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Judge in Life or Death Case Considered Conservative, Compassionate (Terri Schiavo Case)
AP | 10/25/03 | Vickie Chachere

Posted on 10/25/2003 9:46:41 AM PDT by kattracks

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. (AP) - Pinellas Circuit Judge George Greer has been called a murderer and equated with the Roman governor who condemned Jesus to death. He has been vilified in Internet chat rooms and has received death threats by e-mail.

Greer is the judge who granted Terri Schiavo's husband permission to remove her feeding tube in one of the longest and most contentious right-to-life battles. His decision was second-guessed and essentially overridden by the Florida Legislature and Gov. Jeb Bush last week.

Following judicial code of conduct, Greer has been silent about the public debate over the Schiavo case and the criticism he has faced. He declined a request for an interview.

But those who know the 61-year-old probate judge say he is a prudent jurist who probably agonized over his decisions.

"He is such a good and decent man and to have this kind of rap being put on him right now is so unfair," said Mary Repper, a political strategist who has helped Greer's campaigns. "If ever this was to be put into the hands of someone who is going to be fair and do the right thing, George was the right person."

Through four years of hearings and legal wrangling, Greer considered Michael Schiavo's request to remove his severely brain-damaged wife's feeding tube against the wishes of her parents, Bob and Mary Schindler.

A heart attack in 1990 left Terri Schiavo, now 39, in a persistently vegetative state and court-appointed doctors believe there is no hope of recovery. Greer ruled Michael Schiavo showed "clear and convincing" evidence his wife did not want to be kept alive artificially and permitted him to end her nourishment.

The extraordinary reversal of his ruling by Bush and the Legislature will now become the central issue in a new legal fight over the separation of powers that will be waged to overturn what's now known as "Terri's Law."

While Greer has become a key figure in the international news event, few outside of Pinellas County know the man who friends describe as conservative, religious and particularly sensitive to protecting the disabled.

Greer is legally blind and cannot drive. While his condition doesn't hamper his abilities on the bench, colleagues and others said in interviews last week it gives him a perspective in dealing with the rights of the impaired few jurists have.

"He is so conscientious anyway, you put a case involving human life in front of him and it makes him even more careful," said Ed Armstrong, a Clearwater attorney who describes Greer as his mentor. "It's been an ordeal for him too."

Greer is a member of a conservative Baptist church which recently advocated keeping Terri Schiavo alive in a church newsletter. A moderate Republican, Greer served on the Pinellas County Commission for eight years before running unopposed for a circuit judgeship in 1992.

Repper and former Pinellas County Commissioner Charles Rainey said the fact that no one opposed the quiet, studious Greer speaks volumes for how well he is regarded in Pinellas County.

"He's doing what the law says to do. I am sure he struggles with himself, knowing George," Rainey said. "The man did everything he was asked to do as far as checking out the case, checking out the medical situation and he did it two or three times."

Greer is known for answering his own telephone in chambers and until recently being easily accessible to the press, characteristics that his friends say are holdovers from his days of being an elected official.

Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., Greer graduated from Clearwater High School. He graduated from the University of Florida law school and was a successful zoning attorney in Clearwater when he was elected to the county commission in 1984. He been a judge since 1992 and is up for re-election next year.

Michael Schiavo first asked the probate court for permission to disconnect his wife's feeding tube in 1998, saying his wife had told him that she never wanted to be kept alive artificially. Her parents disagree. Two other judges handled the case before it was passed to Greer.

Greer turned down repeated requests from the Schindlers to order therapy for their daughter or to dismiss Michael Schiavo as her guardian. Just this week, Greer set a hearing in November, nearly a year after the Schindlers' last motion for a new guardian, to discuss that issue.

The Schindlers' attorneys attempted to have Greer removed from the case in recent weeks, saying he had improperly discussed the case with others. An appeals court decided Greer would stay.

The Schiavo case is not the only time Greer has been faced with the issue of removing a feeding tube from a vegetative patient. In 2000, the wife and grown children of St. Petersburg attorney Blair Clark faced off in Greer's courtroom after Clark collapsed from a heart attack.

Clark had a living will which said he did not want a feeding tube or respirator if he was determined to be in a permanent vegetative state. But his Chinese-born wife - who disputed her husband was vegetative and believed he could hear her - wanted to try acupuncture and medical techniques from her homeland.

