Posted on 08/28/2003 5:20:42 AM PDT by Ragtime Cowgirl
Freepers, we may be able to help Terri:
I made some phone calls today and have the ULTIMATE PHONE CALL for registering a Complaint against Judge Greer. I can't reveal my sources but this is the phone number for a few pay grades above J. Greer.
Call the: Judicial Qualifications Commission at
#1-850-488-1581. I am complaining to them tomorrow that J. Greer isn't God, that he's been in the husband's corner since Day One, he doesn't care a wit about Terri's parents or her husband's attempt at medical neglect, and I'd like to know if Greer can be recalled or impeached.
HE SHOULD HAVE OR COULD HAVE HONORED GOV. BUSH'S REQUEST TO ASSIGN A GUARDIAN AD LITEM to represent Terri's interest instead of once again, taking the side of the husband. Judge Greer is from the Sixth Circuit Court, Pinellas County.
Oh, and ping everybody you can think of.
72 posted on 08/27/2003 5:06 PM EDT by floriduh voter
From summer:
"..do a separate thread asking people to call this phone number FV provided. This could get a guardian appointed if the judge is tossed off the case for BIAS."
Background:
In a letter, Bush asked Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge George W. Greer yesterday to keep her alive until a court-appointed guardian can "independently investigate the circumstances of this case and provide the court with an unbiased view that considers the best interests of Mrs. Schiavo."
8 From JEB to FR: Full text of Gov Bush's letter to Judge Greer re: Terri Schiavo. Email from Gov Bush to summer, for FR | 8/27
----- Original Message -----
From: [Governor Bush's office]
To: [summer's email]
Sent: Wednesday, August 27, 2003 8:06 AM
Subject: Letter regarding Terri Schiavo
> August 26, 2003
> The Honorable George W. Greer
> Judge, Sixth Judicial Circuit
> 315 Court Street, Room 484
> Clearwater, Florida 33756
Dear Judge Greer:
> I appreciate the challenging legal and ethical issues before you in the case > of Terri Schiavo. As I have expressed over the course of the past several > weeks, our system of government has committed these decisions to the > judicial branch, and we must respect that process. Consistent with this > principle, I normally would not address a letter to a judge in a pending > legal proceeding. However, my office has received over 27,000 emails > reflecting understandable concern for the well being of Terri Schiavo. > Given that there is no procedural avenue available for these views to be > expressed to you in the normal course of the proceedings, I feel compelled > to write in the hopes that you will give serious consideration to > re-appointment of a guardian ad litem for Mrs. Schiavo before permitting the > removal of her feeding tube or other actions calculated to end her life.
> This case represents the disturbing result of a severe family disagreement > in extremely trying circumstances. Emotions are high, accusations abound, > and at the heart of this public and private maelstrom is a young woman > incapable of speaking for herself.
> I am disturbed by new rumors about the guardian's actions related to the > current care of Mrs. Schiavo. It has come to my attention that Mrs. Schiavo > has contracted a life threatening illness, and that she may be denied > appropriate treatment. If true, this indicates a decision by her caregivers > to initiate an "exit protocol" that may include withholding treatment from > Mrs. Schiavo until her death, which would render this Court's ultimate > decision moot. While the issue of Mrs. Schiavo's care is still before the > Court, I urge you to ensure that no act of omission or commission be allowed > to adversely affect Mrs. Schiavo's health before the September 11th hearing > you have set. No one involved should be permitted to circumvent due process > or the Court's authority in order to achieve personal objectives in this > case.
> Even discounting these rumors, there are a number of factual disputes > regarding Mrs. Schiavo's medical condition, past and current care and > therapy, and her prognosis. Given the contradictory positions of her > guardian and other family members, I respectfully ask that you re-appoint a > qualified guardian ad litem to independently investigate the circumstances > of this case, and provide the Court an unbiased view that considers only the > best interests of Mrs. Schiavo.
> It is a fine balance between Mrs. Schiavo's right to privacy and her right > to life, both of which are co-equal in our Constitution. To err on one side > is to prolong her existence, perhaps against her wishes, and continue the > debate. To err on the other is an irrevocable act that affords no > remediation. I respectfully ask that you give Mrs. Schiavo's family the > opportunity to present any new evidence as to her wishes. Evidence as to > her wishes should be reweighed as often as necessary to take into account > the effect of any new evidence, that is, to determine whether "clear and > convincing evidence" still exists that Mrs. Schiavo would now choose > withdrawal of life-prolonging procedures. While this process may delay the > surrogate's exercise of Mrs. Schiavo's privacy rights, it is necessary to > avoid denying her right to life. I urge you to err on the side of > conservative judgment to ensure that all facts can be uncovered and > considered before her life is terminated.
