Posted on 03/31/2005 3:11:22 PM PST by Crackingham
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay on Thursday blamed Terri Schiavo's death on what he contended was a failed legal system and he raised the possibility of trying to impeach some of the federal judges in the case. "The time will come for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior," said DeLay, R-Texas.
But a leading Democratic senator said DeLay's comments were "irresponsible and reprehensible." Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., said DeLay should make sure that people know he is not advocating violence against judges.
DeLay, the second-ranking House GOP lawmaker, helped lead congressional efforts 10 days ago to enact legislation designed to prod the federal courts into ordering the reinsertion of Schiavo's feeding tube. He said the courts' refusal to do just that was a "perfect example of an out of control judiciary."
Asked about the possibility of the House's bringing impeachment charges against judges in the Schiavo case, DeLay said, "There's plenty of time to look into that."
President Bush expressed sympathy to Schiavo's parents.
"I urge all those who honor Terri Schiavo to continue to work to build a culture of life where all Americans are welcomed and valued and protected, especially those who live at the mercy of others," he said.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan refused to join DeLay in criticizing the courts. "We would have preferred a different decision from the courts ... but ultimately we have to follow our laws and abide by the courts," McClellan said.
Joining DeLay in taking issue with the judiciary was Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., who said, "The actions on the part of the Florida court and the U.S. Supreme Court are unconscionable." Also, GOP Rep. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina said the case "saw a state judge completely ignore a congressional committees subpoena and insult its intent" and "a federal court not only reject, but deride the very law that Congress passed."
DeLay said he would make sure that the GOP-controlled House "will look at an arrogant and out of control judiciary that thumbs its nose at Congress and the president."
Yet still not a bill of Attainder as it was not attempting to punish but TO SAVE AN INNOCENT HELPLESS WOMAN.
Please tell me what higher purpose can Congress have?
I don't know about Santorum, but I definitely want DeLay in '08.
How about DeLay/Rice?
The Left's Bogus Schiavo Meme --Lefty blogs are making hay out of two other tragic end-of-life cases in Texas (see here and here) in order to tar conservatives as hypocrites over intervention in the Terri Schiavo matter. Tom Maguire beats me to the punch in dissecting this popular new meme. Read his entire reality check. Tom points to another blogger, LeanLeft, who also debunks the blame-Bush-for-killing-patients-for-money line being plied by Mark Kleiman among others.
Look, I'm not going to go off into the brush regarding the moral impetus behind the law. I said that it was a bad law, constitutionally, and provided my reasons for saying so.
****Check your U.S. Constitution again. The lower federal courts exist at the whim of Congress. This includes all facets if Congress so desires, including both jurisdiction and standards of review. After what transpired, if I were in Congress, I'd seriously consider a bill limiting subject matter jurisdiction of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit to appeals of Section 1983 cases involving left-handed migrant farmers named "Bob"...and mandate an abuse of discretion standard of review for such cases. I'd also take the opportunity to slash the judges salaries to 1/10 present compensation and defund their law clerks. Make the clowns write their own opinions.
WOOHOO, I like your idea!!! Let's all email Congress with this idea.
The legalization of euthanasia and first degree murder for starters. Second, violation of the Constitutional right to life. And third, because the Courts violated the separation of powers by authenticating the take over by a local judge of the LOE of a town and county.
I've been told to f*** off one time too many by you people. So I'm just taking you up on your request. Do without my money, my efforts, and my vote.
Perhaps you might consider the fact that are being a whole lot extreme in your assertions her. Withold your money and your support. Like the poster said, the party will survive.
Please ... Read Article III, this is not a discussion of the meaning of "is". If Congress has the right to issue "EXCEPTIONS" and "REGULATIONS" to the Supreme Court, it certainly has the that right to "such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish".
Support Bump
I erred...judge Greer is a Florida judge. I meant to refer to that federal judge that balked on the de novo Congress passed.
The whole bizarre scene is just begging a first class journalist to blow it wide open. Maybe some one will. who knows.
Like most other hot issues of the day, you need only "follow the money".
