Sometimes gotten lighten things up a little. This death stuff is so heavy.
Somehow people get famous and infamous mixed up. Alex (isn't that his name?) needs to learn the difference.
Small Steps In Court Lead Up To Pivotal Moment In Schiavo Case
http://www.wftv.com/news/4080465/detail.html
AP January 13, 2005
TAMPA, Fla. -- In a legal case prone to dramatic developments and courtroom showdowns, recent weeks have been relatively subdued in the Terri Schiavo case where a series of small legal maneuvers haven't garnered much attention.
But the recent developments in the case are leading up to a pivotal decisions in the long-running legal battle over the fate of the 41-year-old, severely brain-damaged woman whose parents and husband disagree over whether she should live or die.
"It's definitely a turning-point week," said Barbara Weller, an attorney for the Schindlers.
The case is being fought on three fronts: in Florida at the 2nd District Court of Appeal in Lakeland, at Pinellas County probate court and at the U.S. Supreme Court.
Parents Bob and Mary Schindler are seeking a new trial on their daughter's wishes both from the 2nd District Court of Appeal and in Pinellas County they have asked a judge to set aside his ruling that Terri Schiavo did not want to be kept alive artificially.
The U.S. Supreme Court is considering whether to take up the case of whether Florida Gov. Jeb Bush overstepped his authority when he blocked Terri Schiavo's death in October 2003.
The nation's high court is expected to meet on Jan. 21 behind closed doors to discuss whether it will take the case. The court could chose not to decide immediately and ask for further filings, but it also has the option of making a decision that day.
How much longer that can go on is something neither side is willing to predict given the volatile nature of the case.
For now, Terri Schiavo's feeding tube can't be removed under an indefinite stay issued by Circuit Court Judge George Greer of Clearwater. Greer, the same judge who twice authorized her husband to disconnect the tube, issued the stay late last year pending any appeals in the state courts.
Terri Schiavo will soon mark her 15th year of being kept alive by the tube. In February 1990, she suffered severe brain damage when a chemical imbalance brought on by an eating disorder caused her heart to stop beating.
She can breathe on her own, but requires the tube to take in food and water. The court has ruled she is in a persistent vegetative state with no hope for recovery, but her parents say other doctors believe their daughter could regain some level of functioning with proper rehabilitation.
The Schindlers say their daughter is at least aware enough to react to them, cry and laugh.
"She is just so human and alive it just breaks your heart," said Weller, who recently visited Terri Schiavo. The attorneys are now asking that Terri Schiavo be brought to court for proceedings involving her -- which they contend is her right.
"For the judges to determine her fate without ever setting eyes on her is just a travesty," Weller added.
George Felos, the attorney representing Michael Schiavo, said the issues the Schindlers are now raising have been litigated and resolved before.
"It's hard for me to believe it can happen, but each motion becomes more frivolous that the one before," Felos said in a recent interview.
Felos said Michael Schiavo -- who twice had his wife's feeding tube disconnected, only to have it reinserted once by order of a judge and a second time by order of the governor -- does not believe he needs a new order allowing the tube to be removed again once the legal battle is over.
That too is likely to set off another round of legal maneuvers because those seeking to keep Terri Schiavo alive contend that new permission is needed.
"I don't know how the court is going to treat this latest, bogus motion," Felos said of the request for a new trial. "I certainly would hope no court would seek a stay on this frivolous motion, but a judge did on the last one. We're just going to have to take it one day at a time and see how it proceeds."
Please write the white house at the below link and ask them to open an online discussion about Terri.
Link here: Ask the White House Home Page
http://www.whitehouse.gov/ask/
Sometimes gotten lighten things up a little. This death stuff is so heavy.
http://www.rutheckerdhall.com/
Sometimes gotten lighten things up a little. This death stuff is so heavy. (that wasn't a picture! I pasted the link but did it as a jpeg. OOPS!