[LegalEagle61]

"If Governor Bush leads state officials and state marshalls up the sidewalk to the hospise door, local and county police will part and stand aside no matter what Judge Greer may have told them."

Show me the statute that gives him this power, because if he has it, I am sure he would have invoked it by now. But if you know of it, please share. I am just not finding anything he could hang his hat on and not be ruled unconstitutional on or arrested for, because that doesn't help Terri at all. They arrest Jeb and then pull Terri's tube again :(

[AmericanInTokyo]

‘All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing’ --Edmund Burke

[Edmund Burke]

The Florida DCF statute (not a new law) defines two types of interventions. One type requires a court order to intervene. The second type (emergency intervention) does not require a court order. The DCF staff may take action and do not have to appear before a judge until a later time (24 hours, I think, weekends and holidays excepted). This has been posted many times on this site since Jeb's news conference yesterday. I'm surprised you haven't seen it. To my knowledge, Judge Greer has not ruled this statute unconstitutional. Greer has tried to bluff Bush and the DCF into not acting under this section, apparently with success (at least for now).

[kenth]

Title XXX, Chapter 415.1051 Part 2

(2) EMERGENCY PROTECTIVE SERVICES INTERVENTION.--If the department has reasonable cause to believe that a vulnerable adult is suffering from abuse or neglect that presents a risk of death or serious physical injury to the vulnerable adult and that the vulnerable adult lacks the capacity to consent to emergency protective services, the department may take action under this subsection. If the vulnerable adult has the capacity to consent and refuses consent to emergency protective services, emergency protective services may not be provided.

(a) Emergency entry of premises.--If, upon arrival at the scene of the incident, consent is not obtained for access to the alleged victim for purposes of conducting a protective investigation under this subsection and the department has reason to believe that the situation presents a risk of death or serious physical injury, a representative of the department and a law enforcement officer may forcibly enter the premises. If, after obtaining access to the alleged victim, it is determined through a personal assessment of the situation that no emergency exists and there is no basis for emergency protective services intervention under this subsection, the department shall terminate the emergency entry.

(b) Emergency removal from premises.--If it appears that the vulnerable adult lacks the capacity to consent to emergency protective services and that the vulnerable adult, from the personal observations of the representative of the department and specified medical personnel or law enforcement officers, is likely to incur a risk of death or serious physical injury if such person is not immediately removed from the premises, then the representative of the department shall transport or arrange for the transportation of the vulnerable adult to an appropriate medical or protective services facility in order to provide emergency protective services. Law enforcement personnel have a duty to transport when medical transportation is not available or needed and the vulnerable adult presents a threat of injury to self or others. If the vulnerable adult's caregiver or guardian is present, the protective investigator must seek the caregiver's or guardian's consent pursuant to subsection (4) before the vulnerable adult may be removed from the premises, unless the protective investigator suspects that the vulnerable adult's caregiver or guardian has caused the abuse, neglect, or exploitation. The department shall, within 24 hours after providing or arranging for emergency removal of the vulnerable adult, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, petition the court for an order authorizing emergency protective services.