Posted on 03/28/2005 8:02:29 AM PST by FR_addict
Florida governor says he doesn't have power from Constitution to intervene
Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, the man said to be the last hope for Terri Schiavo, says he's powerless to help the brain-injured woman who has been without nourishment for more than nine full days.
"I cannot violate a court order," Bush told CNN following Easter church services. "I don't have powers from the United States Constitution or – for that matter from the Florida Constitution – that would allow me to intervene after a decision has been made."
To Terri's parents, Bush said, "I can't. I'd love to, but I can't."
Speaking to the media for the first time in three days, the governor added, "I'm sad that she's in the situation that she's in. I feel bad for her family. My heart goes out to the Schindlers and, for that matter, to [her husband] Michael," Bush said. "This has not been an easy thing for any, any member of the family. But most particularly for Terri Schiavo."
Meanwhile, protests have continued outside the hospice where Terri is being cared for. With security having been doubled, five people were taken into custody as pastors tried to bring Schiavo Easter communion.
A handful of people in wheelchairs got out of them and shouted, "We're not dead yet!" as they lay in the driveway.
Larry Klayman, founder of the legal watchdog group Judicial Watch, said Bush has the power to grant her clemency, just as he would in a death-row case.
"We're asking the governor for a stay of execution on Easter Sunday, a day of mercy,'' Klayman said. "For Jeb Bush not to act would be a dereliction of his duty to the people of the state of Florida.''
Terri has been the subject of worldwide attention since Florida Judge George Greer ordered her feeding tube removed March 18, and courts have upheld his decision not to have the tube reinserted.
An attorney for Terri's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, painted a grim picture of the situation on CBS' "Face the Nation."
"Terri is declining rapidly," Schindler attorney David Gibbs said. "We believe at this point she has passed where physically she would be able to recover."
But Randall Terry, a pro-life activist speaking for Terri's parents, called Gibbs' description "absolutely untrue."
George Felos, the attorney for Michael Schiavo says Terri's breathing has been regular, and her death does not appear imminent. He told reporters her remains would be cremated and buried in a family plot in Pennsylvania.
I completely understand where you are coming from. I just want people to remember that Jeb nor the President started this and both, especially Jeb, did a lot to try to save Terri. Maybe not everything, but they did do something.
I just want people who live in Florida to focus on getting Greer and those Senators out of office, then change whatever laws need to be changed. And I am sure you will have a Governor in Jeb that will sign them.
Also you're ignorant of the facts in this matter as to what Jeb or Prez Bush can do at this time.
Oops spell check. SCREW YOU JEB.
Governor Reagan in California, and later, President Reagan, would have rejected that whining 'oh I've done all I can do' crapola, the Gipper would have had State National Guard troops and/or federal marshalls rescuing Terri Schiavo and would have had his Attorney General place that scumbag Greer under arrest for leading an insurrection.
Ronald Reagan actually BELIEVED in upholding the Constitution.
Be very agressive in your care, time, and concern for 36 months. Spend money on tests, evaluations, therapy. Do it consistently. Again, you must do this for 3 years.
Then, when you're exhausted and reality sets in, get back to us.
If it hadn't been for Jeb, Terri would have died in 2003.
If he took Terri today, the courts wouldn't let him keep her, and she would still be put to death.
Even if he managed to hold on to her till he was out of office (which would be a short period of time, because he would absolutely be impeached for breaking a legal court order), whoever came next would most certainly enforce the court's ruling, and Terri would still be put to death.
In the meantime, nobody would touch end of life things, lest they be branded outlaws, and the culture of death would certainly win.
Think about it.
And before you call me a troll, go look at my posting history.
If he had cowboyed up, I would have followed him to hell and back.
You do it.
Oh, my. Bizarre is right. And Kerry, the man who thinks partial birth abortion is okay, has such reverence for life. *rolling eyes*
I don't see you with a rifle trying to break into Terri's hospice room.
Ike sent troops to Little Rock in 1957 to uphold the Constitution and protect black students from being lynched.
The Bush brothers could have done at least that much to save Terri Schiavo. Instead they did nothing but wring their hands and proclaim their powerlessness, and now 'powerlessness' is what they shall have for as long as they retain the meaningless titles of 'Governor' and 'President'.
And if you're so damned concerned about laws being broken, trot your ass down to Pinellas County and place Judge Greer under arrest for HIS violations of Florida State law by allowing heresay testimony to determine the fate of a ward (Terri Schiavo) of the Court.
