According to the Senators and members of Congress who have discussed the matter, it never crossed their mind that the judge would not grant the TRO, given the plain language of the statute which provided for de novo review.
The judge did NOT follow the statute.
I've been a lawyer for almost 20 years, and I had become inured to the callousness of judges, but this case has really pissed me off.
Anything to get out to the golf course and a cocktail.
Then they're fools. How long have those standards been in place? Seventy years now? More? And most of them went to law school, Bill Frist excepted. Sorry, but if it truly never occurred to them the the judge would apply the same standards to Terri Schiavo as he would to anyone else seeking relief, then they're shortsighted fools who shouldn't be put in charge of organizing anything more complex than a medium-sized office picnic, nevermind the government of the United States.