Posted on 02/04/2009 5:52:17 PM PST by markomalley
A big coalition of conservative groups is opposing President Obama's nominee for the No. 3 job at the Justice Department thanks to his work in the Terri Schiavo end-of-life case.
Thomas J. Perrelli, a Washington-based attorney whom President Obama nominated to be associate U.S. attorney general, helped represent Schiavo's husband, Michael, in various appeals in the years-long court battles over whether his brain-damaged wife should live or die.
Officials from the Family Rearch Council, National Right to Life Committee, Students for Life and the Eagle Forum were among 30 conservative leaders who sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee this week opposing the confirmation of Perrelli and two other high-ranking Justice Department nominees.
"If confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve in high offices within the Department of Justice, Dawn Johnsen, David Ogden, and Thomas J. Perrelli could have a dramatic impact on the state of this nation’s legal order," the letter said. "Each of these nominees has made public comments or has taken positions indicating strong support for a shift in national policy regarding the culture of life. Whatever one thinks of the culture of life, dramatic shifts in policy on such important national questions should not happen without serious deliberation."
Perrelli, an intellectual property rights attorney by trade, helped Michael Schiavo's primary attorney, George Felos of Dunedin, with cases before the Florida Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court regarding Terri Schiavo's care.
Mrs. Schiavo, of Pinellas County, was in a persistent vegetative state, doctors said, and her husband maintained she would not want to be kept alive. Her parents disagreed. Congress passed a law giving federal courts the power to examine the case, but the Supreme Court declined to intervene.
Perrelli's law firm, Jenner & Block of Washington, honored his pro bono work in the case in 2006.
"Mr. Perrelli led the Jenner & Block team that developed the legal briefs opposing appeals by Mrs. Schiavo’s parents in light of a congressional act that gave the federal courts jurisdiction in the case," the firm said in announcing the award.
Yup, the new DOJ is Change I Can Believe In!!!!!
/sarc
OMG, let’s hope these people don’t stain the GOP. That whole Schiavo affair, regardless of which side you were on, was a huge blow to the GOP. Let’s hope the public isn’t paying attention and they forget about Schiavo. The Dems would love for the GOP to re-open the Schiavo wars.
Then he should be proud of himself, having helped to murder brutally a helpless human . . . by starving . . . something that would never be done to any murderer or rapist in prison. What a guy . . . but he fits in delightfully with the slaughterers of the unborn, newly born, and old and feeble humans . . . what a country!
The red change marching on!
Oh, poop.
I find it truly ironic that none of the FRiberals who were cheering Terri’s murder are talking about how thrilled they are that one of her executioners is now #2 at the DOJ.
Ironic, or something to be thankful for?
bookmark for later.
I’m not sure, but it does show the belief some have that that GOP automatically equals conservative.
I’ve been waiting and waiting for Obama to offer a post to Janet Reno. Looks like he missed that opportunity, for some inexplicable reason or other.
And how about Maddy Albright? What happened to her?
are you cereal?
more concerned about the GOP reputation?
“regardless of which side you’re on...”
what?
Have you forgotten that it was that team of lawyers who plainly told us that dying of starvationa nd dehydration was peacfully euphoric?
And now the same guy is nominated to the second highest LEO position inthe country and you’re worried about the GOP’s reputaiton?
The Reno justice department Holder) combined with the Schiavo lawyer squad as the top two LEOs in the land.
Right.
BBQ the children and then we’ll hear about how wonderfully blissful it all was.
Say you’re kidding.
please say you’re kidding.
I don't equate Teri Schiavo with unborn children. She had a right to choose who to marry and had the opportunity to write a will expressing her wishes. I was deeply saddened by what happened to her and couldn't believe how that turned out. But she did have opportunities aborted babies never had, and whether I like it or not, it's not the state's business how people choose to end their own lives.
What does that mean? She chose to marry a murderer, so it's her own fault?
...and had the opportunity to write a will expressing her wishes.
She didn't write one. You don't get to assign one to her. She had a right to life, and she never gave up that right. The right to life is automatic. The so-called right to be killed is contingent upon a request to that effect. Terri Schiavo made no such request. The witnesses paid to testify against her (paid for with money embezzled from the victim's own rehab fund) testified that her life expectancy was another 40 years. Her estranged husband's testimony about her wishes was that he wanted to become a nurse so he could honor the promise he made to her, to take care of her for all that time. There was plenty of other evidence indicating she never intended to be killed at all, much less tortured to death. But I find her estranged husband's admissions under oath most compelling.
...and whether I like it or not, it's not the state's business how people choose to end their own lives.
Then why do you support the state's "right" to choose death by dehydration, in violation of the victim's wishes? The state decided how to end Terri Schiavo's life. Terri Schiavo did not choose to be tortured to death via starvation/dehydration, while her estranged husband and his cohorts had a pizza party at her bedside.
This would still be important, even if it happened in a vacuum, and didn't affect any other people. But it's even more important because disabled people are routinely starved and dehydrated to death, in every single state of this union. The state of Oregon used to be the second worst offender behind Rhode Island, exterminating 32 1/2% of the severely cognitively disabled population by starving and dehydrating them to death in 2001. I don't have more current figures, but I'd bet Oregon has moved down the list, since Oregon now employs more efficient methods . I'm curious; do your trains run on time?
Gee....I can’t imagine anything that could possibly be LESS surprising than this.
Just one more reason to hate, loath, despise and detest the Marxist Big “O” and his like-minded, soul-less cohorts.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.