Greer allowed an acupuncturist to administer a treatment session, and then granted Clark's children permission to withdraw their father's feeding tube. Clark's wife did not appeal the decision.

Clark died within days of the tube's removal.

"He was sympathetic and empathetic to the fact that we had somebody who in her culture believed in these alternative methods," said Doug Williamson, who represented the Clark children.

William Mayhew, who represented Clark's wife Ping, said he too believes Greer simply followed the law.

"Many judges would have figured out a way to dump (the Schiavo) case," said Pinellas County Sheriff Everett Rice, Greer's friend for more than 20 years. "But he stuck by it. He deserves a medal for enduring that alone."



TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: judgegreer; terrischiavo
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To: sweetliberty
Did the newspaper give a reason for not printing her letter?
201 posted on 10/26/2003 3:12:04 PM PST by pickyourpoison
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To: Budge
Bad, bad Budge. Take this dead fish back out to the yard and bury it.
202 posted on 10/26/2003 3:14:08 PM PST by T'wit
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To: T'wit
Thanks for the backup. Anderson is indeed very dedicated and thoroughly informed on the case. Money is needed, though; in some matters there is no substitute.
203 posted on 10/26/2003 3:18:55 PM PST by Graymatter
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To: All

To ALL pro death trolls:

I now keep my mouse arrow on the ABUSE BUTTON whenever I encounter your names. It will not take too much more of your cr*p to start me clicking!!!!
204 posted on 10/26/2003 3:19:53 PM PST by Coral Snake (deathculture(HospiceOf TheFlorida$uncoast == Andersonville + Aushwitz)
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To: kattracks
bump
205 posted on 10/26/2003 3:27:00 PM PST by Robert Drobot (God, family, country. All else is meaningless.)
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To: Graymatter
I caught most of her interview yesterday with Barbara Simpson on tape (I hope!). I'll try to transcribe it, or at least some of it. I meant to say in my last note, as you do here, she's completely dedicated. Often in life, the side that is more passionate, more certain of its moral grounding, will carry the day even if it is outgunned.
206 posted on 10/26/2003 3:37:52 PM PST by T'wit
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To: T'wit; sweetliberty; All
Okay, since you didn't like THAT dead fish, perhaps you'll find THIS one a little fresher.

BTW, published Oct. 15, 2003 in The Washington Dispatch.

I found it very interesting.

207 posted on 10/26/2003 3:46:41 PM PST by Budge ( <>< .)
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To: sweetliberty; T'wit; All
I found this tidbit only now.

An article written by David Sommer - published Aug. 28, 2003

"But appeals courts have already looked at the guardian issue and decided that Greer fulfills that role, the judge said Tuesday. Also, Greer said, he is under specific orders from the 2nd District Court of Appeal to schedule the removal of Schiavo's feeding tube."

Full article can be read Here.

208 posted on 10/26/2003 4:06:08 PM PST by Budge ( <>< .)
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To: Budge
This article is excellent and spot-on, IMO, that if we as a nation do not stand up for Terri Schindler-Schiavo's human rights, the light of American liberty will slowly die with her.
209 posted on 10/26/2003 4:28:55 PM PST by T'wit
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To: Budge
I'd certainly be interested in exactly what the 2nd Court of Appeals said to Greer. There is no "right to die" here. Terri has a right NOT to be deprived of life under the first and fourteenth amendments to the Constitution. This charade in courts has been far short of "due process," and in any case, there is no constitutional authority to kill her even if she has had "due process." The judges appear to be ordering a murder.
210 posted on 10/26/2003 4:36:47 PM PST by T'wit
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To: T'wit
BTTT
Vote if you haven't...poll getting close to even
53 -47
Coming from way behind!
211 posted on 10/26/2003 6:18:22 PM PST by 4Godsoloved..Hegave (Mat 25:35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink:)
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To: 4Godsoloved..Hegave
http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/late.edition/index.html

Ooooppps here is the link.
212 posted on 10/26/2003 6:18:52 PM PST by 4Godsoloved..Hegave (Mat 25:35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink:)
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To: kattracks
If the judge is blind, he cannot evaluate the evidence and should disqualify himself or be challenged.
213 posted on 10/26/2003 6:22:31 PM PST by Tax Government
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To: madprof98
Isn't Nancy Pelosi a "conservative Catholic"?

