Judge in Life or Death Case Considered Conservative, Compassionate (Terri Schiavo Case)

AP | 10/25/03 | Vickie Chachere

[kattracks]

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. (AP) - Pinellas Circuit Judge George Greer has been called a murderer and equated with the Roman governor who condemned Jesus to death. He has been vilified in Internet chat rooms and has received death threats by e-mail.

Greer is the judge who granted Terri Schiavo's husband permission to remove her feeding tube in one of the longest and most contentious right-to-life battles. His decision was second-guessed and essentially overridden by the Florida Legislature and Gov. Jeb Bush last week.

Following judicial code of conduct, Greer has been silent about the public debate over the Schiavo case and the criticism he has faced. He declined a request for an interview.

But those who know the 61-year-old probate judge say he is a prudent jurist who probably agonized over his decisions.

"He is such a good and decent man and to have this kind of rap being put on him right now is so unfair," said Mary Repper, a political strategist who has helped Greer's campaigns. "If ever this was to be put into the hands of someone who is going to be fair and do the right thing, George was the right person."

Through four years of hearings and legal wrangling, Greer considered Michael Schiavo's request to remove his severely brain-damaged wife's feeding tube against the wishes of her parents, Bob and Mary Schindler.

A heart attack in 1990 left Terri Schiavo, now 39, in a persistently vegetative state and court-appointed doctors believe there is no hope of recovery. Greer ruled Michael Schiavo showed "clear and convincing" evidence his wife did not want to be kept alive artificially and permitted him to end her nourishment.

The extraordinary reversal of his ruling by Bush and the Legislature will now become the central issue in a new legal fight over the separation of powers that will be waged to overturn what's now known as "Terri's Law."

While Greer has become a key figure in the international news event, few outside of Pinellas County know the man who friends describe as conservative, religious and particularly sensitive to protecting the disabled.

Greer is legally blind and cannot drive. While his condition doesn't hamper his abilities on the bench, colleagues and others said in interviews last week it gives him a perspective in dealing with the rights of the impaired few jurists have.

"He is so conscientious anyway, you put a case involving human life in front of him and it makes him even more careful," said Ed Armstrong, a Clearwater attorney who describes Greer as his mentor. "It's been an ordeal for him too."

Greer is a member of a conservative Baptist church which recently advocated keeping Terri Schiavo alive in a church newsletter. A moderate Republican, Greer served on the Pinellas County Commission for eight years before running unopposed for a circuit judgeship in 1992.

Repper and former Pinellas County Commissioner Charles Rainey said the fact that no one opposed the quiet, studious Greer speaks volumes for how well he is regarded in Pinellas County.

"He's doing what the law says to do. I am sure he struggles with himself, knowing George," Rainey said. "The man did everything he was asked to do as far as checking out the case, checking out the medical situation and he did it two or three times."

Greer is known for answering his own telephone in chambers and until recently being easily accessible to the press, characteristics that his friends say are holdovers from his days of being an elected official.

Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., Greer graduated from Clearwater High School. He graduated from the University of Florida law school and was a successful zoning attorney in Clearwater when he was elected to the county commission in 1984. He been a judge since 1992 and is up for re-election next year.

Michael Schiavo first asked the probate court for permission to disconnect his wife's feeding tube in 1998, saying his wife had told him that she never wanted to be kept alive artificially. Her parents disagree. Two other judges handled the case before it was passed to Greer.

Greer turned down repeated requests from the Schindlers to order therapy for their daughter or to dismiss Michael Schiavo as her guardian. Just this week, Greer set a hearing in November, nearly a year after the Schindlers' last motion for a new guardian, to discuss that issue.

The Schindlers' attorneys attempted to have Greer removed from the case in recent weeks, saying he had improperly discussed the case with others. An appeals court decided Greer would stay.

The Schiavo case is not the only time Greer has been faced with the issue of removing a feeding tube from a vegetative patient. In 2000, the wife and grown children of St. Petersburg attorney Blair Clark faced off in Greer's courtroom after Clark collapsed from a heart attack.

Clark had a living will which said he did not want a feeding tube or respirator if he was determined to be in a permanent vegetative state. But his Chinese-born wife - who disputed her husband was vegetative and believed he could hear her - wanted to try acupuncture and medical techniques from her homeland.

Greer allowed an acupuncturist to administer a treatment session, and then granted Clark's children permission to withdraw their father's feeding tube. Clark's wife did not appeal the decision.

Clark died within days of the tube's removal.

"He was sympathetic and empathetic to the fact that we had somebody who in her culture believed in these alternative methods," said Doug Williamson, who represented the Clark children.

