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
"Sometimes, Felos says, he gets nervous or anxious before a hearing.
"If I find that I'm getting nervous or keyed up or off-center, what I'll do is -- which is a type of meditation -- just focus on my breathing," he says. "Home in on the sensation of breathing, the sensation of the air entering the nostrils and exiting the nostrils. If you do that for 30 seconds, you'll find that you're more relaxed."
If people are truly spiritual, that will permeate all aspects of their lives, not just during worship, not just at home, but at work too, Felos says.
"You can't separate your work life from your spiritual life," he says. "A spiritual seeker has no spiritual focus."
At least one opposing attorney sees little spirituality in Felos. Pat Anderson, one of the lawyers representing Terri Schiavo's parents, questions Felos' ethics in fighting to remove the woman's feeding tube.
Furthermore, Anderson says, "I find him to be uncommonly persnickety in his diction."
George Felos begins his morning with yoga, which he has been practicing for 25 years. That’s about as long as he has been practicing law: “How do you work within that type of system and not become hardened . . . and maintain a spiritual center?” he says.
Raised Greek Orthodox in New York, Felos did not aspire to follow his father into law. He spent too much time at his father's office, supposedly on his way to father-son outings but actually waiting for his dad to finish talking to clients.
"I went to law school because I couldn't think of anything else to do at the time," Felos says.
After law school -- and his spiritual awakening -- Felos and his first wife lived on a small Greek island for three months. Each morning, they would wake up and buy a fresh quart of goat's milk for 9 cents and a 10-cent loaf of steaming hot bread. It was one of the best times in his life, Felos says.
Then it was back home and back to reality. His family had moved to the Tampa Bay area, so Felos decided to try for work here. He got an interview with the Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney's office.
"This is a tough job," Felos remembers the prosecutor telling him during the interview. "You've got to be hard. You've got to hit! It's a tough job. Can you do it?"
Having just spent three months living on an island and drinking goat's milk, Felos looked at the man and said, "You know, I really don't know."
He didn't get the job and eventually went into civil practice with his father. The two worked together as Felos & Felos until James G. Felos died in 1995.
Every morning these days, Felos is 160 pounds of elastic on his bedroom floor. He does yoga, inspired by a framed portrait of Paramahansa Yogananda, the founder of spiritual realization. He does more stretches and takes out a machine that helps with his chi, or body energy.
The purpose of the morning routine is to be "present in the sensation of his body."
He takes out a throw pillow and meditates for a half hour before showering and drinking a concoction of protein powder, banana, orange juice, yogurt and goat's milk.
Each morning he checks to see if something has grown on the mango tree and bamboo he planted in the front yard. Felos visits different places of worship about twice a month, he says. He has spoken at several, including the Palm Harbor Unity Church, the Center for Conscious Living and a spiritual awareness center in Crystal Beach.
He hangs out with friends -- ministers, yoga teachers, but no lawyers. He bought a Steinway grand piano and plays Beethoven on it. He invites friends over for chanting -- "I am that I am. I am that I am." -- while he plays the harmonium.
"He has a good sense of humor, and he has a gentle and kind soul," says Debi Chapman, a Palm Harbor yoga instructor who met Felos about seven years ago at a retreat. "It's just a heartfelt space, a very spirit-filled connection that George and I have."
Felos' reading material includes Handbook to Higher Consciousness, God Talks With Arjuna, The Experience of Insight, In the Meantime.
His home looks more hippie-ish than lawyerly -- red couch with big pillows, multicolored chair in hot tones, mint green carpeting, spry yellow kitchen and one living room wall painted neon blue.
He spends weekends with his 14-year-old son, Alexander, from his first marriage. They fish for mullet in St. Joseph Sound, the body of water that doubles as Felos' back yard. Caladesi and Honeymoon islands are in the distance.
Felos is in the final stages of a divorce from his second wife. "If I did relationships as well as I did law," Felos says, "I'd probably be happily married."