> I appreciate your compassion for Mrs. Schiavo's plight, and that of the > family members locked in dispute in these tragic circumstances. In light of > the ongoing contention related to so many issues in this case, I hope you > will consider appointing a guardian ad litem to ensure that the ultimate > decision is based on facts presented clearly, unclouded and uncolored by > personal interests of litigants.
> Sincerely,
> Jeb Bush
> cc: Patricia Fields Anderson, Esq.
> George J. Felos, Esq.
(WND article excerpts, cont.:) "On Friday, the Florida Supreme Court refused to intervene in the case, clearing the way for a Sept. 11 hearing in which Greer would set a date for removal of the feeding tube.
Terri's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler of Gulf Port, Fla., have been locked in a decade-long legal battle with their son-in-law over the care and custody of their daughter, who suffered massive brain damage when she collapsed at her home 13 years ago under unexplained circumstances at the age of 26.
***The bitter dispute over Terri's lack of care became a major euthanasia battle five years ago when her husband Michael Schiavo petitioned the court for permission to have her feeding tube removed, claiming she is in a persistent vegetative state and would not want to be kept alive "artificially." The Schindlers and a number of doctors and therapists believe she could be rehabilitated, but the courts have consistently sided with Schiavo and his lawyer, right-to-die advocate George Felos.
~~~~
The article is on CNSNews.com.
Florida Judge Rejects Governor's Bid to Help Terri Schiavo
By Jeff Johnson
CNSNews.com Congressional Bureau Chief
August 27, 2003
Capitol Hill (CNSNews.com) - Florida Circuit Judge George Greer Tuesday rejected a plea from Governor Jeb Bush to appoint a guardian ad litem to represent the best interests of Terri Schindler Schiavo, a 39-year-old disabled woman who suffered a brain injury in 1990 under questionable circumstances. Bush had intervened Monday after receiving 27,000 email messages asking for his help on Terri's behalf.
"I read [Gov. Bush's letter] because it came from the governor and I respect his position," Greer told the Tampa Tribune. "Beyond that, it is going in the file."
As CNSNews.com previously reported, Bush wrote Greer Monday asking him not to remove the disabled woman's feeding tube until a new guardian ad litem could "independently investigate" her condition. In the letter, Bush referenced the "fine balance between Mrs. Schiavo's right to privacy and her right to life," which Bush noted are co-equal under the Constitution.
"To err on one side is to prolong her existence, perhaps against her wishes and to continue the debate," Bush wrote. "To err on the other is an irrevocable act that affords no remediation."
But Greer told the Associated Press that he no longer has a choice in the matter.
"Frankly, I think I'm operating under a mandate from the 2nd District Court of Appeals," Greer said, "and frankly I don't think I can stray from that mandate."
In that same interview, however, the judge contradicted his own assessment of the limitation on his authority by stating that he was "not inclined" to appoint a guardian ad litem.
Michael Schiavo called Gov. Bush's intervention on behalf of Terri "crazy."
"The governor has deliberately twisted the facts in this case in an apparent effort to kowtow to his right-to-life political supporters," Schiavo told Tampa Tribune reporter David Sommer. "This has nothing to do with him. He should stay out of it."
Schiavo - who, for five years, has been seeking judicial approval to end his wife's life by denying her nutrition and hydration - also accused Terri's parents of manipulating their Catholic faith to keep their daughter alive.
"I believe in God and so did (?) Terri," Schiavo said, speaking of his still living wife in the past tense, "but they are out to push it on people... suddenly they are on a religious kick."
Judge refuses motion for hearing to set 'death date'
Greer also denied a motion Tuesday to hold an immediate hearing to set a date for the removal of Terri's nutrition and hydration tube. The hearing will be held, as previously announced, on Sept. 11. At that hearing, Greer will also rule on whether Schiavo may legally prohibit Terri's priest from visiting her.
Schiavo's attorney, George Felos, had also petitioned the court Monday to prohibit doctors from caring for Terri's current fever, labored breathing, vomiting, diarrhea and a "substantial infection."