Nancy Pelosi may have been raised in a nominally catholic family, but by her record in congress, she is a far left God-hating, America-hating, Freedom-hating socialist.

214 posted on 10/26/2003 6:56:26 PM PST by editor-surveyor ( . Best policy RE: Environmentalists, - ZERO TOLERANCE !!)
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To: T'wit
I thought I knew a LITTLE about the way our govt works. Guess that's exactly what I know, because I'm still bewildered that right-to-die applies to a woman who wasn't dying when they started to exercise that right on her behalf.
And btw, it does seem odd that an appeals court would ORDER Greer to do anything. I thought a judge is free to change his mind if he pleases, just call another hearing, listen awhile, and proceed to reverse himself.
Do we need a new federal law here, just because some folks won't heed the existing laws? Someone is trying to end Terri's life because she is disabled; no other reason (motives aside). That's contrary to law. She left no written directive, isn't that required? If a guardian has the power to end a disabled, non-terminal person's life, he shouldn't be. It's just wrong.
215 posted on 10/26/2003 7:01:25 PM PST by Graymatter
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To: 4Godsoloved..Hegave
I did. It's 50-50.

I have to say, though, this is a bizarre question for a vote. It's like thumbs up, thumbs down, live or die, for a Roman gladiator. Why do half the people hate Terri so much, they'd want to kill her? They don't even know her.

I guess they're the ones who attended public schools.

216 posted on 10/26/2003 8:42:36 PM PST by T'wit
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To: Graymatter
>> I'm still bewildered that right-to-die applies to a woman who wasn't dying...

It is certainly puzzling -- and obnoxious! This is literally a case of the guardian killing his ward. There is no "right to die" question involved. That's propaganda, a smokescreen to cover a clinical execution.

We emphatically need new federal and state protections against the abuse of legal guardianship. Michael Schiavo has turned his guardianship into total, cruel domination of a wife I believe he once beat within an inch of her life. He has abused her, withheld treatment, stolen the money for her therapy, and tried repeatedly to murder her by dehydration. He has the power to do it as things stand! -- the power to order doctors and nurses around, and even give judges unpalatable choices. Those are all matters crying for sharp reform. Terri needs an ombudsman -- someone disinterested who will speak for her and protect her from those bent on harming her.

217 posted on 10/26/2003 8:53:49 PM PST by T'wit
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To: T'wit
52 - 48 now....Any nightimers that can keep the poll being bumped through the night? Larry King may have something to tell Michael when he arrives there tomorrow.....

Way to go!!!

http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/late.edition/
218 posted on 10/26/2003 9:12:02 PM PST by 4Godsoloved..Hegave (Mat 25:35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink:)
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To: Theodore R.; fiesti; All
I have been in touch with Livius, and she can't remember exactly where she read the info about Greer's wife. I believe that this is one of those errors that happens from time to time, with all the many Terri threads and all the links. I have nothing to substantiate the claim of Greer's wife, Patricia, being on the board of the hospice.

However, Greer does have two connections: 1.)His bench buddy, Judge John Lenderman, has a sister, Martha, who is on the board, and 2.)Greer worked with Barbara Sheen Todd on city council for 8 years, who is also on the board.

Please continue to post this to others who may be mixed up. It won't do Terri any good if we won't corroborate our info.
219 posted on 10/26/2003 9:48:31 PM PST by Ohioan from Florida
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To: Ohioan from Florida
Found this.

Agency to probe alleged spousal abuse of brain damaged woman
BY MICHAEL MARTINEZ AND PAT KAMPERT
Chicago Tribune

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. - (KRT) - A state protection agency for disabled persons on Wednesday was planning to launch an investigation into alleged spousal abuse against Terri Schiavo...Under federal law, the agency is granted strong investigative powers, including examining medical and court-sealed guardian financial records, and its findings of abuse or neglect would be conclusive and pre-emptive of any court or other agency determination, said Patricia Anderson, an attorney for Terri Schiavo's parents.

full article at http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/7079354.htm
220 posted on 10/26/2003 11:29:28 PM PST by Graymatter
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