The journey continues
Felos does not mention Schiavo in Law as Spiritual Practice, but says he wants to start a second book when the case is over. He may talk about his spiritual journey with Schiavo then. For now, he is preparing for a hearing before the 2nd District Court of Appeal in Lakeland on June 25. He thinks the court will agree that her feeding tube should be removed.
That is what is necessary, he says, "to accomplish what I believe are Terri's wishes."
Does Felos believe Terri Schiavo's soul has spoken to his?
Felos declines to answer, showing his lawyerly side. "It's a pending case," he says.
FLORIDUH VOTER QUICK READ: Attorney Felos practices any and all religions where I guess the physical body isn't important unless it's his when he's doing yoga. In this Floridian article, he states "to accomplish what he believes are Terri's wishes." I think it's important to note that he has no supernatural powers in order to divine Terri's wishes. It appears he thinks he has supernatural powers.
Note that Michael Schiavo and his attorney Felos stay on message re: "Terri's wishes". The real issue is Terri's true medical condition. If her true medical condition becomes known, that she is not in a coma or vegetative state, that ruins what "needs to be accomplished." They are driven and as long as Felos can do his breathing exercises and say "I am" it's really not important how Terri spends her days without her parents, without therapy and without liberty.
He also stated in that yoga kept him from becoming hardened by being a lawyer. He's the essence of hardened and the porchlight's on but nobody's home.
Hospice is for Caring ... or is it for Killing? Read the latest observation of what happened in the Appeals Court hearing on April 4, 2003.
Hospices all over the country broadcast their deep and abiding commitment to serve the needs of the dying, who may have truly distressing and painful symptoms during their end-of-life period. Many hospices and professionals work tirelessly to relieve these symptoms. And we have the greatest respect for the doctors, nurses and other staff who care so much about those who are suffering and serve them selflessly. However, there are others in the industry who do not subscibe to the basic beliefs of those who founded this industry. There are those who would do the opposite of what most hospice professionals believe in.
Leaders of the Hospice of the Florida $uncoast, one of the largest nonprofit hospices in our nation have taken a different path. They have manipulated a helpless disabled woman into their hospice, even though she is not terminal. The hospice's C.E.O., Mary Labyak, travels all over the nation speaking at national and state conventions about hospice and end-of-life matters, yet she is willing to pervert the mission of hospice. She wishes to help kill a defenseless woman, Terri Schiavo, in the hospice she controls.
Labyak: "Changing the Way People Die in Our Community" Labyak believes everything she does is just fine, even conspiring to kill Terri Schiavo. She has written as recently as March 19, 2003, that she has spent her life with the goal of "changing the way people die in our community."
What is truly scary about Labyak is that she is a woman who actively wants to impose death upon the helpless disabled in our community, embodied by the prisoner of this hospice: Terri Schiavo.
Labyak states that she has "actively upheld the vision, values and philosophy that is the foundation of hospice and palliative care." Nothing could be further from the truth! This lady doesn't have a clue what the foundation of hospice is if she believes Dame Cicely Saunders and Elizabeth Kubler Ross would approve of Labyak's recent activities at this hospice! Or perhaps Labyak has suffered a complete lapse in memory of what the foundation of hospice is? The local community in Florida and around the country will not tolerate making hospice a place of killing and that is what Labyak wishes to accomplish!
The greatest embodiment of the hospice spirit is Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who worked for decades serving the dying, the poor and other patients. She revered the lives of each person she cared for. We can be certain that Mother Teresa would never execute Terri Schiavo as Mary Labyak intends to do. That is the test and Labyak fails it miserably. Her evil design is exposed for what it is, the moment one considers and asks, "would Mother Teresa kill this helpless woman?" Labyak would not even dare to say that Mother Teresa would do it, but even still clings to the plan of making hospice a killing place. She calls it "aid in dying." Double-talk. Deceit. Betrayal of the hospice mission!
Labyak brags that she is a great pioneer. If so, she is a pioneer of death dealing and the worst perversion of the hospice movement!