"Given the imminence of the ward's death, further treatment (other than comfort care) for the ward's infection and other medical problems is unnecessary, unwarranted, inappropriate and futile," Felos said in an emergency motion, adding that Terri, "should be put back in hospice and receive comfort care and die in a peaceful setting."
Greer denied that motion, as well.
55 posted on 08/27/2003 5:29 PM EDT by yhwhsman ("Never give in--never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small..." -Sir Winston Churchill)
Michael Schiavo is using "privacy" as an excuse for denying Terri every contact from the outside world, even flowers. "One sign of the case's nastiness is the Schindlers' complaint that Schiavo limits their visits with their daughter. They also say he has refused to allow doctors to examine her, refused her antibiotics and needed dental work, refused to replace a broken wheelchair so she could be taken outdoors and refused the delivery of flowers from a friend to her room on her birthday."
"Her teeth are fine; she doesn't eat," Michael Schiavo said. "Why take her to a gynecologist? She was supposed to die months ago. I don't want her room filled with flowers from strangers or right-to-life activists. Even though she is vegetative she has a right to privacy."
17 posted on 08/27/2003 10:14 AM EDT by I still care
***
I thought Gov Bush very eloquently made his case here, in this part:
To err on one side is to prolong her existence, perhaps against her wishes, and continue the debate. To err on the other is an irrevocable act that affords no remediation.
18 posted on 08/27/2003 10:14 AM EDT by summer
***
..this judge is going to look really bad if this part is ignored by the judge:
Even discounting these rumors, there are a number of factual disputes > regarding Mrs. Schiavo's medical condition, past and current care and > therapy, and her prognosis. Given the contradictory positions of her > guardian and other family members
21 posted on 08/27/2003 10:17 AM EDT by summer
*** HE SHOULD HAVE OR COULD HAVE HONORED GOV. BUSH'S REQUEST TO ASSIGN A GUARDIAN AD LITEM to represent Terri's interest instead of once again, taking the side of the husband. Judge Greer is from the Sixth Circuit Court, Pinellas County. That is one thing that floors me .. This Judge should have long ago appointed an independent Guardian Ad Litem and not left her husband as her sole guardian .. especially since there are questions about her husband with abuse and the fractured bones that were reveled in xrays of Terry. Everything I have read .. this Judge seems hell bent on having her killed 73 posted on 08/28/2003 2:45 AM EDT by Mo1 (http://www.favewavs.com/wavs/cartoons/spdemocrats.wav) *** I know that Mr. Schiavo has tried to ban Terri's mother and family and priest from seeing her. 27 posted on 08/26/2003 7:34 PM EDT by hocndoc (Choice is the # 1 killer in the US) *** Judge Greer has been with the husband since day one. A guardian ad litem would have been fair for Terri and her parents. Her parents love her but they are treated as the enemy. I'm ashamed this is happening in Pinellas County. 31 posted on 08/26/2003 7:41 PM EDT by floriduh voter
Judge Greer will not appoint a guardian ad litem. I have phone numbers from the phone book for the Clearwater Courthouse and all the guardianship phone numbers. He husband held a presser today and was very flippant about Jeb's letter and called the emailers a "bunch of right to lifers." Hubby is looking a little nervous but with a pal like Judge Greer who is no Judge Moore, Terri has until the September 11 hearing to decide the date her starvation begins. Here are the phone numbers: courthouse - 727-464-3000, guardianship numbers: 727-582-7563, 727-582-7771, and 727-464-8700. We can at least call as friends of Terri and voice our concerns. 25 posted on 08/26/2003 7:34 PM EDT by floriduh voter Freepers, please call the Juducial Qualification Commission regarding Judge Greer: 1-850-488-1581. *** Contact friends, thank those have been fighting on Terri's behalf, including Glenn Beck, Lars Larson, CNS News.com, WND, and Bill O'Reilly. *** Terri Schindler Schiavo's website - background and news updates: www.terrisfight.org *** 8 Terri Schiavo's website Media Contacts Governor Jeb Bush (R) The Honorable(?) George W. Greer Attorney General Charlie Crist
But, I don't know how a court could prevent doctors from ordering therapy, speach therapy (which is often actually swallowing therapy) and most especially oral nutrition.
