'Here's why:
'Most of the medical testimony, given at trial and after Pearse issued his recommendations, concluded she would never recover.
'The primary reason for Michael Schiavo's conflict of interest is gone. Only about $50,000 of the original $700,000 settlement remains. The rest reportedly went to Terri Schiavo's care and legal fees.
'The case itself has been closely scrutinized by judge after judge, and their findings have been unanimous. The judges thought they knew what Terri Schiavo would have wanted. 'They also found Michael Schiavo credible. Even with a conflict of interest, Pearse said, he could be right about his wife's wishes.
'One day, this all must stop.
'Pearse has a word for what is needed.
'Finality.
'That's what courts are supposed to provide, Pearse said. They are supposed to sort through our biggest disputes and put them to rest.
'Once the governor and Legislature stepped in and pushed through Terri's Law, the courts were denied their usual role.
'Pearse called the law stunningly bad policy.
'Note to the GOP: Pearse is a Republican.
'He predicted, as others have, that Terri's Law will be struck down as unconstitutional, a case of unequal protection under the law. The concept means that it's illegal to give Terri Schiavo a right that others don't get. Terri's Law was written to cover her situation and hers alone.
'The fight now is on two fronts.
'In one court case, Michael Schiavo mounts a challenge to Terri's Law, before Pinellas Circuit Judge W. Douglas Baird. The other battle is before Judge Greer, as it has been for years. Terri Schiavo's parents are asking, as they have repeatedly, for the ouster of Michael Schiavo as his wife's guardian. Like Pearse, the rest of us can only watch."
The cure for this "flaw" would logically be that the governor gets to stay ALL death orders, or even MUST stay them. I would be cool with that.