William Mayhew, who represented Clark's wife Ping, said he too believes Greer simply followed the law.

"Many judges would have figured out a way to dump (the Schiavo) case," said Pinellas County Sheriff Everett Rice, Greer's friend for more than 20 years. "But he stuck by it. He deserves a medal for enduring that alone."

[iowamomforfreedom]

I'm looking for a document I saw a few weeks of testimony or an affidavit by the previous GAL, Richard Pearse. I'm still looking, but ran across this article that came out 10/24/03 in Naples News:
http://www.naplesnews.com/npdn/florida/article/0,2071,NPDN_14910_2372379,00.html

Here's an interesting excerpt regarding Pearse:

"An independent guardian has not served in the Schiavo case since 1999, when Clearwater attorney Richard Pearse Jr. issued a report recommending Michael Schiavo not be allowed to disconnect Terri Schiavo's feeding tube.

Pearse said in an interview last week he made that determination because Michael Schiavo stood to benefit financially from his wife's death by inheriting about $750,000 in a medical trust fund.

Pearse was dismissed as the guardian months later after Felos accused him of bias. Pearse asked the judge on the case at the time to either expand his authority as guardian to represent Terri Schiavo in upcoming hearings or dismiss him as guardian, the judge chose the later option."

[iowamomforfreedom]

Found it. Affidavit of Richard Pearse, Guardian ad Litem, dated 12/29/98:

http://host85.ipowerweb.com/~friendso/guardian.pdf

[iowamomforfreedom]

FR_addict posted this link earlier in the thread. Scroll all the way to the bottom for a cast of players:
http://www.hospicepatients.org/is-the-hospice-A-faithful-Steward-of-Donations.html

[windchime]

Bump!

[Pegita]

Thanks, iowamom ... is there a listing somewhere for those serving on the Board of Directors ... or Boards of Directors? Florida Senate President James King is listed on his website as a Board Member ...

[livius]

I wish I could recall where I read the information about Judge Greer's wife and the hospice. It was in an article (perhaps posted here?) about the hospice itself, which Felos was very involved with long prior to the Schiavo case. I believe that himself was Chairman of the Board of the hospice at the time he began to work as Michael Schiavo's lawyer, but resigned later that year.

In the course of the article, I'm pretty sure it was mentioned that Greer's wife had been on the board. I don't know when - possibly before the Schiavo case. But it is certainly possible that I have gotten her confused with someone else, since it seems that everybody who is anybody in that city has been involved with this "hospice."

[PeyersPatches]

"Doesn't seem to me that they're trying all that hard to cover it up. They are as blatant and in your face about it as Al Gore was when he tried to steal the 2000 election."

When I stop and think about it, you are 100% correct. They truly are "in your face" about it. I guess no one standing up to the Nazis (liberals) all these years (of which I am guilty as well) has just emboldened them. I have decided that I can no longer refrain from referring to them with the name that has truly been theirs for all these years: Nazis (or any others: Marxist, Leninist, etc). It is high time to pull the sheep skin off of these vicious wolves.

[Normally a Lurker]

Oh, you mean "others" such as the "loving husband's" siblings?? Oh, yes, those are really impartial parties.

Apparently no one who has been personally involved in this matter (on either side of her family) is "impartial." So what. Impartiallity is apparently unimportant to you if/when someone agrees with you (e.g., her parents in this case), but seems to be an overriding factor for you if/when someone disagrees with you.

[Diva Betsy Ross]

Perhaps he was only working wthin the laws of the state of Florida. I do not know enough about the laws there to comment on that. BUT, the law then needs to be changed, and that is what the legislature is for. They need to have new standards for PVS and Comatose and brain dead and Living Will. To change the laws that the judges enforce.

Perhaps Judge Greere had hope of a new law he could enforce , if he was so compassionate to the disabled. I don't know if he was or was not. I suspect I know, but I don't really know.

The people spoke with their elected representation and told them... CHANGE THE LAW RIGHT NOW, OR ELSE. So that is what they did. It is really very simple.

[tutstar]

GREAT!!

see this thread to post info to.....http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1008215/posts

[Ethan_Allen]

"The Judge's parents both passed on in 1991."

Wonder if they passed on from $uncoast.

[sweetliberty]

"it seems that you, like many others commenting here, choose to base your opinions on emotions and not on facts."

"Seems" being the operative word here. While you are right that many of us are very emotional (outraged and heartsick would be more accurately descriptive), that emotion has come about precisely BECAUSE of the facts that have been uncovered, NOT in disregard of them.

