"What took so long for the attorneys to get this before the appeals court?"
I think that after 24 denials they may have just felt "why bother", maybe after all the ruckus about how the court erred in their interpretation of the statute, the court decided to look again...no matter how you look it it, at least we have another couple chances here, now Terri needs to hold on and we need to pray for her to gain strength rather than lose it..LORD GIVE HER SOME OF MY ENERGY, with each drink I take and every bit of food I eat, please strengthen and nourish Terri!
Hewitt's dang archives are down!
I had to search around awhile, but I found his excellent analysis of Judge Whittemore's erroneous ruling last week.
EXCERPT:
It was clearly the intention of Congress that Terri receive nutrition and hydration throughout the course of a "de novo" trial on the merits of her claim. Her parents could well lose that trial and subsequent appeals, but the Florida legislature might also act in the interim. The judge rushes through his part in this drama and punts to the 11th Circuit, which would have been fine by me if he had resumed nutrition and hydration.
But he didn't. Citing case law having to do with other settings in which injunctive relief has been sought and denied is another sideshow. Tom Delay, in the Sunday press conference where this was announced, stressed that the legislation had been crafted to get Terri back on hydration and nutrition pending a de novo review of the facts in federal court. Judge Wittemore is wrong to rely on other precedents when the Congress gives such an explicit charge.
At a minimum, Judge Wittemore ought to have ordered resumption of hydration until the 11th Circuit and, if necessary, Supreme Court appeals are heard. Convicted felons don't get executed until all the appeals are heard. Their executions are stayed even when they haven't got a prayer of a chance of success. Not so in this setting. And that is what is so shocking.
Several voices have been raised against the action of the president and the Congress, and bogus opinion polls circulated. Fine. Anyone who wants to run for office on the basis of that position is welcome to do so.
But it is a wholly different matter when a court simply ignores the obvious intent of an overwhelming majority of the Congress and the agreement of the president. Once again we have on display a judiciary that has grown contemptuous of the directly elected branches. When the Senate returns, the clash over judges will commence again, and proponents of nominees who understand that it is the role of judges to apply the law as intended by Congress will have another powerful example of why such nominees are so needed on the bench.
http://straightupwsherri.blogspot.com/2005/03/hugh-hewitt-in-spirit-of-pontius.html