th Amendment.
And finally, when is a human being no longer a human being.
Your "rational" analysis leaves those questions unanswered or answers in a a manner I find irrational.
Problem with your cartoon is it misrepresents the history of the case to draw an erroneous conclusion.
Depends on who you think is a fanatic.
Those who forget history are condemned to repoeat it.
Those who forget history are condemned to repoeat it.
The only way this makes sense is that it's an honor killing.
Now this thread has officially entered the Twilight Zone.
Their self righteous eyes will glaze over with complete incomprehension at the words you put on paper and many will wish you ill because they think they discern a "tone" to your letter that is not in agreement with what they wish to produce ie. assent or silence. That is your only choice if you wish to avoid the slurs, invectives and sermons from those who feel anointed by their God to dish it out.
They care nothing for conservatism. They only care about their ideological religious dogma. They try to sell it as conservatism but its methods embrace tactics that only the most radical leftists would sanction.
I think its pretty dead on, myself. The judge did his job, followed the rule of law, and all the zealots are foaming at the mouth, which is why they never get taken seriously.
You leave out disability groups and a whole diverse group of people who have likened what happened to Nazi Germany/Nazism, etc.
The people I make out to be fanatics are not those who, with temperate language point out that it is both morally wrong and socially destructive, to pull babies from their mother's womb, to kill them. I oppose the sociopathic notion, that it is merely a question of a woman's right to choose, whether or not to kill her baby. That outrage needs to be addressed.
But those who address not abortion, but rather meddling in a family squabble in Florida, over an unfortunate woman who was never again going to have either the prospects of the typical baby, nor even the cognitive level of an infant newly born, while shouting that they believe in "Life," and damning all who disagree with their approach, is truly an exhibit of fanaticism.
William Flax
It's interesting how the thread has moved to discussion of denominations. Man, confusing is right.
But at least our challenging them in their rant, demonstrates to uncommitted surfers, that there still are reasoning Conservatives, prepared to appeal to the reason of others, and able to offer a coherent philosophy. It gets discouraging; but we are doing something constructive here.
The pimps of the legal industry have to take care of the Black Robes that keep them in business. Who said that Crime Doesn't Pay?
The idea is simple. Mikey's two boys are coming of an age they will understand that their mother is not married to their father. This is shameful. Mikey has to marry her to expunge their sense of shame.
Unfortunately Mikey was married to Terri at the time, but Mikey couldn't just get a divorce from her since, after all, that, too was shameful!
A point of shame can be removed by eliminating the source of the shame. In the cultures that still use the "honor killing" that usually means killing the least powerful person in the conflict.
I note that Sicily was part of the Islamic world for several centuries. They may have been "Christianized" in a reconquest, but the "honor killing" tradition continues. It's really not surprising to see it resurface in Florida!
Judging from Schiavo's own words and actions, he wanted to stick it to the parents; hated Terri with an insane passion, had personal gain; and perhaps feared what she might have to say in case she talked.
Felos probably just loved to see her suffer an agonizing death, has mental issues as revealed in his own writings.
As for Judge Greer - he denied Terri due process. A book can be written on why he is a dangerous and should be removed from the bench.
Reminds me of Jonestown but on a grand scale. I definitely had thoughts of Jonestown when there was the Congressional proceedings.
Since all of your points were addressed in the essay, you and I apparently start from very different premises.
In determining whether something is legally right or wrong, the motives of those in the debate are not relevant. My whole essay avoids judgment of the family members. The focus is on the involvement--inappropriate involvement, in my estimation--of groups with agendas, turning Terry Schiavo into an ideological football. You obviously have no problem with that misuse of a family tragedy.
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