Rev. Msgr. Thaddeus Malanowski presides over the Liturgy of the Eucharist during the funeral Mass for Terri Schiavo in Gulfport, Florida, April 5, 2005.
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SWEET TERRI, ALWAYS IN OUR HEARTS
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Kristol: Why No 'Evolving Standards of Decency' for Terri Schiavo
In March, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that convicted killers who have been sentenced to death by state courts could not, in fact, be put to death if they were juveniles when they committed the crime.
That's because, the court ruled, "evolving standards of decency that mark a maturing society" make such sentences unconstitutional. So, the death penalty laws of 19 states suddenly became moot, and scores of convicted killers were given their lives back.
Yet, notes Weekly Standard co-founder William Kristol, there were no such "evolving standards of decency" applied by federal courts in the case of Terri Schiavo. In fact, despite an extraordinary law passed by Congress and signed by President Bush requiring federal courts to re-examine her case, federal jurists repeatedly blew off those instructions and, in essence, declined to step in to save her life.
"In a series of decisions in Florida state courts, Circuit Judge George Greer and his colleagues have chosen to credit the claim of Michael Schiavo that his wife long ago" expressed a will to die, Kristol writes in the April 4 issue of the magazine.
Those same courts "have chosen to deny efforts by Terri Schiavo's mother and father to assume responsibility for their daughter's care. They have chosen to strike down legislation passed by the Florida legislature, and signed by the governor, to permit the governor to allow water and nutrition to be given to patients who leave no written directive, and to allow some recourse for family members who wish to challenge the withholding of nutrition and hydration."
Federal courts did the same thing, notes Kristol, though they "chose not to explain why 'evolving standards of decency' might not allow Terri Schiavo to be kept alive until the case was argued in federal court."
Among the courts failing to employ the "evolving standards of decency" for a woman who had never committed any crime, who was unable to speak for herself, and who had parents willing to accept responsibility for her care: The same U.S. Supreme Court that ruled "evolving standards of decency" made it unconstitutional to put killers to death.