Award for judge in Schiavo case criticized
Thu May 5, 2005 10:30 PM ET
By Robert Green
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (Reuters) - The Florida judge who presided over the politically and emotionally charged Terri Schiavo case received a special award from a local legal association on Thursday, prompting more controversy.
Judge George Greer received the West Pasco Bar Association's Special Justice Award for his integrity and professionalism, according to the attorney in charge of the event, Alan Miller. He said the award was intended to honor Greer for his entire career, not just the Schiavo case.
"I liken this to a lifetime achievement award for an actor," Miller said. "He's an excellent judge. He followed the law."
Greer ordered Schiavo's feeding tube removed on March 18 at her husband Michael's request and over the objections of her parents, Robert and Mary Schindler. Schiavo died on March 31 at a hospice in Pinellas Park, near St. Petersburg.
She had been in what doctors said was a persistent vegetative state since suffering a heart attack in 1990 and her husband said she would not have wanted to remain alive in her condition.
President Bush, his brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, and Vatican officials urged that Schiavo be kept alive and the U.S. Congress passed an emergency law requiring federal courts to review Greer's decision. But a federal judge in Tampa, an Atlanta federal appeals court and the U.S. Supreme Court all refused to overrule him.
Greer, a 63-year old Republican, was first elected as a judge in 1992 and was re-elected three times, including twice after he first ruled in 2000 that Schiavo's feeding tube could be removed.
Miller said his office had received telephone calls from people around the country upset about the award to Greer.
Among those condemning the award was Father Frank Pavone, director of Priests for Life, who called Greer "a murderer" and said no court had moral authority to take innocent life.
"Terri was not dying until she stopped receiving food and water ... It does not require any legal or medical expertise to recognize that as murder. Nobody who has lost the basic capability to understand that should be honored," said Pavone, who spent several days at the hospice before Schiavo's death.
Greer received several death threats during the case and resigned from the Baptist Church he attended because of the controversy.
FV SAYS: The Congress and the Florida legislators were also getting complaint phone calls. I'm not surprised that Gov. Jeb Bush can't get his way any more at the Capital. He turned the ambulance around and everyone knows it. We don't know who told Jeb to stop the rescue but he did. Jeb can't win these days.
bttt
TRANSCRIPT OF MICHAEL SCHIAVO'S BROTHER, BRIAN, ON LARRY KING LIVE.
The following transcript shows that Brian Schiavo is a bully like his brother.
March 31, 2005 (Day of Terri's death)
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0503/31/se.01.html
EXCERPTS
BRIAN SCHIAVO: I just wanted to call because I have two points I'd like to straighten out. I watch your show, and first of all, Frank -- what is his name, Frank...
LARRY KING: Pavone.
BRIAN SCHIAVO: Pavone. Yes. He's a poor excuse of a priest, I'll tell you that. The man made a comment to the workers, or, basically, made a comment that said that the flowers in Terri's room were being treated better than she is. That is a slap in the face to the people that work in that hospice, and he ought to be ashamed of himself.
David Gibbs better get his act together, because I'm getting sick and tired of everything being twisted and turned, half- truths. You know, they should just tell the truth.
LARRY KING: Hey, Brian, is there any healing possible here?
BRIAN SCHIAVO: I have no idea. Not from me, I'll tell you that. Maybe with Michael, but not from me.
BRIAN SCHIAVO: I'll tell you, from the very beginning of this, Larry, these people have done nothing but twist and turn and spin this thing. They've made my brother out to be a demon. You know, vilified, he's a murderer. And you know what, we're tired of telling people -- you know, we're not going to prove anything to any body else, anymore. If they don't believe it, that's fine. If they can't believe that this man promised his wife, and committed to her that he would not let her live like that, in that state, then you know what, that's on them. They can go pound sand.
LARRY KING: OK, Brian, hold it. David Gibbs, do you want to respond? Brian, hold on. SCHIAVO: Yes, I'd like to respond to David Gibbs.
LARRY KING: All right. Go ahead.
[DAVID] GIBBS [ATTORNEY FOR PARENTS OF TERRI SCHIAVO]: Now, Larry -- Larry, as we look at this situation, I don't think it's productive for the parties to continue to take shots back and forth. Bobby Schindler...
BRIAN SCHIAVO: Well, then, tell the right thing.
DAVID GIBBS: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)statement to the...
BRIAN SCHIAVO: Tell the right thing then, Mr. Gibbs.
LARRY KING: One at a time. Brian, let him speak.
GIBBS: We are heartsick today that Terri has stepped into eternity, we believe unnecessarily. We've watched this lovely lady that was loved by the family, loved by the mother, loved by the father, loved by the brother and sister. She was starved and dehydrated to death.
And certainly, the other side believes they've done the right thing. We very much believe that to starve to death an innocent, disabled woman, when you look in the room and you watch Terri literally withering away, Larry, it's heart breaking.
LARRY KING: David, are you discounting what Brian said, what happened with Bobby today? Are you saying Brian is not telling the truth?
DAVID GIBBS: I don't know what Brian has...
(CROSSTALK)
BRIAN SCHIAVO: Mr. Gibbs, I was there. You were not. Tell the truth.
DAVID GIBBS: Well, I've talked with the -- I've talked with the police officers. I know what the police officers have said.
BRIAN SCHIAVO: I don't care who you talked to. I was there. You were not. You have -- you're just -- you're just like the rest of them. You spin things; you twist things. You don't tell the truth.
LARRY KING: David, Terri's gone. Is there any hope that you -- Brian says not on his part. Do you see any reconciliation here?
DAVID GIBBS: Well, the hope and prayer of the Schindler family, Larry, would be, yes. Obviously, you can see demonstrated the spirit of the other side. It's upset. It's accusatory. It's hurtful. And the Schindler family has offered forgiveness. Bobby Schindler, speaking publicly for the family, has asked that if at any point their spirit was not demonstrating the love and the compassion required of them by their faith. He's asked the world at large; he's asked other side for forgiveness. And certainly, we think it's counterproductive on the day that Terri has stepped into eternity to sit there and snipe back and forth. It just seems like it's disrespectful to Terri.
LARRY KING: Brian?
BRIAN SCHIAVO: Well, you know what? You know what? I would say the same thing for Frank Pavone. I would say the same thing for him. And if you don't think that my brother has been vilified since day one, when you weren't even around, from the other attorneys, then I'll tell you, you better study the record. Because I'm going to tell you, talk about people accusing people, he's been nothing but accused of doing -- being a murderer. And that's ridiculous.
LARRY KING: We do not go calmly into this good night.
(CROSSTALK)
BRIAN SCHIAVO: ...and a murderer. And that is not right.
Greer, a 63-year old Republican, was first elected as a judge in 1992 and was re-elected three times, including twice after he first ruled in 2000 that Schiavo's feeding tube could be removed.
Seems that Greer is re-writing his past so he sounds like he is beloved. NOT!