Bush facing court test to defend Terri's Law

South Florida Sun-Sentinel ^ | November 8, 2003 | Sean Mussenden

[drlevy88]

Isn't it likely that the Second District will continue to rule against Terri?

"The county judge, who held a gruuuuuuuuuuuuuuudge..." [Band on the Run]

[GeekDejure]

I think as someone wrote earlier today that the only way to save Terri will be to get a new guardian now.

That is precisely the way it should end... with the Schindler family as the guardian of their own daughter for the remainder of her life... hence, relieving Mikey of any further um... er... oh yeah, "agony" regarding her future life or death !!! But will that actually happen? Hell NO!!! Why not???? Because Mikey must kill her and immediately cremate the evidence of his prior criminal activity!!!

God Bless you Terri... I'm praying for you to defeat all the evil powers and wicked less-than-human creatures that are so earnestly committed to starving and dehydrating you to premature and agonizing death !!!

.

[Theodore R.]

Was there any ruling from the Second District Court of Appeals in Lakeland today? I don't think that this court would have had time to rule in one day. Lakeland was the home of Lawton Chiles, who appointed the large liberal majority on the FL Supreme Court.

[Future Useless Eater]

The news searches I find seem to say it is now ON HOLD (indefinately?)

Here is text with tidbits that I found NEWS in red...

Florida House Speaker Johnnie Byrd waded into the battle over Terri's Law on Monday, asking a judge to uphold Gov. Jeb Bush's intervention in a nationally watched right-to-die case.

Under intense pressure from Byrd, the Florida Legislature passed the law last month, allowing Bush to overturn a court order and restore the feeding tube of Terri Schiavo, unhooked six days earlier.

Courts have found the severely brain-damaged woman would not have wanted to live in her "persistent vegetative state." Her husband and guardian, Michael Schiavo, immediately asked a judge to declare the law unconstitutional, arguing it invaded her right to refuse unwanted medical treatment and violated the rigid separation between the judicial, executive and legislative branches of government.

Last week, Bush's attorneys asked Pinellas County Circuit Judge W. Douglas Baird to throw out the lawsuit on procedural grounds. Baird refused, but Bush's attorneys appealed that decision Monday, putting the case on hold indefinitely.

Meanwhile, Byrd submitted a "friend of the court" brief, arguing that the law he helped create did not violate the constitutional separation of the judicial, executive and legislative branches, even though it effectively allowed Bush to sidestep a court order.

Besides allowing Bush to restore Terri Schiavo's tube, Terri's Law ordered that a special, court-appointed guardian review her case and make recommendations to the governor about her ability to be rehabilitated.

Last week, Bush asked that the special guardian, Dr. Jay Wolfson, meet with him to "discuss" the review prior to its completion.

Howard Simon, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, called Bush's request an "inappropriate intrusion" on the independent examination.

A spokesman for Bush said Monday that Wolfson had agreed to the meeting.