Office of The Governor
Florida Capitol Building, PL-05
Tallahassee, FL 32399-0001
(850) 488-7146
(850) 488-4441
jeb.bush@myflorida.com
6th Judicial Circuit
315 Court Street, Room 484
Clearwater, FL 33756
(727) 464-3933
ggreer@co.pinellas.fl.us
Office of Attorney General
State of Florida
The Capitol
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1050
(850) 487-1963
Fax: (850) 487-2564
ag@oag.state.fl.us
Remember the story of Moses' birth? It was against the law of the Pharoah to allow any male Hebrew babies to be born. The Hebrew midwives feared God, so they told the Pharoah that the Hebrew women were stronger than the Egyptians and gave birth before the midwives could arrive. It's from Exodus 1:15-22.
This is the same sort of thing. Maybe someone will find the courage to give Terri some jello.
Freepers are the best bunch!
I want to run our jell-o idea by Jim Robinson. Anyone know him and could do it for me? I've not spoken with him, but have tremendous respect him and the work he's done.
By Sarah Foster © 2003 WorldNetDaily.com
A letter sent by Florida Gov. Jeb Bush to a probate court judge asking him to delay the removal of a feeding tube from a brain-disabled woman is "a good first step," but the governor will need to do more if he wishes to halt the pending starvation death of Terri Schindler-Schiavo, says noted anti-euthanasia author and attorney Wesley Smith.
"The letter is nice, but it's not sufficient for the task," Smith told WorldNetDaily.
In the two-page communication dated Tuesday Bush asked Judge George Greer, of Florida's 6th Circuit Court, Probate Division, to allow Terri to live until a court-appointed guardian can "independently investigate the circumstances of this case and provide the court with an unbiased view that considers the best interests of Mrs. Schiavo."
Terri Schindler-Schiavo before her disability. Bush also urged Greer to reweigh evidence as to Terri's wishes "as often as necessary ... to determine whether 'clear and convincing evidence' still exists that Mrs. Schiavo would now choose withdrawal of life-prolonging procedures."
Smith said he was "not optimistic" that the letter would have any effect. "[A request] will not be enough to persuade the judge," he explained. "It doesn't mean anything unless the governor is willing to have the attorney general bring an action by the state of Florida to investigate certain issues and support the right to life of this woman."
Although there is some question about how much even a willing governor can do in a case like this, Smith said Bush should try to intervene, "and if he fails, at least the effort has been made."
He said the governor's "essential point" is correct, that a guardian ad litem should be appointed to look at a number of troubling issues that have surfaced. However, there is nothing requiring Greer to appoint anyone guardian or to carry out even one of Bush's suggestions.
"The judge is free to pay no attention whatever to the governor's letter as it is not a formal document in the case," said Smith.
And that's exactly what Greer did.
"I read the letter because it came from the governor and I respect his position," Greer told the Associated Press. "Beyond that, it is going in the file."
Greer insisted that he is bound by the 2nd District Court of Appeals order of June 6 to set a hearing date for removal of the feeding tube and that he is "not inclined" to appoint another guardian. At present, Terri's legal guardian is her husband, Michael Schiavo.
On Friday, the Florida Supreme Court upheld the appeals court ruling by refusing to intervene in the case. Greer has scheduled a hearing for Sept. 11, at which time he will set a date for removing the tube, which will result in Terri's death by starvation and dehydration within 10 to 14 days.
At a news conference Tuesday, Schiavo said he wished the governor would keep his thoughts to himself. "This is not about Jeb Bush, it's not about the Schindlers, and it's not about me," he said, according to WFLA-TV in Tampa. "It's about Terri, and it always has been about Terri."
As WorldNetDaily reported, Terri's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler of Gulf Port, Fla., have been locked in a decade-long battle with their son-in-law over the care and custody of their daughter, who suffered massive brain damage when she collapsed at her home 13 years ago under unexplained circumstances at the age of 26. She left no written instructions detailing treatment in the event she ever became incapacitated.
Two years after Terri's collapse a jury awarded Schiavo $1.3 million in a malpractice lawsuit he brought against her doctors. The money was placed in a trust fund to pay for medical treatment and rehabilitation, but she has received no therapy in over 10 years and only minimal nursing care.
The bitter family dispute over the quality of her care escalated into a major euthanasia battle five years ago when Schiavo petitioned the court for permission to have Terri's feeding tube removed, claiming she is in a persistent vegetative state from which she can never recover and that she would not want to be kept alive by "artificial means." The Schindlers and a growing number of doctors and professionals in the field of rehabilitation of disabled people claim she could recover with therapy, but the courts have consistently sided with Schiavo and his lawyer, right-to-die advocate George Felos.
