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Federal Judge Denies Relief Again

By Jeralyn, Section Court Decisions
Posted on Fri Mar 25, 2005 at 07:40:45 AM EST
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Federal Judge James Whittemore has rejected the Schindler's latest lawsuit to reinsert Terri Schiavo's feeding tube:

In his 11-page ruling, Whittemore wrote that the Schindlers couldn't establish "a substantial likelihood of success on the merits" of their case. He also noted "the difficulties and heartbreak the parties have endured throughout this lengthy process" and praised the lawyers' civility, saying it was "a credit to their professionalism ... and Terri."

How Appealing has the judge's ruling here.

It looks like Jeb Bush is going to come out of this as the hero of the radical right:

Gov. Jeb Bush has ordered his legal team to scour state laws for a way to reconnect Schiavo's feeding tube. There were calls from a supporter of the parents for him to take further action.

Update: The New York Times has more on Jeb Bush's increased political capital resulting from the Schiavo case.

< Did Congress Really Want to Save Terri Schiavo's Life? | Friday Open Thread >

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    Federal Judge Denies Relief Again | 23 comments (23 topical)
    Re: Federal Judge Denies Relief Again (none / 0) (#1)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Mar 25, 2005 at 07:59:27 AM EST
    It looks like they are judge shopping Is it possible for the judge lottery to spin and give them the two judges who might agree or will it go to the same three judge panel and no matter what aren't they going to end up in the same place. How civilized was the parents lawyer when he called her death a murder? The judge told him to knock it off

    Re: Federal Judge Denies Relief Again (none / 0) (#2)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Mar 25, 2005 at 08:03:42 AM EST
    Court order Murder, is the state setting up the mass murder of the old in the future of this non nation? Hell yes why would a government for the people's of the world want to do nothing for its old? think about it people, this poor woman is a trial case, and god help you all. Fight against Bush and this insane system of murder by court order. and jeb bush will do nothing but his normal thing, "talk lies"

    Re: Federal Judge Denies Relief Again (none / 0) (#3)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Mar 25, 2005 at 08:05:31 AM EST
    "To a believing Christian, death is no big deal." Nino "Fat Tony" Scalia, Opus Dei fellow traveler, and...I forget.

    Re: Federal Judge Denies Relief Again (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Mar 25, 2005 at 08:53:48 AM EST
    Fred, methinks you have been listening to Cal Thomas way too much. I don't see you being to terribly upset about all the people this same situation is and has happened to in the last twenty years or so. All of the cases like Terri's that happened in the past didn't create a world where we kill our old through forced euthanasia. Instead we let them die lonely and forgotten in a nursing home. This is a horrible situation for any family to have to deal with, and I know this from experience, but using it as an example of how the government is going to use this to kill the elderly cheapens and exploits the real emotions ALL relevant parties involved are feeling. I feel sorry for the Schindler's, Michael and Terri Schiavo, and our country for the horror that the Republicans have wrought upon it.

    Re: Federal Judge Denies Relief Again (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Mar 25, 2005 at 09:05:45 AM EST
    I have no problem with the ruling in the courts, and feel that the President should have stayed out of it. I do have a problem with the manner of death. I suggest that if starving and dehydration to death is fine for a person innocent and never convicted of a capital crime, maybe we should try it on some prisoners on death row. What do you all think?

    Re: Federal Judge Denies Relief Again (none / 0) (#6)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Mar 25, 2005 at 09:20:12 AM EST
    Oh lord we beseach thee please put us all out of Terry's misery! Amen Note: "They shoot horses don't they" I recommend everyone see it on terry's behalf.

