Posted on 03/21/2005 2:45:19 PM PST by AntiGuv
PINELLAS PARK, Fla. (AP) -- Armed with a new law rushed through Congress over the weekend, the attorney for Terri Schiavo's parents pleaded with a judge Monday to order the brain-damaged woman's feeding tube reinserted.
U.S. District Judge James Whittemore did not immediately make a ruling after the two-hour hearing, and he gave no indication on when he might act on the request.
The hearing came three days after the feeding tube was removed. Doctors have said Schiavo could survive one to two weeks without the tube.
During the hearing, David Gibbs, an attorney for the parents, said that forcing Terri Schiavo to die by starvation and dehydration would be "a mortal sin" under her Roman Catholic beliefs.
"It is a complete violation to her rights and to her religious liberty, to force her in a position of refusing nutrition," Gibbs told Whittemore.
But the judge told Gibbs that he still wasn't completely sold on the argument. "I think you'd be hard-pressed to convince me that you have a substantial likelihood" of the parents' lawsuit succeeding, the judge said.
George Felos, one of the attorneys for husband Michael Schiavo, told Whittemore that the case has been aired thoroughly in state courts and that forcing the 41-year-old severely brain damaged woman to endure another re-insertion of the tube would violate her civil rights.
"Every possible issue has been raised and re-raised, litigated and re-litigated," Felos said. "It's the elongation of these proceedings that have violated Mrs. Schiavo's due process rights."
Terri Schiavo's feeding tube was removed at 1:45 p.m. Friday, the third such time she had begun what Felos described as "her dying process." On both previous occasions, the tube was re-inserted by court order.
Well, yeah.
Exegencies = a person's life. An innocent person, who, by the way is a victim of the vagaries of the legal system.
In my view, she should be safely tucked away in federal custody pending the outcome of the hand of justice.
If the judge sits on this case without a decision untill she dies, then everything is, moot, is that the term?
No person should have that power over an innocent citizen of this country.
And according to my layperson's view of the constitution, Terri has certain rights that the federal government is obliged to protect.
You've got it. The Democrats are keeping good judges off the bench.
And THIS is the result.
Concerning the other judges involved in this, all they did was review the procedure followed by the odious Judge Greer. They did not review facts.
The private bill provides for a new review of facts.
And yes, no matter how this turns out, the federal judge will be blamed for her death because, as it happens, he will be responsible for her death because he was assigned this case.
You can be assured he doesn't care.
Hey Judge, don't rush or anything, I mean it's not like anybody is starving to death waiting for your decision or anything . . .
You'd think the first thing the guy would do, regardless of where he stood on the issue, is order the tube back in until the matter was settled.
Why make the patient sit there and starve?
What the heck is the matter with us? Last week I was debating somebody on this forum about Putin, and I commented to him that this person completely underestimated what people will do to each other.
That was proportionate use of federal power under the law of the land.
Reno at Waco was just thuggery.
If he does that, then the case goes to an appeals court in Atlanta. But I wouldn't be surprised if this guy's trying to delay the appeal as long as possible (with the caveat that if he delays it too long, his delay might itself get appealed).
the judge said, I read, that he was going to "sleep on it" - so why would he be coming "out at 9PM..."
I can't disagree with anything you have written. I have propoosed a law, which will not be passed. And Terri's parents will almost certainly lose on the merits, if it gets to that rather than being mooted by her death, in federal court. But in the ensuing year, all kinds of stuff could pop up out of the legal woodwork. And there you have it.
Dear ClancyJ,
"Do you really think the President, the Governor and the Congress would go to all of this trouble as a 'sop'?"
Yup.
"Get real. We have real men in our government and they are working in the system. They cannot determine the outcome but can only get it to another federal court."
They certainly hope that the rest of us agree with that statement.
"Is nothing good enough for you where the president and governor is concerned? Do you want him impeached for abuse of power?"
The only folks I see abusing power are the judges murdering Terri.
If President Bush were to ask the House of Representatives for Articles of Impeachment for every federal judge who has ruled against Terri over the course of all this (and it has been through the federal courts) up to and including the black-robed monstrosities that call themselves the Supreme Court, if Gov. Bush were to do the same in Florida, starting with the murdering whore greer, then I'd be inclined to say that they'd done enough. Or at least, done something worthwhile.
But, yeah, I think this is a sop.
I don't know what the impact of it will be, should Terri be murdered, especially at this time of year. I wouldn't be surprised it the impact doesn't help the current majority party.
sitetest
IMHO the judge doesn't want to reinsert the tube because that requires him to find a likelihood of success, and he doesn't want to acknowledge that initially and then "reverse" himself a week from now. that would give teh Schiavos a big victory now and more of a sense of justification on appeal. But I hope I'm wrong and he reinserts the tube until a fuller hearing can be held.
What about the subpoenas to produce Terri,are they still valid,can the judge no use that to get Terri out or is he also ignoring the subpoenas?
Jeb should call out the National Guard to "protect" Judge Greer, and his brother should then federalize that NG to pick up Judge Greer.
OK, so if this judge comes out at 9AM tomorrow and rules against the Schindlers, what will you say?
what rock have you been hiding under? the very problem IS that the judges have become activist and ARE making, rather than upholding, laws
My point is that I am quite sure that that is NOT the standard where denial moots the case and a life is involved. I would bet the farm on it. It is more in the nature of a balancing test.
Congress did nothing to enforce those subpoenas, which would have been the next logical step. I doubt they serve as a more sturdy basis than the law just passed by Congress.
Their oaths of office and the Constitutions.
You know, we are coming to the time when it's all breaking down. Lawless judges making unjust rulings are losing legitimacy.
We are fortunate to have elected a majority who can talk the talk. But, if they do not walk the walk, might as well be the Clintons and Dems running the show.
Still can't hang my hat on just his statement. He's contradicting many other experts in the field.
This article, BTW does not say anything about the judge sleeping on it. Where did you read that? I seriously doubt he said that.
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