Posted on 03/30/2005 4:43:51 PM PST by wagglebee
A spokesman for the family of Terri Schindler Schiavo said Wednesday the Florida judge presiding over her case "ignores the state’s laws and orders the premeditated killing of a disabled Florida woman by her husband."
Pamela Hennessy, media director for the Terri Schindler-Schiavo Foundation, in a press release Wednesday called on disability and eldercare advocates to press for Circuit Judge George Greer’s "immediate impeachment."
"If there is a single person following this who doesn’t believe Judge Greer has legislated from the bench, trampled Florida’s laws and deprived Terri Schiavo of her retained rights, they are simply not paying attention," Hennessy said in a statement.
According to the foundation’s press release, on Tuesday and Wednesday Greer issued three orders that the foundation said all but assures Schiavo’s death. First, Greer ordered that the family may not introduce oral nutrition and hydration following the removal of Terri’s gastric feeding tube.
The foundation pointed out that Florida Statute 744.3215 (Rights of Persons Determined Incapacitated) requires that incapacitated people cannot be deprived of food and water.
"Ordering that Terri Schiavo may not receive nutrition or hydration naturally is against the law, in the opinion of the Foundation," it said in a statement.
Second, according to the foundation, Greer ruled that no further neurological tests may be conducted on Terri, using functional MRI to determine if she is in a "persistent vegetative state," as Greer found in 2002, or if Terri is "minimally conscious."
The foundation pointed out that Florida Statute 765.404, which defines persistent vegetative state, requires that the condition be determined and diagnosed as permanent prior to the withdrawal of life-prolonging means. Also, Florida Statute 765.309 prevents mercy killing and assisted suicide.
The foundation said that unless the "true neurological condition of Terri Schiavo" was determined prior to the removal of the feeding tube, Greer’s order amounts to "a directive for her guardian to commit either a mercy killing or assisted suicide."
And third, "Greer denied an order from a judgment based on his error in dismissing pertinent testimony in 2000 that would assist the court in determining Terri Schiavo’s true end of life wishes," the foundation added.
It pointed to Florida Statute 765.404, which says that clear and convincing evidence of the ward’s intent for medical treatment must be established.
"The only evidence in support of removing Terri’s feeding tube was the self-serving hearsay testimony of her guardian (which is not admissible under FS 90.602) and hearsay from two members of his immediate family," the foundation said.
"Greer systematically ruled that testimony from Terri’s friends and family was unreliable or not credible. His failure to consider all evidence of Terri Schiavo’s attitude towards life-prolonging measures, in the Foundation’s opinion, is a clear violation of Florida Statutes," it concluded.
I think impeaching Greer would send a strong message to activist judges all over the country.
An impeachment will not happen. Too many people want this to just go away.
Someone needs to take the Schindlers and get them some grief counseling.
I'm not defending the judge in any respect. I will not state my opinion of this case.
But these people are really hurting and someone should help them.
Right now, the focus should be on their daughter.
Impeachment of Greer would send a strong message, but it won't happen because not even 50% of the Floriduh legislature could agree to save Terri from his inequitable death sentence. Not impeaching him will send a strong message that activism on the bench is valued by Floriduh society.
Of course anything else that happens to this so called advocate of blind justice should be fair game!
Impeach, convict, and remove bump
We need judicial impeachments to be a normal part of our political life until balance is restored.
'Something' better damn well be done, or it will happen again and again -- until something IS done!
Which political party do the Schindlers vote for? Anybody curious?
No. The Schindlers must continue to grieve for the cameras. The MSM needs to be fed it's sound-bites daily, don'tcha know?
Yet, Jeb Bush and George Bush and others would have "broken the law" to save Terri's life?
And don't argue that "two wrongs do not make a right" while one "right" would have fixed this parade of "wrong". Because it's "law", doesn't make it right. Saving an innocent life is always right.
Activists should have argued this from the getgo, but instead fell for the old liberal 'new law' trick "Hey, the legislature should write a new law to bring before the same judiciary that screwed us to begin with, one that only applies to this case, and doesn't change the substantive law that allowed the judge to do this, either!" Are there ANY cynics in the pro-life activist community with LEGAL TRAINING that couldn't see this coming?
Now we have "aw, let's just get this over with" from the legislature and Congress, and Bush says his hands are tied. Those legislators that were SOOOOO pro-life and SOOOO helpful before are suddenly unreceptive, and the executive can't do diddly because the judges will stop him regardless.
SURPRISE!
It's all a lawyer game. And it will continue to be, regardless of how many people argue this should be Jeb's Andrew Jackson moment, because Jeb Bush will not go down in history as Orville Faubus, which he knows the press would paint him as. Next time--and there will be a next time--the pro-life movement will know better, and hopefully won't bother with worthless law but will be smart enough to use public opinion to change the judiciary that caused this problem.
Until it happens to those who "wanted it to go away".
The "impeachment" of Greer needs to come at the ballot box. My understanding is, that this guy got his judgeship from people simply going in to the voting booth, and just giving a "no brain" vote. The importance of local elections get overlooked, every year. No one gives them a thought until they realize they have elected a bozo or a crook. I love the way they (MSM) keep pointing out that Greer is a Republican. From what I read, it looks like he became one simply to get elected, and once he got his power, others were afraid to oppose him. Not voting Republican in the future because of this awful story, is hardly a solution. Paying more attention to who is getting your vote locally, is one. Beat Greer in the Republican primary!
There's a lot of shuffleboard playing AARP members/geezers down there that might be next...
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