I assume (correctly I hope) that you are a conservative and a compassionate person of conscience, in which case I also have to assume that it is YOU who is offering an opinion which is not rooted in the facts, because no compassionate conservative person of conscience could know many of the facts of this case and not, at the very least, think that, if there is the least bit of doubt, we should err on the side of life.

[sweetliberty]

"And Terri has endured total sensory deprivation, no pictures,no music....NOTHING!"

"Those are interrogation tactics used on POW's not frail disabled women."

And consider that these amenities are not even denied to violent criminals in our prisons. These things were not denied by the court, they were denied by her "loving" husband who is charged BY the court to look out for her best interests.

A normal, healthy person going without environmental stimulation would at the very least develop withdrawal problems, severe depression or even a genuine psychosis over time. In treating illness, physical or mental, positive sensory stimulation plays a critical role. But Terri is denied even that. I would not wish on any of these people the kind of cruel treatment that woman has been subjected to, not even on the ones who seem to think that it is perfectly alright what is being done to her. They obviously don't understand.

[sweetliberty]

"Pearse was dismissed as the guardian months later after Felos accused him of bias."

It wasn't bias that Felos had a problem with, it was that the "bias" didn't cut in his favor. That parallels the way the liberals/democRATs operate...if an election isn't in your favor, then scream for recall or impeachment. If the judicial nominees support the Constitution, holler that they're biased because they don't necessarily support a Marxist interpretation of the Constitution. They scream "racism" when it is THEY who are promoting racist positions.

How convenient that the court never got around to appointing a new guardian ad litum....and now, the one they want to appoint appears to be connected to the death advocates as well? Seems that that was already preordained when they saw they were going to be forced to revisit this issue, but maybe I'm just paranoid from drinking too much coffee. (humor break)

[sweetliberty]

"It is high time to pull the sheep skin off of these vicious wolves."

.

[sweetliberty]

"The people spoke with their elected representation and told them... CHANGE THE LAW RIGHT NOW, OR ELSE. So that is what they did. It is really very simple."

And that is exactly how the law and the government is SUPPOSED to work. The judicial activists are just in a major snit because they fear losing CONTROL of the court's ability to trump the will of the people.

[Diva Betsy Ross]

Oh Thank God someone else "gets it". What is the problem some conservatives have with this case? The system of our government worked as it was intended to, for once. I think some here have missed government 101. ( They shall remain nameless because I don't want them to sue me for libel :}

[sweetliberty]

"They shall remain nameless because I don't want them to sue me for libel"

LOL! Yeah, who said the DU had a monopoly on pompous blowhards who worship before the thrones of the courtrooms?

[FR_addict]

It may be interesting to see who has previosuly been on this hospice board of directors and the Florida Hospice Board of Directors.

We know Felos was from his bio at:
http://www.bluedolphinpublishing.com/Felos.htm

Board Chair of The Hospice of the Florida Suncoast, the largest non-profit Hospice in the world.

I didn't realize this was the largest non-profit hospice in the world.

Senator King from his website has been on the Florida Hospice Board of Directors.

There are numerous lawsuits against this particular hospice.
http://www.hospicepatients.org/Hosp-FL-Suncoast-entrypage.html

The information about the previous GAL (Guardian ad Litem) was also new to me.
It needs to be repeated:

"Pearse said in an interview last week he made that determination because Michael Schiavo stood to benefit financially from his wife's death by inheriting about $750,000 in a medical trust fund."

already posted in post 141 and 142 above in case you missed it.
Affidavit of Richard Pearse, Guardian ad Litem, dated 12/29/98:

http://host85.ipowerweb.com/~friendso/guardian.pdf

[Theodore R.]

Bulletin: Eleanor Clift calls for Terri's death!!!

Popular "Newsweek" columnist and panelist on PBS's "McLaughlin Group" this weekend called for immediate death for the stricken disabled FL woman Terri Schindler Schiavo. The fact that Clift, who started with "Newsweek" 40 years ago as a fact checker, endorses the "right-to-die" is no surprise. What was surprising was her vehemence that Terri be immediatley starved and deydrated again. Clift considers her a distasteful "vegetable."

John McLaughin, a former Catholic priest and former husband of Reagan's Labor Secretary Ann McLaughlin, should have fired her on the set for a lack of the "compassion" that she has long claimed to represent. It could have been like that time many years ago (I read about it, didn't see it) when Arthur Godfrey fired Julius LaRosa on the air.

Panelist Pat Buchanan opposed death for Terri, but the segment ended before he could elaborate on his coments.

I am sending this to other Terri threads to get maximum exposure.