Posted on 05/02/2005 5:06:09 AM PDT by Quaker
NEW PORT RICHEY - Pinellas- Pasco Circuit Judge George Greer, who was thrust into the national spotlight and scrutinized by pro-life advocates during the Terri Schiavo case, was a consistent judge who followed the law, colleagues say.
His professionalism and integrity was punctuated by the way he handled the Schiavo case, said Alan Scott Miller, a New Port Richey lawyer and member of the West Pasco Bar Association.
As part of Law Week, which kicks off today, the association will award Greer, 63, its Special Justice Award.
``He's getting this award for all of his contributions on the bench, not just the Schiavo case,'' Miller said. ``It's like a lifetime achievement award for an actor.''
Greer will receive the award during a banquet Thursday at the Heritage Springs Golf and Country Club, 11345 Robert Trent Jones Parkway.
For years, Greer presided over the politically and emotionally charged Schiavo case, which ended when the 41- year-old woman died March 31, 13 days after her feeding tube was removed a third time on a court order.
Some doctors said Schiavo was in a persistent vegetative state since suffering brain damage after her heart stopped in 1990.
Her husband, Michael, fought for years to have her feeding stopped, saying his wife didn't want to be kept alive by artificial means.
Her parents, hoping she would recover, fought him in court after court.
Eventually, Florida's governor and Legislature and then Congress took up the battle.
Supporters and detractors watched as Greer made rulings backing Terri Schiavo's purported wishes and received threats on his life.
``I don't think anyone could ever say his decisions were unlawful,'' said Joan Nelson Hook, president of the West Pasco Bar Association. ``They were very thoughtful. His decisions were meticulous.
``We admired his ability to sustain the pressure not to follow the law. ... I think that shows his character.''
Steve Doran, association president-elect, echoed Hook's thoughts on Greer's handling of the Schiavo case.
``His decisions in that unfortunate case withstood the test of every appellate court in the country,'' Doran said. ``Those who are criticizing him are not seeing the big picture.''
When the association voted this month on this year's recipient of the Special Justice Award, the result was almost unanimous for Greer.
``He's a man of integrity. He's followed the flow. He's done an excellent job on the bench,'' said Miller. ``That's why he's getting this award.''
In addition to Greer's award, the Law Week celebration offers events that allow the community to get a closer look at what the West Pasco Bar Association and the law profession are about, Hook said.
``It's an opportunity to interact with all levels of the community,'' she said.
``It's not just about battles; law is a way of life.''
Here are some events:
* Representatives of the association will be at Gulf View Square mall in Port Richey offering free legal advice from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday through Friday.
* All week, 22 lawyers will visit Pasco schools to discuss the law and this week's national theme, ``The American Jury: We the People in Action.''
* The 2nd District Court of Appeal will hold a special session at 10 a.m. Wednesday at the West Pasco Government Center, 7530 Little Road, in county commission chambers.
* Business suits, shoes and accessories will be collected at area law offices for Connections, a not-for-profit organization that helps people looking for jobs.
The following law offices are collecting men's and women's apparel:
The Law Offices of Attridge, Cohen & Lucas, 7136 Little Road, New Port Richey; The O'Conner Law Group, 9735 U.S. 19, Suite 2, Port Richey; Pejot Law, 11911 Pine Forest Drive, New Port Richey; and The Law Offices of Gay & Ehrhardt, 5318 Balsam St., New Port Richey.
Reporter Lisa A. Davis can be reached at (727) 815-1083.
And you, sir, will not impose acceptance of state murder on us. So - you keep your actions about murder to yourself and do not try and get the whole society to think it is wonderful.
What a crock. Fussing over someone who believes in the sanctity of life. What do you believe - the sanctity of murder?
Your whole premise falls apart instantly when these facts are taken in consideration:
Judge Greer ordered that when the tube was taken out, she wasn't to be given any opportunity to take sustenance through her mouth.
Just what 'law' did he base that order on, sir??
Such a lawless requirement made it a certain death warrant, by cruel and unusual means, totally apart from whether you consider a feeding tube to be extraordinary in any way.
But food and water is not the same as a ventilator or a heart and lung machine, and you know it.
Your husband is right. Perhaps he'll foot the bill for psychiatric help. No one "forced" you to obsess over the life and death of Teresa Schiavo - it was your choice. Now you can choose the path of sanity.
Thank you.
It's hard to argue with any of those "wants", but it sure was hard to have someone state them between the fighting and name calling.
I am a caregiver. Mom's had alzheimners for going on 13 years now and for these last 13 years I've been a prisoner of her diesease. But only because I took the responsibility, alone, to care for her. So far I've been able to fend off every single suggestion to institutionalize her, but going into the this second decade and with my own health failing, all of your stated 'wants' adress only leagalities and not medical corrections.
