Posted on 03/18/2005 4:32:07 PM PST by Tumbleweed_Connection
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay pledged Friday to hold Florida state judge George Greer in contempt of Congress for ignoring a congressional subpoena for Terri Schiavo's testimony, saying, "No little judge sitting in a state district court in Florida is going to usurp the authority of Congress."
"The Congress will pursue this, if we have to hold him in contempt of Congress," DeLay told radio host Sean Hannity.
Pressed on whether he intended to hold Judge Greer in contempt, the top Republican told Hannity: "Absolutely, absolutely."
"We will do everything to enforce the power and authority of the Congress and no little judge sitting in a state district court in Florida is going to usurp the authority of Congress," he added.
Earlier in the day Judge Greer rebuffed the Schiavo subpoena, telling attorneys in the case, "I have had no cogent reason why the [congressional] committee should intervene." He claimed that the last-minute action on the part of Congress does not nullify years of legal proceedings.
But DeLay told Hannity, "This judge and the Supreme Court of Florida are well known to be liberal judges that have a different worldview and they're imposing their worldview on the law."
The top House leader said that "no sane person" could look at Schiavo and say she's in a persistent vegetative state.
DeLay called a lawyer for Michael Schiavo, who has pressed for years to have his wife starved to death, "the personification of evil."
No, but the judges, either state or federal, are going to feel the same way about this. None of them would welcome congressional interference in their pending orders. Nor should they, from a constitutional perspective.
Clinton only did that after Courts of Appeal had sided with the Federal Government and said that Elian should be returned to his father.
thanks for shining that light on Felos. this guy is effing nuts.
Are we going to stand by while Congress goes after every individual situation like this? Is this really what the Legislative Branch is supposed to be involved in?
Stop making a damn fool of yourself Deacon.
I find "conservative" Delay's complete indifference to the concept of federalism absolutely appalling.
It didn't stop Clinton and Reno from sending them in to extricate Elian from Freedom.
"Our President has indicated his support for this lady, can't he do anything directly?"
Another poster on one of the threads said the President can't use executive orders against a judges directive.
Because the senate bill is a waste of time just like the one the legislature worked on in FL. It isn't going to save Terri or anybody else. Why do you think they had enough votes to pass the meaningless thing in the senate?
Well, if you take the word FELON, take off the n and add an s, you've got him - FELOS.
The biggest problem is that the remedy proposed at the federal level makes every single case of this type subject to automatic federal review. No jurisdiction required; no cause of action required.
In other words, the cure would be worse than the disease.
Yes, but Judge Greer isn't following Florida law, he's breaking it. According to a Florida Internation University law professor, in a recent opinion article in Miami Herald, Florida law requires that, unless there is "clear and convincing" evidence that a patient desired not to be kept on feeding support, the feeding support stays. The professor said Judge Greer's decision was "shocking" because there isn't anything near "clear and convincing" evidence of Terri's wishes - only the husband's memory, offered years after she'd first become disabled, of a casual comment she made while watching TV. At the same time, a comment going the other way was recalled by a friend of Terri's. So you have conflicting testamony, and none of it relating a considered, formal opinion on Terri's part. No weight of evidence that rises to "clear and convincing." In short, the judge isn't following "Florida law" - he's either incompetent or incredibly arrogant with a personal agenda.
You've convinced me... I'm going to stop asking for God's mercy upon this nation, and ask for His judgment.
Look where it got them.
Terri Schiavo Tried to Tell Parents' Attorney She Wanted to Live
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
March 18, 2005
Pinellas Park, FL (LifeNews.com) -- Just before representatives of her estranged husband Michael removed her feeding tube Friday afternoon, Terri Schiavo reportedly told an attorney for her parents that she wanted to live.
Barbara Weller, one of the attorneys for Terri's parents Bob and Mary Schindler, told reporters about her visit with Terri on Friday.
"Terri, if you would just say, 'I want to live,' all of this will be over," she told the disabled woman.
Weller said Terri desperately tried to repeat Weller's words.
"'I waaaaannt ...,' Schiavo allegedly said. Weller described it as a prolonged yell that was loud enough that police stationed nearby entered the hospice room.
"She just started yelling, 'I waaaannt, I waaaannt,'" Weller explained.
At that point, police removed Weller from Terri's hospice room and, later, her feeding tube was removed.
Randall Terry recounted Weller's experience on the "Sean Hannity" nationally syndicated radio program.
Meanwhile, another Schindler attorney described the mood of Terri's parents after the tumultuous afternoon.
"They're devastated," their lawyer, David Gibbs told Reuters after the tube was removed. "They would change places with her in a heartbeat, if there was any way that they could be the one that's sick and hurting, and give their health to Terri. They're a mom, a dad. ... It's a tough day for them."
Related web sites:
Terri's parents - http://www.terrisfight.org
ROTFLMBO and APPLAUDING.....
Big deal judge get slap on the wrist and she dies.
Sorry, sinkspur, didn't see your post. But, if it was a court order, why did he send them in in such a violent manner with guns cocked and doors broken?
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