Terry Schiavo Executive Order

Governor's Office (email) | Oct 21, 2003 | Gov. Jeb Bush

[Conservababe]

Personally, I'd like to see some judicial reform. Judges should at least not enjoy impunity at the polls - they should have to campaign and they should have to defend their decisions before the public.

As my grandmother used to say "boy, did you speak a mouthful". I agree.

The courts are the powerful branch of government, and the ones we pay least attention to in elections. I am guilty as the rest, I suppose.

But, I will pay more attention next election and demand debates of the candidates for judges. Hey, if they want the job, they should go through the interview.

[aristeides]

Except that was a clear violation of the US Constitution from my recollection.

The three dissenters (who included the chief justice) didn't think it was that clear.

[feedback doctor]

I guess this means the laws of the land and the judges who uphold the laws have just been told their voice and judgement mean nothing. Sorry Jeb you just lost my vote and my wife`s.

The law of the land (Florida) is what the Governor was upholding. Judges are not omnipotent, at least that's what the duly elected legislature in the state of Florida said.

[george wythe]

.

I have a legal concern about this. Take this example:

A married woman gets involved in a car wreck. She’s taken to the hospital, unconscious and brain-injured. The doctors need to perform surgery to remove excessive liquid in her brain, but her husband claims that her wife is a Christian Scientist who will not accept surgery. He claims that prayer will heal his wife.

The doctors maintain that unless they drain her brain and install a temporary drain tube on her head, she will die due to the continuous fluid buildup inside her skull.

Her parents assert she talked to them on the phone a few days before the accident, and the parents say that she told them that surgery was not against her evolving understanding of Christian Science. The parents want surgery performed immediately to relieve the pressure inside her skull and save her life.

Should Jeb stop the painful death of this woman due to the fluid buildup inside her skull? Should Jeb allow the husband to speak as her guardian?

[fqued]

I guess this means the laws of the land and the judges who uphold the laws have just been told their voice and judgement mean nothing. Sorry Jeb you just lost my vote and my wife`s.

Uh, this is NOW the law of the land. Laws change, and we like that. We like that laws are not static for hundreds of years, but can be changed as the circumstances warrant. the ability of the legislature and the governor to pass laws and to correct laws, and to change laws is a good thing.

[ForOurFuture]

I guess this means the laws of the land and the judges who uphold the laws have just been told their voice and judgement mean nothing. Sorry Jeb you just lost my vote and my wife`s.

When the voice and judgement of the law of the land and the judges who uphold them permit state-sanctioned murder, then yes, they do mean nothing, and they should.

[Beach_Babe]

Here are some I've been emailing:

Jeb.Bush@MyFlorida.com, alexander.jd.web@flsenate.gov, argenziano.nancy.web@flsenate.gov, aronberg.dave.web@flsenate.gov, atwater.jeffrey.web@flsenate.gov, bennett.mike.web@flsenate.gov, bullard.larcenia.web@flsenate.gov, campbell.walter.web@flsenate.gov, carlton.lisa.web@flsenate.gov, clary.charlie.web@flsenate.gov, constantine.lee.web@flsenate.gov, cowin.anna.web@flsenate.gov, crist.victor.web@flsenate.gov, dawson.mandy.web@flsenate.gov, portilla.alex.web@flsenate.gov, dockery.paula.web@flsenate.gov, fasano.mike.web@flsenate.gov, garcia.rudy.web@flsenate.gov, geller.steven.web@flsenate.gov, haridopolos.mike.web@flsenate.gov, hill.anthony.web@flsenate.gov, jones.dennis.web@flsenate.gov, king.james.web@flsenate.gov, klein.ron.web@flsenate.gov, lawson.alfred.web@flsenate.gov, lee.tom.web@flsenate.gov, lynn.evelyn.web@flsenate.gov, margolis.gwen.web@flsenate.gov, miller.lesley.web@flsenate.gov, peaden.durell.web@flsenate.gov, posey.bill.web@flsenate.gov, pruitt.ken.web@flsenate.gov, saunders.burt.web@flsenate.gov, sebesta.jim.web@flsenate.gov, siplin.gary.web@flsenate.gov, smith.rod.web@flsenate.gov, villalobos.alex.web@flsenate.gov, schultz.debbie.web@flsenate.gov, wilson.frederica.web@flsenate.gov, wise.stephen.web@flsenate.gov

[johnb838]

For the last 13 years, her husband and parents have been living with this tragic case. Only now do the righteous citizens give a hoot.

Why does somebody always have to play the hypocracy card? Your statement is bullcrap. People have been fighting for Terri and trying to get the word out for years and years. I myself learned of it from Glen Beck about a year ago. He himself had been rooting for her to have the tube removed when he was a DJ in Tampa, until he found out the true nature of the situation.

[supercat]

Courts of appeals sometimes take cases away from trial judges and assign them to new judges.

True, but it's almost impossible to get a case taken away from a trial judge without that judge's approval unless the need for such removal was anticipated in advance.

[HiTech RedNeck]

This Terri law sets no court precedent for anything else, certainly not like that.

