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If you would, supercat, take us through the coming days of what to expect IF the Florida legislation passes by 1 p.m. on Friday ... what comes next? Add to the mix if you want, that the Federal legislation passes. What next?

So what shall become of Michael's "bird"--
Will he starve her as he intends?
Or will she be rescued by those far and wide
who'd be honored to be called her friends?
The future right now is hard to see
though a showdown is coming nigh.
Well the forces of life trump the judge who says,
"The law of the case is that she must die?"

From "A Bird in a Barren Cage"

I really don't know what's going to happen. I can offer some scenarios, but any similarity between them and reality would likely be purely coincidental.

First of all, if the legislation is not passed before the feeding tube is pulled, Felos will do everything he can to delay its reinsertion. Even if the legislation is passed first, Felos will probably pull the tube and try to declare it a fait accompli.

What I would expect will happen, even if the Schindlers win the first wound, will be that Felos will immediately seek a ruling from Judge Greer that Terri's alleged statements meet the new evidentiary standard. Never mind that they obviously don't. No matter what evidentiary standard is required, Greer will declare it met. Even if a written statement was required, Greer would accept testimony from a graphologist who declared that some scribblings on a cocktail napkin were authentic writings by Terri, even if a forensic handwriting expert declared that they were in Michael's handwriting. An appeals court wouldn't actually see the supposed documents--all they'd see would be conflicting witnesses, and they'd accept the trial court judge's determination of which witnesses were credible.

So the next step will be either (1) DCF investigates enough to prove malfeasance in Terri's care, or (2) Greer gets impeached. Of course, the former might cause the latter. From what I understand, Florida requires a 2/3 house vote for impeachment (unlike the U.S. government which only requires a majority). That would be a tough hurdle to beat, though perhaps not insurmountable. It'll certainly not be an easy fight. On the other hand, impeachment immediately suspends an official's power, unlike the U.S. where officials keep power until the Senate votes them out of office.

I think if Terri's case can ever be heard by an honest trial court judge, she'll be pretty safe. If Greer were impeached, a new judge would almost certainly feel free to ignore any and all of Greer's earlier findings of fact, and I don't think a new judge would want to dirty himself by siding with the Devil. Such a move may have been rational when nobody was looking at the case, but with everyone watching it's just plain dumb.

So what happens next? I have no idea.