Judicial comment sets Crist apart

St. Petersburg Times ^ | July 31, 2005 | STEVE BOUSQUET

[amdgmary]

TALLAHASSEE - It was one of the shortest speeches of Charlie Crist's career, but as a campaign for governor unfolds, it may prove to be one of the most memorable.

Two weeks ago, the Republican attorney general and candidate for governor gave a late-night speech to a roomful of lawyers in Miami where he referred to the judges in the Terri Schiavo case as "heroes."

Crist insists he wasn't endorsing court rulings that prevented the brain-damaged woman's feeding tube from being reconnected, but critics view it differently. And by appearing to break his silence in the Schiavo case, Crist has sharpened the contrast between himself and Republican rival Tom Gallagher, who has said he favored government action to "prevent Terri's starvation."

At the dinner in Miami, Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge George Greer and U.S. District Judge James Whittemore of Tampa were honored as jurists of the year by the Florida chapter of ABOTA, the American Board of Trial Advocates. The group champions judicial independence and its members are lawyers who represent both plaintiffs and defendants.

Greer is the judge who ordered Schiavo's feeding tube removed, rejecting a subpoena from Congress and pleas from Gov. Jeb Bush, and Whittemore also denied emergency requests to reinsert the tube in the weeks before Schiavo died March 31. Both men's decisions were later upheld by higher courts, and both were praised and vilified by opposing sides of the emotionally charged end-of-life case.

Crist said he was "proud" of both judges.

"You are heroes to all of us, and your defense of the judiciary and what is right is beyond admirable," Crist was quoted in the Daily Business Review, a Miami newspaper that provided the only news account of the July 15 event at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables.

In an interview, Crist did not dispute the quotations. Nor did he offer a view of whether he agreed with their decisions. Rather, he said, he praised them for fulfilling their constitutional duty to provide checks and balances against the other two branches of government.

"I try to say nice things about judges. I'm sure I was complimentary," said Crist, who as the state's chief legal officer often speaks at bar-related events. "I didn't talk about any specific case. ... It's important that those checks and balances exist. Our system of government needs to have that."

Crist's comments have resonated far beyond the Biltmore.

"Judge Greer is a poster child for everything that's wrong with the judiciary," said Gary Cass, executive director of the Center for Reclaiming America, a grass roots Christian political group in Fort Lauderdale that lists "sanctity of life" as one of its priorities and plans to form a political action committee.

"For Charlie Crist to hold that up as an example of good judicial practice concerns me," Cass said. "I think it was a mistake for Charlie to say that. I don't know how anybody can be happy about a woman being deprived food and water."

Rep. Dennis Baxley, the Republican from Ocala who sponsored legislation last spring to force the tube to be reconnected, said Crist's speech was revealing.

"I think it is one of those very important moments for us to know where he (Crist) stands," Baxley said. "I truly believe there's a lot of people out there who were sensitive to this case who are going to find those comments, and that association, very instructive. I'm understanding where people line up on this."

Baxley said that while Crist was "conspicuously absent" from the Schiavo debate in the Legislature, Gallagher sent Baxley a personal letter of support last spring. While activists in the Schiavo debate take aim at Crist, his Republican rival Gallagher is not.

"Tom's made his position very clear in the past. There's really no comment we're going to make on that," said David Johnson, a Gallagher adviser.

Polls show a majority of Americans agreed with the judges' decisions to order the removal of Schiavo's tube, as her husband, Michael, said she wanted. By a greater margin, polls show people were opposed to Congress' intervention in the case.

But to those who view the long-running Schiavo saga as a test case of support for the sanctity of life - like abortion - Greer and Whittemore are "judicial activists" who starved a woman to death.

Many of those people can vote in the Republican primary for governor in September 2006. Crist's stand on the Schiavo case could prove to be an asset if he wins the GOP nomination and faces a Democrat. But one Republican strategist said the damage has been done.

"Schiavo killed the Republicans. They've lost the women's vote," said Matt Towery, an ex-Republican legislator who now runs an Atlanta media and polling firm. "It's one of those turning points that you just can't get away from."

[Lancelot Jones]

Far be it for me to disagree with the illustrious Mr. Buckley, but the Elian Gonzalez analogy does not apply here.

In the case of the young Mr. Gonzalez, existing laws which would have surely given him a fighting chance at remaining in the U.S., were abrogated by force of government; all that the free Elian supporters wanted was a fair day in the State family Court, then a fair day in the Federal Court, but the forceful transfer of custody via the infamous raid decided the question of custody via the use of force, and without a paternity test.

The law was ignored by the Clinton Administration.

In another case, the Lawrence v. Texas case, the outcome of which effectively negated all sodomy laws in the United States, conservatives cried judicial activism when the Court struck down a duly enacted law down based on how they "felt" about the issue of same-sex sodomy, and conservatives were right.

