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.
YOU are VICIOUS!
Yep. It's very sad.
Most parents would be inside, holding their daughter's hand.
They are culpable in this spectacle.
Yes, they are.
To back that up, COngress should slap a contempt of Congress since Terri was ordered before them 3/28 and it was expected before that to have her tube back in.
I agree, Greer is clearly in contempt of Congress and that in itself should be ample grounds for impeachment.
I don't think Greer is an activist judge. Felos and Schiavo outlawyered the Schindlers, and Greer ruled on what Felos and the Schindlers' counsel presented. Felos did a better job, so he won.
That's why no other court has agreed to review this case . . . they think Greer followed procedure. I think, given the relative mental midgetry of the Schindlers' legal team, they're right.
The punishment of impeachment hardly fits the crime. Greer is not guilty of judicial misconduct, he is guilty of murder. Justice would require that he be tried, convicted and executed.
Have we gotten to the point where you are afraid to exercise your first ammendment rights and state your views for fear of judicial reprisal? What's next, death squads?
Also, to continue to illicit help for Terri and get the TRUTH out, the SCHINDLERS have HAD to keep this very public.
But please don't let me disturb your twisted, warped and UGLY thoughts about some VERY FINE and COURAGEOUS people.
He orders the Police to keep a mother from feeding the starving daughter in front of her.
Would I call him an activist judge? No! Why? He is a murderous Judge! A murderer in robes.
Yes with the three armed sheriff's deputies hovering over them to make sure they don't provide her even a drop of water or lotion for her parched lips. How touching.
You are obviously more aware of the situation than I. I was led to believe that visitation by the Schindlers with their child was at the sufferance of her "husband".
Of the crime of what?
Their daily pleas in front of the camera are grandstanding. The courts have spoken. Jackson has hugged them. The end is near and their thoughts should be with Terri, and attending to her. Pleading on camera does nothing to change another dismissal in the courts... that is the lawyer's business. This has all become unseemly.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.