Unlike most high growth Southern and Western states, Florida has the unusual circumstance of being a retirement mecca. However, it appears local government in Florida, apart from the southeastern counties dominated by New York Jews and Cubans, is still dominated by natives or near-natives. Judge Greer has spent virtually all his life in Florida. Most of the nine RINOs who voted against legislative relief for Terri Schiavo are either native Floridians or persons who have lived in the state since childhood. For example, State Senator J.D. Alexander, a third generation Florida citrus grower, had a grandfather who served in the Florida Legislature as a Democrat. This is the sort of atmosphere that breeds "good ol' boy" politics, irrespective of party labels, or the sex, ethnicity, or religious profession of the politicians.
Professional standards are fine and necessary in professions like medicine, teaching, and so forth. However, the judiciary has used the bromide of "professional standards" as a mask for not discussing their underlying views. In Texas, judges are elected to office for set terms. Yet it is extremely difficult to find out the judicial philosophy of a judicial candidate. Some voters rely on religious affiliation. However, that is a weak reed. Although I am an evangelical Christian, I would much rather have a non-Christian on the bench who will follow the doctrine of original intent and opposes judicial activism than a Christian who believes the state and Federal constitutions are "living documents", even if that candidate is socially conservative.
The defenders of the judiciary system as it is are guilty of the fallacy of the stolen concept. The concept of "professional standards" is one such example of this fallacy, which I covered previously. The second stolen concept is that of the sanctity of the law. Since the beginning of the last century, American jurisprudence has shifted to a philosophy of legal positivism, the belief that there are no preconceptions upon which the law should be based, other than the legislator's or judge's view of the public good. The net effect of this philosophy has led to the view that, in the words of a liberal Supreme Court justice, the Constitution was what he said it was. Legal positivism stands in direct contrast to the natural law roots of the Constitution and the Biblical origins of Anglo-American common law. Yet the positivists shamelessly smuggle the concept of sanctity from Christianity and Judaism to assert that the moral relativism and secular humanism on which court decisions are based are somehow sacred and above scrutiny. Sorry, but that dog just won't hunt.
You bring up the example of the Mafia. The roots of the Mafia are in the Sicily of the 18th and 19th Centuries, when autocratic governments, run for the benefit of the aristocracy, did not enforce justice and protect the middle classes and the peasantry. That mentality was carried into this country by the Italian immigrants. Think of the example of the movie, The Godfather, Part I, where an Italian immigrant who trusted in the American system did not receive justice from the courts when his daughter was horribly disfigured by two young men when she refused to have sex with them. (In the novel, the two young men were politically well connected Irish Americans.) He thus turned to Don Vito Corleone to obtain justice. The gangster dispensed justice more effectively than did the courts. Like it or not, when people of any background believe the courts do not enforce justice, they will seek it extra-legally. That is why the American justice system needs an overhaul.
What the Schiavo case illustrates is that the judiciary is de facto the dominant part of the tripartite government on the state and Federal level. The actions of President Bush, the U.S. Congress, Governor Bush, the Florida Legislature, and the county sheriff and the local police chief indicate a fear of challenging a mere probate court judge. Not only is that undemocratic, but history proves that tyranny increases unless successfully challenged.
The judicial branch of government must be placed under greater legislative and executive oversight. Furthermore, the power of judicial review must be subject to override by the legislatures and the public via referendum. Term limits and Constitutional guidance requiring Federal judges to adhere to original intent must be placed on the books.
Either that, or expect a future day when the ambassadors from foreign nations will present their credentials to the Supreme Court, and not the White House, in recognition of where the power really lies.
There is no indication the constituent parts of these bodies would have in such an action maintained a consensus by themselves, or within their disparate make-up in the case of Congress and the Legislature.
The probability, in fact, is that the opposing politicians would have worked to bring about a worsening situation which would have led to a major Constitutional/Legislative imbroglio which would have ultimately tied up the nation itself for an indefinite period.
Greer is indeed only a Probate Judge, and a poor excuse for even that. Yet he could have been elevated to a level of national equivalency with the President, the Congress and the corresponding Florida officals in such a confrontation.
And Greer would have likely received support from the Federal District Courts.
We have been in a war since 9/11; there can be no trade-off situation between this single case and keeping the nation focused on defense of the nation and the winning of the war on terror. Anything else would play straight-away into the hands of our enemies.
Judge Greer has been exposed as have Michael S. and atty Felos. I would term their relationship a criminal conspiracy.
Greer, it appears, declined to intervene in the case because a review of the case would have obviously exposed his outrageous handling of it from the outset along with the myriad conflicts of interest.
Michael S. rightfully should be charged with, and indicted for, homicide.
This case is just beginning. The remedies you cited will come about partly because of this case. The sadness in us all is for Terri Schiavo and her parents and siblings.
The measures taken for them by Congress, the President, and Gov. Bush have been in truth extraordinary; and those by the governor on the previous occasions had given her a reprieve from her executioners.
Those of us who have felt much Christian love for this family know that Terri Schiavo's death is not the end of her life.