I M H O. , The link between legal & medical answers is what needs to be addressed, clarified and then politically ratified before closure can be achieved on any of this.
Good luck with it. In the mean time, I gotta go play nurse.
Still channeling Matt Conigliaro I see.
Can you give me one documented example of an actual person asking that their feeding tube be removed so they can die of thirst? And don't give me an example of such provisions in a 'living will'. People are ignorantly signing such documents when they don't have a clue what it means to actually find yourself in that circumstance somewhere off in the future. I want a documented case of a living person, concurrently with their condition that necessitates a feeding tube, asking to be starved and dehydrated to death.
By the way, even if such a person exists...and I doubt seriously there could be very many...suicide is still wrong and should not be abetted by our society and our institutions.
You know - you have no right to tell people what they can speak up about. If it bothers your agenda, maybe your agenda is failing anyway.
I notice we have to do without your help on the critical precedents set by the Terri case. I don't hear any of us telling you to be quiet about your own agenda.
God bless you for all you do. I too found myself in that position a couple of times in my life. For one, my daughter had a feeding tube throughout her short life.
No KDD, you may not contract your minor daughetr to be a sex slave. Nor may she contract to kill you for so doing.
Your sloppy legal beagle Matt knows not contract, nor what may so validly be. Yet by his logic you should be able to so contract your daughter, and she in turn to slay you by agency.
Reasoning conservatives? Reasoning conservatives that support Michael's right to kill freely?
Reasoning conservatives that see nothing wrong with the state murdering a non-dying woman. Absolutely think it deserves a pass. Very effective conservative stand in my opinion.
Would this be because you wish the option to "off" those you deem unnecessary or merely because it is just so dang offensive to listen to the outrage caused when the state tore a daughter from her mother's arms and said we have to kill her.
Did you ever ask "WHY SHE HAD TO DIE?" Have you ever questioned the wisdom of laws that allow some people to decide when others must die? Have you ever wondered if possibly this could lead to more and more deaths of bothersome people? Or, is that just the necessity of your conservative view?
Why would you waste your time on a thread about something you have no strong feelings about - other than to call others names or cast aspersions on them?
From what I have seen - there are two camps in FR - those that see the danger in the Terri case and those that cannot see the danger or agree with the precedents set.
Now - just why do you care that others see things different than you?
You're quite right. Interpreting this one case as part of a giant Nazi scheme to annihilate the disabled is irrational, unintelligent and quite pathetic.
No - the fear now is that every disabled person, every elderly person will have to stay away from doctors and will end their days scared to death that doctors, relatives are killing them instead of trying to care for them.
A great transition of American life. So, in my opinion, the aged should just not go to doctors but live out their lives in peace. They will surely live a lot longer.
Hope the hospitals, nursing homes, hospice centers will be able to survive without the disabled, the very sick and the elderly.
Judge Greer et al are no better than Jack Kervorkian. Actually they are worse. Terri's death took two weeks! The longest execution in American history. The autopsy?
Actually, it isn't any of those things.
You need to do a little more research before jumping to that conclusion.
The parallels to how the legal and philosophical base was laid in the 1920's in Germany for euthanasia and what those like Felos and his Hemlock Society compatriots are doing now in America is almost exact...even down to their Orwellian euphemisms.
In fact, their rhetoric today is even more polished and smooth. Felos makes the promoters of the death culture of Germany in the 20's look crude by comparison.
They took advantage of Terri's speech loss. I can't believe this happened in the United States which is supposed to be the best place on earth. My belief system has taken a major blow.
When we have elections in 2006 and 2008, who's going to go to the polls? Empty envelopes are going to the RNC, some with notes inside...Thanks, GOP. Read the Republican Creed sometime and see what you helped with.
You know - you can talk all day long about what mental age Terri was, that she had no brain or whatever. It does not change the fact that we do not kill.
We don't have the authority to judge the worth of other's lives. And, even though we judge it, we sure are not authorized to kill it.
Now, call me radical - but I don't believe it is very wise for man to start on the road to judging other's ability to live on earth. It is cruel, inhuman, and insures that man will seek ever more souls to make judgements on. To me, this is the beginning of horror.
And, it is the beginning of nazism by another name - "I would not want to live like that" judgements, euthanasia, or just plain killing.
And, I have every right to speak up about it. Sorry you think it is radical - but I think you are totally unable to see what is going on here (for whatever reason) or you are in agreement with what is going on in Florida.
I'm not among the ones here who cry "Goebbels" or "Nazi" at the first mention of the Terri Schiavo case.
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