Posted on 03/25/2005 7:55:28 PM PST by West Coast Conservative
Hours after a judge ordered that Terri Schiavo was not to be removed from her hospice, a team of state agents were en route to seize her and have her feeding tube reinserted -- but they stopped short when local police told them they would enforce the judge's order, The Herald has learned.
Agents of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement told police in Pinellas Park, the small town where Schiavo lies at Hospice Woodside, on Thursday that they were on the way to take her to a hospital to resume her feeding.
For a brief period, local police, who have officers at the hospice to keep protesters out, prepared for what sources called ``a showdown.''
In the end, the squad from the FDLE and the Department of Children & Families backed down, apparently concerned about confronting local police outside the hospice.
''We told them that unless they had the judge with them when they came, they were not going to get in,'' said a source with the local police.
''The FDLE called to say they were en route to the scene,'' said an official with the city police who requested anonymity. ``When the sheriff's department and our department told them they could not enforce their order, they backed off.''
The incident,known only to a few and related to The Herald by three different sources involved in Thursday's events, underscores the intense emotion and murky legal terrain that the Schiavo case has created. It also shows that agencies answering directly to Gov. Jeb Bush had planned to use a wrinkle in Florida law that would have allowed them to legally get around the judge's order. The exception in the law allows public agencies to freeze a judge's order whenever an agency appeals it.
(Excerpt) Read more at miami.com ...
I agree with you on instigators. There are some crackpots out there. Unfortunately, this guy they just pulled out of western NC, threatening judges in Florida may just be the first in line. I just hope a lot of people that have gotten emotional over this issue will sit back in a few weeks and think about some of the things they have said and advocated, from a moral and Constitutional stance
Ronald Reagan would have done no such thing.
OK, I'll bite. Just what statute are you referring to when you say Jeb has the power? I'm sure you have access to the Floria law, just point out the exact statute you are referring to.
Thank you. I guess I AM still relatively new here, but after the past week I sure feel like a veteran.
Oh, great, now it will be manhandled by those NAZIS who handle the mail! /s.o. for the dimwitted
Who is in the police chain of command... Jeb, or a judge? If Jeb, then the police should be terminated, with prejudice.
haha....Calif and Repub........and by the way....we see eye to eye on this matter.......you have posted some valif points.....
The judiciary is convinced that they're the only power that counts, and apparently they've got the dutiful sheeple brainwashed into believing it. If we don't take these dictators down now, next time, instead of starving one woman to death, they may hand down a more efficient and cost effective way of disposing of lots of inconvenient people "helping" lots of people die at one time, and they will pat themselves on the back over what a wonderful thing they're doing. And the lawyers will shout: "Amen!"
I would agree that something is out of wack legally and morally, because Jeb might even be able to offer clemency and free crooks from prison, but he has no such authority to save Terri. I have to blame the republican legislators who wimped out.
Well, that's been suggested as one solution by several people, so I thought I'd head it off...
LOL... I knew it! You ARE a North California Republican! AHA!
;0)
"Don't tell me he doesn't have enough authority to make a squad of county deputies back down and relinquish their side arms if they prove insubordinate. Besides which, are you suggesting that the county executive holds more authority than the chief executive of the state in which they reside?"
First of all, please understand I am on your side here. So, when I explain the way territories work, doesn't mean I like or support it.
I hold a license in my state (Oklahoma) as an armed private investigator. What I was taught about a Sheriff I will pass along. A county sheriff is the highest level of elected law enforcement there is. Because they are elected, not appointed, they weld a great deal of power in their county. Their "boss" is the citizens of the county, and only the citizens can fire them. Their funding comes from the counties revenues, not the state (I am certain there are some exceptions of course). I know it sounds strange, I didn't used to believe it either, but a county sheriff is pretty much king/queen of their county. Hence the stories about corrupt county sheriffs. Oh, even a major city that falls within a county is under the jurisdiction of the county sheriff. I have seen county sheriff deputies making traffic stops within a major metro area (a ridiculous redundancy) with city police looking on powerless to interfere.
City police are usual subject to an elected city council or manager with the Chief of Police being an appointed person who serves at the will of the governing board or maybe the will of an elected mayor; depends on the area. I cannot think of a place where the Chief of Police is elected (although there probably are examples). Whatever, the Chief of Police and the officers under him serve the city and city officials. Of course they are subject to state law, but I don't believe state law gives a governor authority over city police. I guess it depends on the state.
The National Guard does serve under the authority of the Governor, unless federalized by the President of the U.S. There are many examples in the 20th century where a governor used his national guard to enforce his will only to have the president nationalise them so they then fall under federal control.
Now all of that being said. I agree with you that I think if Governor Bush stood firm and told State Law Enforcement to take control of Terri that city and county types would back down rather than risk violence and bloodshed. Governer Bush could declare martial law and use his national guard - I don't think his brother would interfere. However, there is always the wildcard of some prideful sheriff getting stubborn, or city police for that matter. Like I said, these types tend to be extremely territorial.
Whatever, I really doubt this story is true.
Right after he dons his superman outfit. He is a congressman for God's sake. He is very polarizing and has gone as far as he is going to go,and therefore one should not speculate.
"I have to blame the republican legislators who wimped out."
I am definitely more willing to do that. They were more than spineless.
Is this what they call the good ole boys club? I think of it as a mafia.
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