Inside the Terri Schiavo case: And why it matters now
By Anita Crane
People still talk about the Terri Schiavo case. But in thinking of her death sentence, often someone says, “I wouldn’t want to live like that!” Well, no one longs for a brain injury, yet it could come upon anybody. No matter where you stand on the issue, this eyewitness account will help you understand what happened to Terri Schiavo and why it was a tragic violation of her constitutional rights.
Attorney Robert Destro represented Florida Governor Jeb Bush (R) as well as Terri Schiavo’s parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, in the legal case. From 1983 to 1989, he served as a commissioner on the U.S. Civil Rights Commission and led its discussions regarding discrimination on the basis of disability, national origin and religion. Now he’s a professor at the Catholic University of America's Columbus School of Law in Washington, D.C. Destro joined Terri’s case as advisor to Kenneth Connor, lead counsel in Bush v. Schiavo. While the governor's office paid his travel expenses to the Florida Supreme Court, all Destro’s work on
behalf of Terri was done pro bono.
"The degree of disconnect between the description of the Terri Schiavo case in the media, and the reality of the case, is pretty profound," said Destro. "The laws of Florida were perfectly adequate, but the courts construed them in ways that cut away most of the protection they offer to incompetent patients like Terri. The Schindlers are wonderful people who have endured a trauma that nobody should ever have to endure. They and Terri were victims of a great injustice and needed help."
Never mind the law
“Judges are supposed to determine clear and convincing evidence in light of the whole, but the problem with Terri’s case was that the evidence was only as good as the judges,” said Destro.
"Our task in the U.S. Supreme Court was not to re-litigate the underlying case about her condition. It was to convince them that the case in which her condition was established should be reconsidered with a new trial because of the procedural and substantive flaws that led to the conclusions reached by Judge George Greer."
In Bush v. Schiavo petitions to the Florida and U.S. Supreme Courts, Destro emphasized what he referred to as Greer’s illegal position of simultaneously acting as Terri’s judge and surrogate guardian. “It was absolutely forbidden,” Destro stressed. “A judge is a fact-finder and decisionmaker.
His job is to identify the law, hear the facts and decide the case. A surrogate stands in the shoes of the incompetent person and makes decisions on his or her behalf. A guardian adlitem is the legal representative of the incompetent person. This person bears the responsibility to argue on behalf of the client alone — without regard to the wishes or needs of others.”
Destro added, “Florida law expressly requires probate judges to see the incompetent patients whose cases are pending before them, but Greer never went to see Terri.”
How did this go unchecked? According to Destro, “The appeals court does not look at the full record. They only look to see if the judge made any obvious mistakes. And if he hasn’t made any obvious mistakes, any clear errors, then they let it go. That standard of reviewing cases on
appeal makes it very important that the process be absolutely perfect. All the parties, the attorneys and the guardians and everybody, have got to be doing exactly everything just right.”
Even so, Barbara Weller of the Gibbs Law Firm (currently representing the Schindlers) said Greer’s breaches took place under 2nd District Court of Appeal Judge Christopher Altenbernd starting with his Jan. 24, 2001 ruling on In re: Guardianship Theresa Marie Schiavo; Robert and Mary Schindler v. Michael Schiavo. Then during his tenure as chief judge, Altenbernd’s opinions show persistence in ordering Greer’s abuse of power (In re: Guardianship Schiavo, June 6,2003 and March 16, 2005).
Furthermore, the Destro-Connor petitions indicate that the judges’ ethical and legal violations were so numerous and intertwined; it would take volumes to spell out the details.
Destro explained, "You can't really make up facts of this case — I felt like I was caught in Wonderland or everland. Terri never got a fair hearing and [she] was entitled to at least as much due process as a convicted murderer; Gov. Bush is obliged, as chief executive of the state of Florida, to protect the weak and vulnerable; Terri's Law [H.B. 35 E] was designed to ensure that she got a fair hearing at which the actual substance of her condition could be litigated; and the federal courts were obliged to review the procedural and substantive fairness of the Florida proceedings."
Read the rest of the report at http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005_docs/Destro.pdf
BUMP to #676
It was obvious that greer should have visited Terri, but I didn't know there was a legal requirement. Not that anybody would have let the law stand in the way of killing Terri.