Posted on 03/22/2005 9:19:02 PM PST by ambrose
Lawyer: Schiavo Ruling Expected Soon
By JILL BARTON Tuesday, March 22, 2005
TAMPA, Fla. - Warning that Terri Schiavo was "fading quickly" and might die at any moment, her parents begged a federal appeals court Tuesday to order the severely brain-damaged woman's feeding tube reinserted.
The appeals court didn't indicate when it might rule, but George Felos, the attorney for Terri's husband, Michael Schiavo, told the Associated Press that he expected a decision before daybreak Wednesday.
An attorney for parents Bob and Mary Schindler said in a court filing that the 41-year-old woman might die before they could get a chance to fully argue their case that her rights are being violated. The appeal came after a federal judge in Tampa rejected the parents' emergency request.
"Where, as here, death is imminent, it is hard to imagine more critical and exigent circumstances," lawyer David Gibbs III said in the appeal filed electronically with the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta. "Terri is fading quickly and her parents reasonably fear that her death is imminent."
Even before the parents' appeal was filed, Michael Schiavo urged the 11th Circuit not to grant an emergency request to restore nutrition.
"That would be a horrific intrusion upon Mrs. Schiavo's personal liberty," Felos said in the filing. He filed a response to the Schindlers' appeal and said he would go to the U.S. Supreme Court if the tube were ordered reconnected.
The Schindlers have been locked for years in a battle with Schiavo's husband over whether her feeding tube should be disconnected. State courts have sided with Michael Schiavo, who insists his wife told him she would never want to be kept alive artificially.
Late in the afternoon, the Schindlers arrived at the hospice, and Terri's mother again pleaded with state lawmakers to save her daughter's life.
"Please, senators, for the love of God, I'm begging you, don't let my daughter die of thirst," Mary Schindler said.
With that, she broke down and was escorted away.
In court documents, the couple said their daughter began "a significant decline" late Monday. Her eyes were sunken and dark, and her lips and face were dry.
"While she still made eye contact with me when I spoke to her, she was becoming increasingly lethargic," Bob Schindler said in the papers. "Terri no longer attempted to verbalize back to me when I spoke to her."
The feeding tube was disconnected on Friday. Doctors have said Terri Schiavo could survive one to two weeks without water and nutrients.
Louise Cleary, a spokeswoman at Woodside Hospice, said she could not discuss Terri Schiavo's condition for reasons of privacy.
Over the weekend, Republicans in Congress pushed through unprecedented emergency legislation aimed at prolonging Schiavo's life by allowing the case to be reviewed by federal courts.
However, early Tuesday, U.S. District Judge James Whittemore of Tampa rejected the parents' emergency request under that legislation to have the tube reconnected, saying they had not established that they would probably prevail at a trial on their claim that Terri Schiavo's religious and due process rights have been violated.
Bobby Schindler, her brother, said his family was crushed.
"To have to see my parents go through this is absolutely barbaric," he said on ABC's "Good Morning America." "I'd love for these judges to sit in a room and see this happening as well."
By mid-afternoon, about 75 protesters gathered outside the hospice, virtually all of them upset with Whittemore's decision. They carried signs and shouted through bullhorns, and a Catholic Mass was celebrated. One woman was arrested for trespassing after trying to bring Schiavo a cup of water.
Among those supporting the federal judge's decision was Richard Avant, who lives down the street from the hospice and carried a sign reading "Honor her wishes."
"We represent the silent majority, if you look at the polls," Avant said. "We agree that Congress overstepped their bounds."
The Bush administration "would have preferred a different ruling" from the federal judge, White House press secretary Scott McClellan said in Albuquerque, N.M., where the president was visiting a senior center. "We hope that they would be able to have relief through the appeals process."
The Justice Department also filed a court statement, saying an injunction was "plainly warranted" to carry out the wishes of Congress to provide federal court jurisdiction over the case.
Unless the feeding tube is reinserted, the department said, Schiavo may die before the courts can resolve her family's claims. "No comparable harm will be caused" by letting Schiavo live while the case is reviewed, the filing said.
At the same time, Howard Simon, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, praised the ruling. "What this judge did is protect the freedom of people to make their own end-of-life decisions without the intrusion of politicians," he said.
Terri Schiavo suffered brain damage in 1990 when her heart stopped briefly from a chemical imbalance believed to have been brought on by an eating disorder. Court-appointed doctors say she is in a persistent vegetative state with no hope of recovery.
Her parents argue that she could get better and that she would never have wanted to be cut off from food and water.
Praying for "LIFE"
Thank GOD!! But that still could mean another few grueling hours.
Oh, and yes, Mikey, feeding people truly does infringe upon civil liberties.
Praying that God's will be done. His will, not mine.
*Sigh* It's been "any minute now" for hours.
I agree. I can't imagine who would want to go on "living" the way she is.
Maybe the judges could sleep on it and discuss it over brunch tomorrow if their schedules permit.
It's always Florida. :(
"The critical issue is this: Do the authorities have the right to force feed somebody who does not want to be forcibly fed - even if that means they may die?
I'd imagine that a simple telephone call to the law clerk would tell when we can expect an opinion.
Spending time writing an opinion indicates that the trial court will be affirmed. If they wanted to reverse, they need only issue a one paragraph order, with an opinion to follow later.
yeah, no rush at all... the woman is just starving to death while they take their time and examine all the "facts".
Earlier in the evening, Attorney David Bois said he thought the court might order the tube re-inserted until a full hearing could be done. (I know, I really screwed up on a prior posting, but on THIS one, I'm certain Bois said it.)
I agree with you take on the ponderous nature of the timing of the rendering of a decison by the 11th circuit. However, if they are trying to fix the mess to which I adverted, then maybe that would take time too. But the odds are high that it is the former. If so, it will be interesting 1) whether the 11th circuit has a decision that renders moot what was in the pleadings, and 2) if not, to see what Gibbs does (at that point he will really have his butt in the bunson burner).
Yes, He said it, and I think he also said just in the last few seconds that he thinks they will ultimately agree with the present evil. I seemed to think that when he spoke early in the program he sounded as if he was for Terri.
Boies, that's the same guy who is (or did) represent SCO in their Linux suit?
I saw it too. Was he Bush or Gore's attorney in 2000.
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