Posted on 10/21/2004 10:36:07 AM PDT by amdgmary
Oct 21, 12:35 PM EDT
Florida Supreme Court refuses new hearing in Schiavo
By MITCH STACY Associated Press Writer
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday declined a request from Gov. Jeb Bush to reconsider its decision striking down a state law designed to save the life of a severely brain-damaged woman.
The state's high-court ruled 7-0 last month that Bush and state lawmakers overstepped their authority with the year-old law ordering that Terri Schiavo's feeding tube be reinserted six days after her husband had it removed so she could die.
Bush's attorney asked the court for a rehearing, which was rejected in a one-page ruling issued Thursday in Tallahassee.
Lower courts had ruled that Michael Schiavo - who says his wife never wanted to be kept alive artificially - could have the tube removed.
But the Legislature passed the law to overrule the courts, and Bush then used the law to order the tube reinserted last October after Michael Schiavo had it removed.
"We are disappointed with the ruling and are reviewing our legal options," said Jill Bratina, Bush's spokeswoman.
An attorney for Bush has said previously that he was studying the possibility of an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. That could stop, at least temporarily, any attempt to remove the tube.
Michael Schiavo's attorney, George Felos, said legally the Florida Supreme Court's decision clears the way for feeding tube to be removed, but he wouldn't speculate as to how soon that could happen.
"I think anyone looking at this fairly can see the governor's latest filings are only for the purposes of delay in this case, and we're glad the court has said no more delay," Felos said.
A ruling from Circuit Judge George Greer is due Friday on a request by Terri Schiavo's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, to order a new trial to determine their daughter's wishes. Felos said Michael Schiavo planned to wait for Greer's ruling to take any action.
The Schindlers claim their daughter, who they say was a practicing Roman Catholic before her collapse 14 years ago, would not now choose to have her feeding tube removed, based on statements by Pope John Paul III in March that people in vegetative states still have the right to basic health care and nutrition.
Terri Schiavo, who lives in a Clearwater nursing home, can breathe on her own but relies on a feeding and hydration tube to live. Courts have concluded she is in a "persistent vegetative state," but maneuvering over her fate has produced a closely watched right-to-die fight.
The 40-year-old woman left no written instructions before suffering brain damage when her heart temporarily stopped beating 14 years ago. But Michael Schiavo convinced Greer in a trial in 2000 that his wife had made statements that she would never want to be kept alive artificially.
Schiavo's parents disagree with their son-in-law about her wishes, insisting their daughter wants to live and could be helped with therapy. Courts have generally sided with Michael Schiavo, who has had the tube pulled twice - in 2001 for two days and last year.
But the Schindlers won a court order that had the tube reinserted three years ago, and then got the Legislature and Bush to act last year. They've also been asking a lower court to remove Michael Schiavo as their daughter's legal guardian, but no decision has been made.
Although attorneys for Schiavo argued that Terri Schiavo's privacy rights were violated, the high court's decision last month didn't reach that legal issue after finding the law violated the fundamental doctrine of separation of powers.
"It is without question an invasion of the authority of the judicial branch for the Legislature to pass a law that allows the executive branch to interfere with the final judicial determination in a case," Chief Justice Barbara Pariente wrote last month for the court.
"That is precisely what occurred here and for that reason the Act is unconstitutional as applied to Theresa Schiavo."
But, she continued, the law also violated the separation of powers by delegating legislative power to the governor, who had complete power under the law to decide when to issue a stay and when to lift the stay.
"This absolute unfettered discretion to decide whether to issue and then when to lift a stay makes the governor's decision virtually unreviewable," Pariente wrote.
On the Net:
The Florida Supreme Court: www.flcourts.org
Terri Schindler-Schiavo Foundation: http://www.terrisfight.org
Let Governor Bush know that what he has done is appreciated, but that a criminal like Michael cannot be permitted to escape justice.
I am afraid that with the election coming up, many here are overlooking this horror story.
I don't believe that Terri ever would have wanted to be starved to death. And all these nasty, sadistic stunts Michael Schiavo has done to her and her family.
Also guilty are the corrupt judges who have sentenced Terri to death. We have to keep pressure on Jeb Bush.
If they pull Terri's tube and she dies I think both Michael and Judge Greer should be prosacuted for MURDER...God Bless Terri and the Schindlers. My heart is crying for them.
BTW what ever happened to A&E's documentary?? Was it really being filmed for after her death ??? instead of showing people how she has been railroaded by Michael and Felos?
Jeb will not investigate unless it is within a court case. He will not use his executive powers. Therefore, our only option at this time is to urge him to take Terri's Law to the US Supreme Court. (If he doesn't do so, then Juan's been right all along that he's part of the process of erasing Terri from the face of the earth.)