Under Labyak's direct leadership, the hospice stands ready to kill Terri Schiavo at any time the judge says "ok." The hospice, directed by Labyak, stands willing to cooperate in carrying out the wishes of Terri's husband who has fought in court for years to kill his wife, who, judging by his actions, is his wife in name only now. Michael Schiavo has chosen to live with another woman and had a child by this other woman. Yet, Michael Schiavo uses the money awarded to Terri, in order to try to end her life by withholding food and water from Terri. Is this the pioneering vision of Mary Labyak? Is this what she has spent her life working towards? Anybody would die if they were starved to death and not given any fluids. Is this the direction Mary Labyak and the Hospice of the Florida $uncoast wish to lead all hospices in our nation? Only through the valiant efforts of Terri's parents has Labyak (and the hospice) been prevented from killing Terri!
Will Mary Labyak, The Hospice of the Florida $uncoast and its Board of Directors make hospice a place that terrorizes the disabled? The Hospice Industry constantly complains that patients enter hospice too late for the patients to receive the services that hospice has to provide during the end-of-life period. Yet, if hospices are willing to kill patients, like Terri, the the Hospice Industry is shooting itself in the foot! Many patients will refuse to enter hospice if this practice is to become more common, as suggested by the leadership of Mary Labyak and the Hospice of the Florida Suncoast!
Articles about Hospice of the Florida $uncoast's patient, Terri Schiavo, who is NOT terminal, have been in the news both locally in Florida and in the national news. Why is a non-terminal patient even allowed to be in the hospice? The board of directors has a duty to make sure the hospice follows the guidelines for running a hospice. All hospice boards and staff know that only patients who are truly terminal can enter a hospice. Why hasn't the board protested the admission of Terri Schiavo into the hospice?
Why does Mary Labyak do nothing when everybody knows Terri is not terminally ill? Why is Terri NOT receiving therapy for rehabilitation as she needs? Why was the temperature in Terri's room set in the 60s until Terri's parents protested? Why are hospice employees forbidden from speaking to others about Terri Schiavo's condition or care, or, how the hospice is treating her? If you don't approve of the hospice actions, call them at: 727-586-4432 and let them know how you feel!
Are Mary Labyak, The Hospice, and its Board of Directors Remaining True to the Original Hospice Mission?
The human side of me is inclined to reply, "What souls?"
Seeking Right to Death. Fla. man says wife wouldn't want to live in vegetative state
In April 2000, after a probate judge approved the removal of the feeding tube, Michael moved Terri to a Woodside hospice. By then, he had finished nursing school and had started working as a respiratory therapist, the legacy of the years he spent caring for Terri.The fight to save Terri Schiavo’s life
Terri’s husband, Michael Schiavo, a respiratory therapist and nurse,
MARY LABYAK Secretary/Treasurer, Partnership for Caring Hospice of the Florida Suncoast
Glasheen: If you were putting together a primer, what would you say is the most important information people need about hospice? Labyak: Probably the initial thing is that hospice is about living and that people don't need to think of it as a place to go where there's no hope anymore. We see a lot of miracles in hospice. They might not be the traditional medical miracle but the miracle of being very sick and yet having your pain controlled, having your symptoms controlled and being able to carry on with your life and be the person that you've always been. To have continuity of relationships and the opportunity to talk to people honestly about what's happening and to find meaning, to find dignity in life, to spend time with your family doing things that are important.
Miracles, huh?
I saw that in one of the articles I read.
Michael Schiavo was a restaurant manager at the time of Terri's "heart attack". He went to nursing school so that he could learn how to "take care" of Terri - he testified about this at the malpractice trial. Thinking about that now, it takes on a whole new meaning.
You're right. I didn't notice that. Schiavo obviously wanted full control over her destiny pretty darn soon after she was found unconscious.
I was confused by the fact that Mike called 911. It seemed to contradict the notion that he had harmed her in some way.
Did he mistakenly assume she was already dead at the time he called 911 for "help" for her? Her heart had stopped, I think. Wouldn't that mean he would find no pulse?
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