Supreme Court Won't Hear Appeal of Family of Brain-Damaged Woman (Florida-Terri Schiavo)

Gainesville Sun ^ | August 22. 2003 | JACKIE HALLIFAX

[nickcarraway]

The Florida Supreme Court on Friday declined to get involved in the legal fight over a brain-damaged woman, clearing the way for her husband to have her feeding tube removed so she can die.

Terri Schiavo, 39, has been at the center of a long battle between her parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, and her husband, Michael Schiavo.

Michael Schiavo contends his wife would not want to be kept alive in what doctors call a persistent vegetative state. The Schindlers believe she can be rehabilitated and have fought her husband's efforts in the Florida courts.

"The Florida Supreme Court has, in essence, said `We will not intervene,'" said George Felos, a Dunedin attorney representing Michael Schiavo.

The brief order said "no basis for jurisdiction exists" and that no motion for reconsideration would be allowed. All seven justices signed the order.

Felos said the order will be formally transmitted to Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge George Greer at 3 p.m. Monday.

Greer said he likely will set a hearing for around the first week in September to set a date to have the feeding tube removed. He said he didn't know how soon after the hearing that could happen.

"I won't have any idea (about the date) until the hearing is concluded," Greer said Friday. "I need to hear from both the lawyers."

The attorney for the Schindlers, Pat Anderson, said she was consulting with other lawyers to plan her next move.

"Obviously, the family is devastated," Anderson said. "We're just evaluating our options, and no decisions have been made yet."

Terri Schiavo was 26 in 1990 when she suddenly collapsed in her home after her heart stopped from what doctors believe was a potassium imbalance.

Doctors said the loss of oxygen to her brain left her in a state where she can breathe on her own but is reliant on a liquid nutritional supplement and water delivered through a tube.

Although the Schindlers appeals have blocked Michael Schiavo's efforts, Florida courts have so far sided with his legal arguments. Most recently, the 2nd District Court of Appeal decided in June that the feeding tube can be removed.

The Florida Supreme Court previously declined to review the case in April 2001.

[Sabatier]

It would be interesting to know how her husband became her guardian in the first place. In the case of a woman this young, it would be unusual for her to have chosen a guardian for herself, since she would have had no reason to suspect she would need one. I don't know what the laws of her state are, it could be the husband automatically got picked way back when all this began.
The big picture is that it's a real good idea to pick someone you absolutely trust to be your legal guardian in case something bad happens, even if you are young and in good health. Nobody wants to think about this kind of thing but if misfortune does happen, you want someone to speak for you the way you would yourself. Families go through hell in these kind of situations, I've seen this firsthand. It's tragic and the only ones who seem to profit from it are the lawyers.

[nickcarraway]

Isn't a spouse the automatic guardian, barring anything unusual?

[dandelion]

Let's see - Christopher Reeves, pets and babies can't feed themselves. So we are supposed to starve them to death? That is a horrifically cruel way to kill someone. If you were forced to stay in bed, forcibly put on tube feeding, and never given therapy, you'd be classified a "turnip" too...

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

Ideas, other than one's involving Terri's husband and a crow bar?

That's the general direction I'm moving.

[dandelion]

PROTEST

March on the hospital and PROTEST THE MURDER OF TERRI SCHINDLER SCHIAVO.

Liberals are willing to do it for Mumia... why aren't conservatives in front of Morton Plant Hospital making some noise???

[XJarhead]

This is the kind of cases the Supreme Courts are SUPPOSED to hear!!

I hate to say this, but that may not be true. Courts aren't supposed to make laws, or just do what they think is "right". They are supposed to interpret the laws as written. Seems like the problem may be a badly-drafted law that has a loophole.

But this is a damn unfortunate time for SCOFLA to discover the merits of judicial restraint.

[NautiNurse]

Terri Schiavo leaves hospital

[Sabatier]

I believe it depends on the laws of the state. There's legal guardian, a healthcare proxy, a living will, and absent those, testimony from those closest to you to help courts decide who will speak for you if you can't do it yourself, at least, that's what I found. In this particular case the probate judge seems to have a history of siding with the husband. That may be where all the trouble began for the family.

[dandelion]

Then PROTEST at the HOSPICE!

There is no reason for us to stop and be "respectful" of a death factory... if they want to kill her, let them hear us screaming in front of the hospice at the top of our lungs. This is a business, and they make big bucks from their fundraisers. A little negative publicity will go a LONG way to make the Hospice of the Florida Suncoast supporters back off...

[StarCMC]

Wouldn't it just beat all if she woke up when they took that tube out?

[nickcarraway]

It's hard not to feel that way.

[Sabatier]

The Appeals Court wrote in this case that,

In circumstances such as
these, when families cannot agree, the law has
opened the doors of the circuit courts to permit trial
judges to serve as surrogates or proxies to make
decisions about life-prolonging measures."

The judge has to choose between opposing points of view in a very emotional and difficult situation where there are also moral issues at stake. It gets to be pretty muddy territory from a legal point of view.

[tutstar]

God help us!!! Please intervene for her life!!!

[Sabatier]

There's lots more coverage on this case at WND for anybody interested. This is a good place to start:
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=33877
What seems to be the heart of the matter in this story is that for years the husband as guardian didn't get therapy for his wife, the courts look at her and say, in effect, she looks real hopeless, pull the plug. The family is saying, of course she looks bad, she never got therapy but let us provide it. You have opposing attitudes towrd life in a case like this, one positive and optimistic, and one negative and pessimistic. Doesn't it seem like the courts in their interpretations of the law keep siding with the negative, pessimistic attitude toward life?

[Humidston]

I like your style! DITTO!

[floriduh voter]

Calling on Monday to Jeb's office wouldn't hurt either. He's in the book.

[floriduh voter]

Talk show guy from Clear Channel, http://www.glennbeck.com/ has a page for Terry Schindler Schiavo. He's been on top of this since day one.

[floriduh voter]

There are flash movies of Terry Schiavo on the internet and she smiles and looks at people when they ask her to open her eyes. I've seen the flash movies and there's a human being in there - she's not comatose. Sorry I can't remember where I saw the movies but if you do a search here at Free Republic, under Terry Schiavo or Terry Schindler, maybe you can find them.

[floriduh voter]

You haven't seen the flash movies of her. She's far from comatose.

[floriduh voter]

He remembered that she wanted to die when he found a new girlfriend. I'm a local. That is how it went down.