 Cynthia Tucker |
Posted on 04/03/2005 6:42:45 PM PDT by Gondring
Friends of Florida judge George Greer describe him as a low-key conservative Christian, a Republican, a family man, a dog lover. Appellate courts have found over and over again that Greer simply followed the law in deciding a sad and controversial case. But for that sin, the Pinellas County Circuit Court judge was invited out of his Southern Baptist Church.
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Apparently, Greer's critics, including his pastor, didn't like his rulings in the Terri Schiavo case, which landed in his courtroom in 1998. They wanted him to be an activist judge -- a jurist who ignored the law and ruled according to the passions of a group of partisans.
Ultraconservatives want you to believe the term "activist judge" applies to a group of determined liberals whose rulings have overturned historic precedent, undermined morality and defied common sense. But the controversy that erupted around Schiavo, who died on Thursday, ought to remind us once and for all what "activist judge" really means: a jurist whose rulings dissatisfy a right-wing political constituency.
Over the next few months, you'll hear the term "activist judge" often as President Bush nominates justices to the U.S. Supreme Court. The president could end up appointing as many as four. Chief Justice William Rehnquist, 80, is ailing with cancer; John Paul Stevens is also an octogenarian. Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg are cancer survivors in their 70s.
With so many likely vacancies, ultraconservatives see an opportunity to drive from the bench any semblance of fealty to the law or the U.S. Constitution. They claim that judges have become the tool of an outlandish liberal fringe that has violated the graves of the Founding Fathers. When right-wing talk-show hosts and U.S. senators denounce judicial activism, they conjure up images of jurists who terrorize the God-fearing, coddle criminals and would -- according to one crazed campaign memo passed around during last year's presidential campaign -- outlaw the Bible.
The next time you hear those claims, think of Judge Greer, whose politics tilt to the right. He is among the targets of ultraconservative ire.
For that matter, think of the current Supreme Court -- hardly a bastion of liberalism. Its justices declined to intervene in the Schiavo case because they could find no legitimate reason to do so.
While the rift between Michael Schiavo and his in-laws, Bob and Mary Schindler, is depressing, family conflict is almost a way of life in America. Courts are called upon often to settle family disputes over money, children and property. Florida law makes clear that a spouse has the right to decide end-of-life issues, and, after testimony from several people, Greer upheld Schiavo's claim that his wife didn't want to be kept alive through artificial means.
It is perfectly understandable that the Schindlers were unhappy with his ruling. As grieving parents, they wanted to believe, contrary to the judgment of several physicians, that their daughter might one day be miraculously restored.
But the attacks on the judiciary by the Schindlers' supporters -- including an attempted end-run by an activist Congress -- made it clear that a minority of religious extremists have no respect for the law and no understanding of the separation of powers on which this government was founded.
Among those who missed their high school civics class, apparently, were Congress and the president. In one of many rulings turning down the Schindlers' request for intervention, an Atlanta federal court judge chastised the executive and legislative branches for overreaching.
"Congress chose to overstep constitutional boundaries into the province of the judiciary. Such an act cannot be countenanced," wrote Judge Stanley Birch, who was appointed by former President George H.W. Bush. Hardly a liberal activist.
The current President Bush has already made clear that his idea of a model chief justice is Clarence Thomas, who has no respect for judicial precedent. But even Thomas might not satisfy the extremists who chastise Judge Greer. They will be satisfied with nothing less than a judiciary steeped in the same narrow religious views they want to impose on the nation.
Cynthia Tucker is editorial page editor for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She can be reached by e-mail: cynthia@ajc.com.
Head of government: Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Hoseini-KHAMENEI
The legislature: The Islamic Consultative Assembly.
The Judiciary: Administrative, Clerical and Supreme courts. Their supreme court being clerica as well.
Yep, it's a theocracy in every respective.
In their opinion, only Satanists, earth worshipers, race baiter's and socialists, perjurers, thieves, adulterers, those who cuss like sailors with turrets syndrome, child molesters/homosexuals/pimps, murders and union members need apply for a job on the bench. Only they can find "the truth."
I agree. And as far as my religion, I'm Catholic. On whether that puts me in the religious right or not makes little difference.
What law, specifically, and what clause of the Constitution, specifically, do you believe was ignored?
According to the Constitution, the lower Federal Courts are the creation of Congress.
U.S. Constitution. Article III. Section 1. ..... The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish.
Answered in post#237 (and others). So now what?
Any government or group that will not RESPECT innocent human life (including rights) is not a government or group worth supporting. You don't have to be intelligent and compassionate to know that simple truth, but it helps.
I see that MANY so-called social conservatives (i.e., pseudoconservatives, unlike true social conservatives) now fight for "life at all costs" but they don't respect life, or respect the individuals and their right to decide about their own lives. A true conservative respects people--even if they choose death rather than lying in a bed, without cognition. A true conservative respects the Constitution--even if things don't go his way.
Because no other cases raise the same issues. This case is unlike any other in both Greer's order that the tube must be removed and that she could not be fed orally. There, answered. Next question.
So did her husband. What's the point? Shouldn't both testimonies be scratched as personal opinion? Unless Greer can personally channel Satan himself, how could he read their minds to decide who's truthful?
I fail to see, in the article you provided, evidence that Mrs. Schindler lied.
Believe me, I am no fan of Cynthia Tucker, and that's what is disturbing...that the hypocrisy of my conservative brethren in using anti-conservative methods during the Schindler/Schiavo fight has opened up conservatism to criticism. Luckily, Ms. Tucker's own rhetoric does make the distinction...when she says "ultraconservative," we should read "pseudoconservative"...
You are trolling, aren't you?
Yes. You can refuse to eat, drink or take medications.
Oh yeah, really safe. Take a look at how Mr. Schindler harshly poked her in the head and berated her when she wouldn't follow his commands while the camera was rolling. Take a look at the testimony (albeit later recanted) of how they admitted they wouldn't respect her wishes, even if they became known. Look at how they would have had her limbs amputated, etc., all for their idea that she was their property and they couldn't let go.
To use your words: really sweet.
You are not really wide a wake are you? Go back to her statement and you will see that Mrs. Schindler was attempting to convey a conversation that occurred before Quinlan was taken off life support.
''Just leave her alone. Leave her. If they take her off, she might die. Just leave her alone and she will die whenever," said Terri Schiavo, according to Schindler's testimony.
A lie. Anyone who can recall this statement this vividly can remember the difference between an 11 year old little girl and vastly different woman of 17 to 20 years old.
Be careful. Based on your inability to understand plain English, a Floriduh judge might just rule that you are PVS...
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