Posted on 03/21/2005 8:34:35 AM PST by bigsky
TO: Ms. Lis Wiehl, University of Washington Law School, and Fox News legal commentator
Good morning, Ms. Wiehl. I am not a lawyer and don't even play one on TV, but I teach American history and government part time at an excellent Miami area high school, and I was puzzled (as are my students, I am certain) by your Fox News comments aired at least twice yesterday (3/19) in re congressional activity to aid embattled, brain-damaged Terri Schiavo.
You amazingly said that such aid would be "unconstitutional" because "bills of attainders, that is, laws designed to help an individual, are prohibited." You also stated that "private bills in Congress are unconstitutional."
Neither statement of yours is correct, or even close to being correct. Bills of attainder, prohibited in Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution, are bills (once a great tool of our brutal English masters) that are cranked up by legislators to punish, not help, specific individuals. So far, every legislative idea regarding Terri Schiavo I have heard reported wants to help her live, not hasten her death. Only a fanatic Florida state judge and Terri's common-law bigamist "husband" are cheerleading the Death Squad.
(By the way, why don't you do a truly insightful commentary on the interest-conflicted absurdity of Judge Greer's allowing Mr. Schiavo to be his ailing wife's legal "guardian"? He is the same "caring" husband, of course, who openly flouts his marriage vows by living with another woman and her two children by him. Furthermore, Mr. Schiavo apparently has spent much of his ailing wife's million-dollar jury award to sustain his life, not that of his deteriorating wife No. 1.)
Furthermore, private bills, as you should know, are introduced every day in Congress, passed, and eventually enforced with little difficulty. (Public bills deal with general questions and become Public Laws, or Acts, if approved by Congress and signed by the President. Private bills deal with individual matters such as claims against the Federal Government, immigration and naturalization cases, land titles, et cetera, and become private laws if approved and signed.)
Your 180-degree-wrong double pronouncement, unfortuntely, gives a horribly biased and totally misleading analysis of what Congress actually is trying to do to trump a Florida's judge's application of cruel and unusual punishment for an innocent, living citizen. Professor Wiehl needs to go before the Fox cameras and 'fess up -- something that you probably require your wayward students to do from time to time in the classroom.
Thanks for your eventual mea culpa.
Mike Thompson
Palmetto Bay, Florida
Mr. Thompson is the past chairman of the Florida Conservative Union.
If you must know, Liz was hired because she is easy on the eyes, unlike most women liberals with law degrees.
I wondered about that when I saw her commentary, but I am no lawyer....
Great catch by Mr. Thompson!
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
Yes, Susan Estrich tried very hard to last night to hide her feelings about the case, but she ended up pretty much claiming that she knew that Terry Schiavo would have wanted us to kill her.
She's wrong on most everything. And when pressed she will switch sides and say "Oh, absolutely, I agree!"
Umm, she wont appologize and FOX is pro-Death Squad too, it seems.
They refrain from showing the most powerful videos that show Terri to not be ina PVS.
Still FOX is the best we got going right now.
Bills of attainder, prohibited in Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution, are bills (once a great tool of our brutal English masters) that are cranked up by legislators to punish, not help, specific individuals.
FOX may be the best we have going right now but I sure wish someone would buy something like MSNBC and start reporting the TRUTH! I cannot believe how much wrong information I heard from FOX analysts over the weekend -- so much so I turned them off again!
This negates any claim of objective analysis.
Oh yeah? Prove it!
"Yes, Susan Estrich tried very hard to last night to hide her feelings about the case, but she ended up pretty much claiming that she knew that Terry Schiavo would have wanted us to kill her."
Susan Ostrich, or course, is probably one of the smartest women in the USA. Anytime she or Gloria All-wet speak we should stop what we're doing, perk up our ears and listen because what they have to say is usually right square on the money.
What did you expect from a member of the ACLU?
" This negates any claim of objective analysis."
Most peoples points of view are subjective.
As evidenced by your tag line!
www.dictionary.com defines a bill of attainder as:
'A legislative act pronouncing a person guilty of a crime, usually treason, without trial and subjecting that person to capital punishment and attainder.'
or
'a legislative act finding a person guilty of treason or felony without a trial.'
I don't see how Congress' actions fall under these definitions by any stretch of the imagination.
That's a very good question.
But the first thing to find out is whether Florida recognizes 'common law' marriage.
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