So the Constitution is all about reforming SOC SEC or whatever government program is the pet peeve.
Right to Life is one of the founding principle of the Constitution.
And if that law was that unconstitutional the 1st federal judge would have ssaid so from the get go,same with the appellate court and surely with SCOTUS.
They said nothimg because the one thing they could not say was that it was inconstitutional.
Actually in the last 2weeks I don't think I have heard one reputable lawyer claim it was unconstitutional.
I'm a state's right'er' who believes Lincoln was criminally wrong. But I don't believe this Schiavo matter was a state's right issue. The Gov and Leg of the state sided with the Feds and likely Gov Bush invited their intervention. This is a separation of powers issue and a necessary Constitutional confrontation between the judiciary and the other branches, one that Jefferson predicted would eventually be necessary because of the acceptance by the Federal judiciary of the Marshallian philosophy.
Seems to me the fascism of the 'religion' of Scientology by taking up eugenics where the nazi's left off are by far a larger threat to the lives of citizens of the US than that other cult, islamism.
We no sooner cut off one snake from the head of the hydra and another appears.
As a precendent, what happened to Terri, an obvious victim of spousal abuse and a pawn in the hands of the Right to Kill lobby a la the Scientology movement, will, unless the Husband, the Judge and the Lawyer are charged as the criminals they are, will kill more people than 9/11 did.
Term limits for judges too.
The legalization of euthanasia and first degree murder for starters. Second, violation of the Constitutional right to life.
Think you hit the nail on the head here. This opens the door for the libs to push a euthenasia policy. That is likely their cure for the Social Security and Medicare problems.
We all need to TAKE SOME DEEP BREATHS AND CALM DOWN. There are *multiple* issues here, and lumping them all together isn't going to help.
1. Judges who make law. Technically this has nothing to do with Conservative vs. Liberal, except in the loose sense that a Conservative judge might be less inclined to do it. There is nothing that says that a Conservative judge can't decide to ignore jurisprudence, however, and do as he wishes. The only solution I see here is a Constitutional Amendment making it crystal clear that judges shall not make law. Religious right or no, we can *all* agree that this is something for which we can all strive. A relevant current-events story for this is gay marriage: unless we nip this one in the bud, it will be rammed down our throats. IMHO a Constitutional amendment outlawing gay marriage only treats the symptom, not the disease: the real problem is judges making law, not this particular issue. This problem didn't begin with gay marriage, and, if we do nothing, it won't end there either.
2. Judges ignoring existing laws. This issue is separate from the one above, and is more closely related to the Terri Schiavo fight. However, like the issue above, it transcends Terri Schiavo, living wills, a right to die, etc. Recently a court struck down a law requiring parental notification when their child receives an abortion. We have a serious problem of judges deciding to strike laws they don't like. Maybe some fundamental change (once again, by Constitutional amendment) needs to be made in the way that laws passed by the legislature can be removed by unelected persons. I would think that, as a matter of pure principle, it should be much harder to remove a law passed by elected representatives than it would be to pass such a law.
Though we have seen examples of both here, these are separate issues that go beyond the Terri Schiavo case, and I guarantee that we will make no progress on either if we chain them solely to it. People like Bill O'Reilly have been ranting about activist judges for years. This case provides more ammunition in our cause to correct these injustices, but let's not sabotage our own efforts by reducing them to just one case. The case of Terri Schiavo is but one of many cases where judges have exceeded their authority and thwarted the wishes of the people via their elected representatives. We all know and understand the problem -- liberals, leftists, socialists, and closet (and not-so-closet) Communists have been unable to get their way via the legislature, so they get it by judicial fiat.
The only way we will correct these problems is if we calm down and present the entire tablau of judicial abuse before the American people in a rational manner. We're on the same side on this. Many of us have differing personal reasons, and *there is nothing wrong with that*. There is no reason why we can't work together. Just because some of us have religious reasons and some of us don't is immaterial. We're here precisely because (among other things) we believe in freedom, not the Thought Police. That's what the Dems do -- if you're not pro-choice they have no place for you -- and we're better than that.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.