What you advocate would lead to further anarchy, and breaches from our constitution. We need to enforce and continue to amend our constitution, not trample on it and trash it consistently as the liberals do. This is an outrage, and may it never happen again. With Jeb you can believe it won't happen again.
Your blame on Jeb or President Bush is not substantial in my opinion. The law is the law and what good would it do for Jeb to break the law? He wanted to do more, but his hands are tied. DO something positive and spend time getting Judges and political leaders who are Prolife!
Went to your link, and I agree with you, but I don't understand why the Governor cannot act on this before she dies.
FL law prohibits the denial of food and water, independently of the "end of life" statutes that were revised in 99. Those statutes define a feeding tube as life support that can be withdrawn, but say nothing about the denial of oral hydration and nutrition. Meanwhile, elsewhere in FL law, it is clearly illegal to deny someone food by mouth.
Someone here on FR posted the applicable statutes the other day, including Greer's specific order in which he ruled she cannot receive anything by mouth. This was independent and subsequent to his ruling which authorized removal of the tube.
This to me seems clear - Greer's order broke the law. Why can't Jeb act on that alone?
Your point? Never mind, you don't have one. Jeb had the law on his side. Too bad he was a coward when the time came to stand up to the judiciary. Now he's on his knees for Greer.
I have thought through the full implications of the case.
I am not in favor of the Executive Branch commanding the judiciary to take up the case. Rather, Congress was set to hold hearings and conduct its own investigation. The justice department (Executive Branch) should conduct its own independent investigation.
The problem we have is that the our system is designed to have three co-equal branches of government, but in the past 50 years, the Judiciary has morphed itself into the senior, superior branch, the branch with the FINAL authority in any issue on which it asserts itself.
It has been able to do this only because of capitulation on the part of the Executive and the Legislative branches.
In this specific case, an innocent life hangs in the balance, and THAT is more important than maintaining the constitutional status quo, which has incorrectly given the Judiciary supreme power in any event.
Just as the Executive Branch conducts its independent review of the facts and decides to override the Legislature and Judiciary in a death penalty pardon case, when the life or death of a citizen is at stake, the Executive needs to assert its co-equal power of independent review of the facts. A judge has decided this woman must die. But we've all see plenty of really problematic evidence in the case. All of the superior judges have lined up in solidarity with this judge, not on the basis of de novo review of the facts, but on the basis of institutional power. They have, I believe, asserted a supreme power that the Judiciary DOES NOT HAVE unless the Executive and Legislature allow it to by default. Congress subpoenaed Terri Schiavo and others. Federal supremacy trumps state law. But a STATE judge simply ignored a CONGRESSIONAL subpoena. That should not be allowed to stand. But it HAS been, because neither the Governor nor the President used executive power to back up the supremacy of a Congressional subpoena over a matter of state law. (The Supremacy Clause of the Constitution is pretty clear.) Instead, we went through the charade of asking federal judges to fulfill an executive function.
Anyway, the Bush boys did not elect the confrontational route. The Judiciary uniformly sided with itself as the final arbiter of the matter. The Congress, having taken a principled stance, found new principles on reading the public opinion polls, and the Republican Party in the Senate is now using this incident as an excuse to back away from the nuclear option, which is the only way to actually CHANGE the composition of the Judiciary, if in the end we've decided as a nation that the Judiciary IS the supreme and final authority in our government. It has asserted that for a long time. Congress and the Bushes, this week, acted as though they believe that is true too.
So, the supreme branch of government is the Judiciary. That is what Congress and the Executive conceded by allowing the judicial murder of a citizen, and the override by a STATE judge of a series of FEDERAL subpoenas.
If that is the case, then control of the judiciary is crucial, and that is what the nuclear option is all about. But the Republicans in Congress backed away from that in the same week.
In short: when the rubber met the road, the GOP welched. They can still save themselves as a party by voting the nuclear option. The Bushes, however, have tainted themselves. The 11 years olds who got themselves arrested bringing water to Terry showed the courage of their convictions, and now will actually be convicted. The Bushes played Pontius Pilate, and will be regarded that way by a million pro-lifers.
Your wrong. Jeb Bush is one of the better Governors in our nation. Direct your anger to the person who are to blame... Jeb is not able to do anymore... get that????
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