Smith, who has written two major books on euthanasia, "Forced Exit" and "The Culture of Death," is a recognized authority on medical ethics and the social dynamics of what he calls "food-and-fluid" cases like Terri's. When it comes to discussing her case – the way it's being handled in the courts and its wider ramifications – he doesn't mince words.
"Basically Terri is to be denied food and water because she's disabled," Smith said bluntly. "It's discrimination against disabled people. If you did this to a horse you'd go to jail."
Since filing his petition in 1998, Schiavo has maintained that in seeking his wife's death by starvation he's only carrying out her wishes. He says that despite her not having left any written instructions, she once told him that she would not want to "be a burden" or to be kept alive "on anything artificial." Later, his brother Scott and another brother's wife recalled Terri had made similar statements to each of them on separate occasions, that she "would not want any kind of life support."
Smith is skeptical of such recollections and of the notion that the once-vital young woman would choose to be starved to death rather than receive therapy and be nourished by means of a simple feeding tube through her abdomen to her stomach.
The key issue
"I find it interesting that [Schiavo and his relatives] never said that when the medical malpractice suit was pending and the money wasn't in the bank," Smith remarked. "That to me is the key issue. That affects credibility. ... Casual statements that are brought up long after the fact, after the money is in the bank, when the same kind of statements were never made to the father or mother or the siblings, and we have apparently no other independent friends of hers other than those related to the husband – these statements strike me as not very convincing evidence."
Nonetheless, Judge Greer accepted these alleged remarks by Terri as indicative of her wishes.
Smith also took umbrage at the fact Schiavo has been allowed to act as Terri's guardian despite several attempts by the Schindlers to have him removed from that role.
"It's beyond the pale to me that a man who wants to remarry – and has one child with his fiancée and is expecting another – is allowed to have any say in this whatsoever when there's such an obvious conflict of interest," Smith exclaimed. "It gives a whole new meaning to [the saying] 'til death do us part,' doesn't it?"
The fact that Schiavo would inherit upon her death whatever is left in Terri's medical trust fund set up with the money from the malpractice suit presents a second conflict of interest.
"Because he has a stake in her death – he wishes to remarry and at the same time would inherit whatever is left of her medical trust fund – that he should not be the one making these decisions," said Smith. "That should be done by the people who want to care for her – her parents and siblings – and why a judge can't see that is beyond me," he exclaimed.
Smith says the case for Terri's death is very weak. She is not unconscious; she's clearly interacting with her environment – which means she is not a candidate for court-ordered starvation under Florida laws. Moreover, the evidence claiming that she once said she would not want to be kept alive if incapacitated is suspect.
"In the event of such a weak case – unless it's decided that people like Terri do not deserve to live – you would give the benefit of every doubt to life," Smith said. "But in our society today, because of this right-to-die advocacy and the idea that it isn't the sanctity of human life that counts but the quality of human life, the benefit of doubt is being moved towards the side of death."
Smith warns that if it becomes acceptable and legal to withhold food and water, the next step will be to promote lethal injection or other simple method of terminating unwanted patients. The cases would provide "a backdoor entrée" to euthanasia.
"Once the food-and-fluid cases become accepted, the logic is why protract [death] for 14 days and deal with all that kind of stuff; let's give them a needle," he said.
This is a good summary for newbies to this thread. THIS IS WHY WE MUST URGE GOVERNOR BUSH TO GET WITH AG CRIST OR TO ORDER THE FLA LEGISLATURE TO HOLD AN EMERGENCY SESSION AND TO HOLD TERRI'S EXIT PROTOCOL IN ABEYANCE while the unconstitutional exit protocols of the Florida Statutes are re-visited. There is no way out. There are no safeguards.
Governor Bush's contact information is at the beginning of this thread.
Search out the Peterson case & you'll see lots of activity. I was on Elizabeth Smart & took plenty of abuse. But I was right (as were some others) & that really took the wind out of their sails.
I heard that rondog is real good at organizing freeps. Maybe you should contact rondog for starters. FYI: Registered invented Sore Loserman and that was a huge deal. Goodnight and I mean it this time. LOL
What really frosts me is the lack of effort by the Protective Services people. If a parent were doing to a child what this damn judge and his cronies Felos and Michael Schiavo are doing to Terri, the state department of protective services would take the ward away from the parents and place it under departmental responsibility until all aspects were investigated. NOT ONE DAMN jot has been filed by protective services and that IS something Jeb Bush could order.
And he was another that beat the odds, at least initially.
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.