[Rome2000]

Bill Number ....: HB 35E Date: 10/20/2003
Amendment Number: Time: 10:11PM
Reading Number .: 3 Session Sequence No: 644
Floor Actions ..: Passage

In the Chair ...: Byrd

Yeas - 68 Nays - 23 Not Voting - 28
MEMBER MEMBER MEMBER
Y Adams Y Fiorentino Y Murzin
Y Allen Y Galvano Y Needelman
Y Altman N Gannon Y Negron
Y Ambler - Garcia Y Patterson
N Anderson Y Gardiner - Paul
N Antone N Gelber - Peterman
Y Arza N Gibson, A. Y Pickens
Y Attkisson Y Gibson, H. - Planas
N Ausley Y Goodlette Y Poppell
- Baker - Gottlieb N Prieguez
- Barreiro Y Green - Quinones
Y Baxley - Greenstein Y Reagan
Y Bean N Harper - Rich
N Bendross-Mindingall Y Harrell N Richardson
Y Bense Y Harrington - Ritter
- Benson - Hasner Y Rivera
Y Berfield Y Henriquez Y Robaina
Y Bilirakis Y Holloway - Roberson
Y Bowen Y Homan Y Ross
- Brandenburg N Jennings Y Rubio
Y Brown Y Johnson - Russell
Y Brummer Y Jordan N Ryan
- Brutus N Joyner Y Sansom
N Bucher - Justice N Seiler
Y Bullard Y Kallinger Y Simmons
Y Byrd N Kendrick - Slosberg
- Cantens Y Kilmer N Smith
Y Carroll Y Kosmas N Sobel
Y Clarke Y Kottkamp - Sorensen
Y Cretul Y Kravitz Y Spratt
Y Culp - Kyle Y Stansel
- Cusack Y Littlefield Y Stargel
Y Davis, D. Y Llorente - Sullivan
Y Davis, M. N Machek Y Troutman
Y Dean - Mahon N Vana
- Detert - Mayfield Y Waters
Y Domino Y McInvale N Wiles
Y Evers Y Meadows N Wishner
Y Farkas Y Mealor N Zapata
- Fields Y Murman

[Rome2000]

Bill Number ....: HB 35E Date: 10/21/2003
Amendment Number: Time: 03:28PM
Reading Number .: 3 Roll Call: 2
Floor Actions ..:

Yeas - 23 Nays - 15 Not Voting - 2
VA VO MEMBER VA VO MEMBER VA VO MEMBER
_ N Alexander _ N Dockery _ Y Peaden
_ N Argenziano _ Y Fasano _ Y Posey
_ N Aronberg _ Y Garcia _ Y Pruitt
_ Y Atwater _ N Geller _ Y Saunders
_ N Bennett _ Y Haridopolos _ Y Sebesta
_ N Bullard _ - Hill _ N Siplin
_ Y Campbell _ Y Jones _ N Smith
_ N Carlton _ Y King _ N Villalobos
_ Y Clary _ N Klein _ N Wasserman Schultz
_ Y Constantine _ Y Lawson _ Y Webster
_ Y Cowin _ Y Lee _ EX Wilson
_ Y Crist _ Y Lynn _ Y Wise
_ N Dawson _ N Margolis
_ Y Diaz de la Portilla _ Y Miller
Presiding: King President: James King
'VA'=Vote After Roll Call 'VO'=Chamber Vote

[kennedyd]

If a new law overturns or changes a prior law which was the basis for a court's decision, the court's decision is legally void. Legislatures, not judges, make the laws. Are you saying that legislative repeal or modification of an existing law means that the laws of the land mean nothing?

[Conservative til I die]

For the last 13 years, her husband and parents have been living with this tragic case. Only now do the righteous citizens give a hoot.

Maybe because most of us just found out about it????? Grinch.

[ConservativeMan55]

OK...so the feeding tube has been re-inserted. But do the parents get custody of her? Do they get to see her?

[HiTech RedNeck]

That would be nice, but what would be better is to arrest him and then put him on a diet of stale bred and stagnant water.

Or, a diet of nothing?

[george wythe]

This Terri law sets no court precedent for anything else, certainly not like that.

Fine, let's assume that this law does not set a precedent on this.

Indulge me another question.

The Florida legisture passes a law about this, saying when there is a family conflict, the governor has the right to order liquid to be drained from patients with brain injuries, in order to prevent an unnecessary death.

Do you have a problem with such law?

[supercat]

Should Jeb stop the painful death of this woman due to the fluid buildup inside her skull? Should Jeb allow the husband to speak as her guardian?

First off, unless this happens within the next 15 days, the point will be moot with regard to the current law.

If Jeb had the authority to intervene, I would expect him to defer to the courts unless he had extremely strong reason to believe that they were in error. In Terri's case, evidence exists of numerous conflicts of interest which Greer refused to acknowledged; Greer's refusal to acknowledge such conflicts of interest suggests he likely has some of his own.

Basically, I would interpret Jeb's power in this case as being a civil-law equivalent to the pardon power. Just as criminal-law cases are too important to be left entirely in the hands of a single trial-court judge, so too should be certain life-and-death civil law cases.

[beckett]

Jeb.Bush@MyFlorida.com

[Conservative til I die]

I assume Hitler would have gotten your vote, since he did have all the proper jurisdiction as Chancellor when he started up his concentration camps.

Was that a little over the top??? :)