In the case of Bush-Gore, conservatives/Republicans argued that the rule of law was more important that determining the intent of each and every voter, and that the elections needed to be certified according to existing State law. The Supreme Court agreed, and they were right in doing so.

As a movement, conservatives in general, and Republicans specifically, cannot argue on this subject out of both sides of the mouth, and they certainly cannot demand that Courts rule in some cases according to how they "feel" about the particular issue, rather than how existing law applies to it, while demanding that the rule of law be upheld when the outcome favors their opinion of the case.

That would make them no different than liberals and Democrats.

Beauseant!

[8mmMauser]

It's about Crist, but I am reminded of what happens to handicapped people in prominent families of our "leaders". I was reflecting on poor Terri as I came across this item in another thread about Mary Jo.

This is about how mildly retarded Rosemary was made into a "PVS" by the wonderful Kennedy family.

Rosemary Kennedy

8mm

[T'wit]

>> Does this young woman look retarded to you?

Brain dead. Nobody "in there." Flat EEG, heart attack, all the usual. A tragedy for everyone on both sides of the issue, but the patient must be put to death.

[T'wit]

Another bioethics "hard case"

This young woman went out with a lowlife and ended up brain dead in suspicious circumstances. Hypoxia/anoxia leading to cardiorespiratory arrest. Flat EEG and all that. The coroner ruled it "accidental" so no charges were brought against her killer.

[8mmMauser]

Ahhhhh...those compassionate Kennedy's. Their methods are so......direct.....

Freeman and his associate drilled a hole in her skull and inserted a sort of spatula into her brain and began digging. They asked her to sing simple songs and perform basic addition and subtraction. As long as she could recite the doggerel, and handle third-grade arithmetic, they kept digging. Finally, though, Rosemary Kennedy fell silent, and the operation was over.

8mm

[8mmMauser]

Teddy Bare

[T'wit]

Unsolved brain deaths reported in Fall River, Massachusetts.

Lizzie Borden's father was struck forty-one times times by an axe in an unfortunate hunting accident. Her stepmother was struck forty times. In both cases, cardiac arrest, flat EEG, all that stuff. You know, houseplants. We asked eminent bioethicist Dr. Ronald McDonald Cranford what he thought about the 79 axe blows after the first axe blows. He said, "You can't be too careful with PVS patients."

[8mmMauser]

Borden, Freeman, Felos, pioneers all....

[T'wit]

Historic rugby helmet may have prevented brain death in at least some unexplained collapses and unfortunate hunting accidents. Unfortunately, Fall River brain death victims were not wearing their helmets at the time the time they suffered their mysterious brain cessations.

Obviously, bioethicists don't want people wearing these things. Dries up their business.

[floriduh voter]

Ping. Meekie, can you ping your Fla list for me? This is the Terri August 2005 Daily Thread. They can return if they want throughout the month. No pressure here. Thanks, FV

[floriduh voter]

Welcome to the August Terri Dailies Thread.

Charlie Crist's remarks are developing into his worst campaign nightmare.

Other breaking news re: justice for Terri and the fight against forced exit here will be added throughout August and feel free to help us.

Fregards, FV

[tutstar]

I've been so busy lately!

A few weeks ago the pubs in Sen King's district got a color mailer paid for by the Republican Party to remind us of the tax break week for back to school items.

Did anyone else receive one of these from their Senator?
I'm wondering....

[T'wit]

Breaking news: possible bioethics case reported. This houseplant has a flat EEG and all that stuff and is in a persistent vegetative state from bulimia, a "thud," iced tea and failure to wear her steel rugby helmet. Fortunately she feels no pain. It's past time for her to go to a More Beautiful Place and we don't mean Pinellas County.

[T'wit]

Aye aye, suh. Time to get back to business. I'll stop having fun now :-)

[8mmMauser]

Close out pinged from

July Terri Dailies thread

8mm

[STARWISE]

What a stunning and revealing remark by Crist ... he has now stamped himself with an unforgettable remark and mark. Quite an uphill fight he has.

[amdgmary]

TEJ has an editorial on Charlie Crist

[8mmMauser]

Sounds like Crist has a little problem of credibility on his hands.

Gary Cass, executive director of the Center for Reclaiming America, says that “Judge Greer is a poster child for everything that’s wrong with the judiciary. For Charlie Crist to hold that up as an example of good judicial practice concerns me. I think it was a mistake for Charlie to say that. I don’t know how anybody can be happy about a woman being deprived food and water”.

8mm

[pickyourpoison]

"I always do insert the word "fishwrap"

I'm in Polk County, and when the Lakeland Ledger contacts me I tell them the same thing...liberal fishwrapper

[floriduh voter]

Thanks! I hope TEJ socked it to Crist.