He certainly has no interest in prosecuting anyone for violating TONS OF GUARDIANSHIP LAWS in Terri's case or Michael for domestic violence.
Agree 100% FV...Jeb IS the governor and does have some power that could stop this all in my opinion. Why no swallowing tests as advised??? Because she can swallow !!!!
By the way. jeb@jeb.org doesn't send back an auto-reply so I recommend if freepers contact Jeb try jeb.bush@jeb.org or jeb@myflorida.com. Keep trying until you get an auto-reply so you know he got your email. FV
I know according to God's word we should not judge but I think Michael Schiavo will make a foursome in HELL along with OJ ,Mark Hacking and Scott Peterson...May they live every day of their life on earth in a living hell.
Thanks for the post, pc93.
Amazing how the Schiavos circle the wagons so as better to obscure from the Public the nature of the Killing.
Thanks for the ping!
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=== Jeb will not investigate unless it is within a court case. He will not use his executive powers.
I think his job was done once he "registered the vein" such that the Supreme Court could set this precedent once and for all.
=== There is no way around it. This must be done. The final decision in this matter will end up there also, if they take it.
Somehow I don't see this happening.
I know that it's not the same as the Court's refusing to hear the Loce case sent up from New Jersey (imagine the press Mother Teresa's Amicus Curia brief might have garnered!) given the fact that The Good Death is not etched in federal granite like abortion.
Still ... I think what's happening here is a "coast-to-coast" domino effect of states' sanctioning assisted suicide, euthanasia and "Living Will" killing of family members more along the lines of lotteries or other means by which states themselves seek to keep up with the Jones' where the maximizing of tax revenues and minimizing of welfare outlays are concerned.
Additionally, the appeal of Home-Harvested Organs cannot be overlooked, particularly in light of the Feds' having already claimed control, region by region, of that particular Trade in Human Parts, much the same way Bush reserved to Federal control the alloting of monies for "stem cell" research at home and abroad.
(Many, I'm sure, yet under the mistaken impression that by "attracting the best and the brightest" there is some kind of central locale at which Officially Legitimate Stem Cells lines may be studied on the federal dime. Quite the opposite. Any corporation worldwide may submit a line concocted from embryos of the proper Kill-By date and receive the Federal funds.)
Will do, fv!
That's what I was thinking - a group of mercenaries to
take her to safety where she could receive all the therapy
and stimulation she needs.
What a homecoming it would be for her if she could file
suit against Michael. Let's see: physical and mental
abuse, probable battery that got her into this state,
killing her precious pets when she was unable to defend
them, attempted murder, adultery - anyone think of anything else?
And, these yokels come forth with their stories about how Terri would "rather die than be a burden" and similar claims, only after HINO wins the big insurance settlement. It is so venal.
Oct 22, 2004 11:07 am US/Eastern
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday rebuffed another effort by Gov. Jeb Bush to keep a severely brain-damaged woman alive against her husband's wishes.
Without comment, the court rejected Bush's request that it reconsider last month's decision striking down a state law that the governor invoked to have Terri Schiavo's feeding tube reinserted.
Schiavo has been at the center of one of the nation's longest and most bitter right-to-die cases, a dispute that has pitted her husband against her parents.
The high court ruled unanimously in September that Bush and state lawmakers overstepped their authority last October when they passed the law to reinsert Ms. Schiavo's feeding tube. Days before the law passed, Schiavo's husband had removed the tube, with a judge's approval, so that she could die.
Michael Schiavo's attorney, George Felos, said Thursday's ruling legally clears the way for the feeding tube to be removed again. But he said Schiavo would not take any action before a ruling due Friday on a request by his wife's parents for a new trial to determine their daughter's wishes.
An attorney for the governor said he is considering an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, which could stop, at least temporarily, any attempt to remove the feeding tube.
"The legal process is narrowing down to not many options for us, but we will review them and see what the next step will be," Bush said.
Terri Schiavo, 40, suffered severe brain damage in 1990 when her heart stopped beating from a chemical imbalance that doctors said was brought on by an eating disorder.
Some doctors have testified she is in a persistent vegetative state with no hope for recovery, and Michael Schiavo says she would never want to be kept alive artificially. Her parents have disputed that, and have countered with medical experts who believe she might have a chance at regaining some of her faculties.
The courts have generally sided with Michael Schiavo, and he has had the tube removed twice — last October, and also for two days in 2001.
(© 2004 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. )
http://cbsnewyork.com/topstories/topstories_story_296110859.html
Thanks for the pings.Having computer problems here. I hate it when computers fight back!!!
I noticed that. I had return receipt on though and it was read by someone on his end.
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