Law to keep brain-damaged woman alive ruled unconstitutional (Baird Rules Against Terri)

Sun-Sentinel ^ | May 6 2004

[Future Useless Eater]

thats a 1992 photo Michael presented to the jury to show
how alert, alive, and appreciative of him, that Terri was.
Its a newspaper photo.

Michael also took her outside often for 'photo-ops' back then

[tutstar]

It was in the St. Pete Times probably when MS was involved with the malpractice trial.
According to MS statements on Larry King Live it must have taken the photographer hours to get a good pic of Terri.

http://www.sptimes.com/News/012500/photos/tb-terri-head.jpg

[tuckrdout]

No. But it would strengthen the Parent's case for a civil divorce and bring pressure on Schiavo. Besides, it is the right thing to do!

[trustandobey]

Amen!

[trustandobey]

We had better get to praying like never before! It is hard to not have thoughts about what should happen to these people (whom I must remember God created.)

[Dante3]

We are slipping into a dictatorship of judges. And some judges can be bought and/or blackmailed. I bet Baird has more than one skeleton in his closet.

[wisconsinconservative]

I heard about this on national(radio)news about a half hour ago but didn't hear the whole thing so I wasn't sure if they were talking about Terri's Law.

Dear God it looks like they're going to get away with killing her.

[gemoftheocean]

I hope you are not married. If you are married, I hope your spouse sees your post. PErsonally, I would hold in contempt anyone who would starve a dog to death, much less a human being. You should pray to God to have mercy on your soul.

[babygene]

bunp for later read...

[Gelato]

Posted on Thu, May. 06, 2004

Judge throws out state law keeping Terri Schiavo alive

BY PHIL LONG

Gov. Jeb Bush and the Florida Legislature violated the privacy rights of a severely brain-damaged woman when they ordered her feeding tube re-inserted to keep her alive last fall, a Clearwater judge ruled today, declaring the controversial ''Terri's Law'' unconstitutional.

''It is difficult to imagine a clearer deprivation of a judicially vested right by retroactive legislation than that which has occurred in this case,'' wrote Pinellas Circuit Judge W. Douglas Baird.

The Legislature, ''can not retroactively create in the governor some previously nonexistent legal interest in controlling Mrs. Schiavo's private medical decisions after those decisions have been finally adjudicated'' in court, Baird wrote in a 23-page decision.

Baird ruled that the law not only violates Terri Schiavo's privacy rights, but also is a violation of the separation of powers prohibiting one branch of government from interfering with another's duties. In this case, Braid ruled, Bush had no right to overrule years of court litigation that led to the courts' decision to remove the feeding tube.

A spokesman for Bush's office said the governor has already filed a notice of appeal with the Second District Court of Appeal, based in Lakeland.

Terri Schiavo, who doctors say is in a persistent vegetative state, has been at the center of a six-year court fight over whether she lives or dies. Her husband, Michael Schiavo, has fought to have the feeding removed, saying his wife told him before the incident that left her brain damaged that she would not want to be kept alive artificially.

Terri Schiavo's parents, Robert and Mary Schindler, have battled to keep their daughter from being allowed to die, saying she never made a clear pronouncement that she would not want to live in her condition, and that she has the right to live.

Last fall, after the feeding tube had been removed by court order, the Legislature passed an emergency law giving Bush the right to order the tube reinserted, which he immediately did.

Michael challenged the law, leading to Thursday's ruling.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/8604961.htm?1c


According to this judge, the courts can order the death of innocent people, violate the Constitution, and the other two branches can do nothing to step in and protect citizens.

Unbelievable!

[Ohioan from Florida]

Pinging my list! No wonder I've been feeling sick to my stomach today!

[tuckrdout]

Where can I find this photo? Are there more?

I believe the publication of these types of photos are the best ammunition we have to help her. The difference in Terri from the time before Schiavo got the money, to the time since he got the money and moved in with his "sweetie"--is astouding! It is the smoking gun, showing that he wants her to die, not for her sake, but for his own.

[Dante3]

This is an outrage.

[RoseofTexas]

MY EXACT THOUGHT!! I would do ANYTHING to keep my child alive, YES even break the law!! I would remove her in the middle of the night from that death trap and skiddle from Fl. or the USA!! ANYTHING!!

[Gelato]

Pinellas Circuit Court Judge W. Douglas Baird

[kenth]

I guess he finally decided to make it official, since he decided that it was 'presumptively unconstitutional' from the beginning.

Liberty and justice for all, eh?

[Gelato]

Photo caption: "Pinellas County Circuit Judge W. Douglas Baird listens as George Felos, attorney for Michael Schiavo, presents arguments during a hearing Monday, April 19, 2004, in Clearwater, Fla. Schiavo is the husband of Terri Schiavo, the brain damaged woman at the center of a right-to-die battle. On Thursday May 6, 2004, Baird ruled that a law pushed by Florida Gov. Jeb Bush to keep Terri Schiavo alive is unconstitutional. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)"

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/040506/480/tp10505061806

[Wheee The People]

I hope you are not married. If you are married, I hope your spouse sees your post. PErsonally, I would hold in contempt anyone who would starve a dog to death, much less a human being. You should pray to God to have mercy on your soul.

I am married. And my wife is the person that God has join me to. Should I be unable to speak for myself, she and not the court, the church, or the state or anyone else (other than God) is empowered to decide the manner of my death.

[kenth]

So why are you still here?

[wisconsinconservative]

Liberty and justice for all, eh?

Liberty and justice for all who qualify