    Re: Federal Judge Denies Relief Again (none / 0) (#7)
    by Kitt on Fri Mar 25, 2005 at 09:50:05 AM EST
    Or at least, 'million $ baby'

    Re: Federal Judge Denies Relief Again (none / 0) (#8)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Mar 25, 2005 at 09:51:30 AM EST
    Where was Randall Terry when nancy Reagan murdered Ron? Why does Pat Robertson think nancy Reagan is a murderer no written health directive Ron has just told his wife what he wanted.... email the new msnbc.com show and ask them why this case is different than Ron and nancy connected@msnbc.com

    Re: Federal Judge Denies Relief Again (none / 0) (#9)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Mar 25, 2005 at 10:14:00 AM EST
    I suggest that if starving and dehydration to death is fine for a person innocent and never convicted of a capital crime, maybe we should try it on some prisoners on death row. What do you all think?
    I think that if it could be shown by clear and convincing evidence in court that that is what the person would choose -- the standard the law applied in this case -- (and, since people on death row are usually capable of answering for themselves, that should be much easier than in this case if it is true), there is no reason of "cruelty" not to allow it, though I expect the right-wing types would consider refusing food and water a suicide that would rob them of the visceral thrill of actively (if vicariously through the agency of the state) killing the convict, which is, after all, the point of capital punishment as retribution, its principal motivation.

    Re: Federal Judge Denies Relief Again (none / 0) (#10)
    by Sailor on Fri Mar 25, 2005 at 10:15:02 AM EST
    The reason they have no recourse except denial of fluids and sustenance is that the feds would go after them if they gave enough meds to hasten the end. God forbid she or any other terminal patient should get addicted. She is medicated, which I bet condemned prisoners would prefer to being paralyzed while killed.

    Re: Federal Judge Denies Relief Again (none / 0) (#11)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Mar 25, 2005 at 10:38:44 AM EST
    The latest lame line from the Republican right talking points is you have to give the parents and their lawyers credit for never giving up and the pet media obediently spits that out -- I don't see where this is a good thing at all --what is the cost to the courts of their persistent in the face of no new information --what was the cost of Bush's round trip airplane ride to sign the bill We are paying for a free ride for the right

    Re: Federal Judge Denies Relief Again (none / 0) (#12)
    by DonS on Fri Mar 25, 2005 at 11:42:02 AM EST
    Wile, you obviously haven't been around dying people. "Starvation" isn't even an issue. Its the misguided attempts to "feed and water" the dying that cause pain. The reference to capital cases is just another winger red herring.

    Re: Federal Judge Denies Relief Again (none / 0) (#13)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Mar 25, 2005 at 12:20:37 PM EST
    I'm an RN in Pinellas and alot of the health care professional are pissed off at the Republican/Government intervention in this case. We here in Florida have been living ith case for 15 years, 7 of them in the court system. It's very troubing that Congress and the President would take action to intervene in this state matter. You know that 3 patients have expired sice the Schivo sag started, all by discontinuing their PEG tubes. They were all African americans whose families couldn't understand the fuss about terri while their loved ones go unnoticed. NOT cool! I heard the parents are appealing to the court in Atlata. What are their chances??

    Re: Federal Judge Denies Relief Again (none / 0) (#14)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Mar 25, 2005 at 12:31:05 PM EST
    Idle question: If the pope's condition worsens, will he get a feeding tube? Intravenous feeding? Respirator? Why? Why not?

    Re: Federal Judge Denies Relief Again (none / 0) (#15)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Mar 25, 2005 at 12:39:56 PM EST
    WAL: NO. The problem is the Bush Administration, period. The problem was not that the parents used every connection they had. Any parent would try anything to save the life of a child. The problem was that they were driven entirely out of touch with reality. They were entirely mistaken on the medical condition of their daughter, based upon the unanimous conclusions of the real experts; too deeply in thrall to an utterly lunatic interpretation of their religion to accept the medical evidence of the awful truth - note the careful phrasing before jumping - ; refused to believe the evidence from multiple sources that Schiavo didn't want to be on life support in this condition; and could not establish that they had any legitimate reason to remove her husband's legal standing under US law. On that last point, Michael Schiavo, who clearly loves his wife, simply wants to honor her last wishes as he understands them. He has good reasons to believe those wishes are to end her life, and the courts agrees. If he didn't feel this so strongly, he had plenty of very good reasons to back out. But it's not the Schindlers who are at fault. It is the truly insane opportunism of the Bushes' and DeLays and Terrys and all the rest of the whole sick crew who egged the Schindlers on and on beyond all human decency. Don't lose focus. It's the Bush administration and their goons who are to blame and only them.

    Re: Federal Judge Denies Relief Again (none / 0) (#16)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Mar 25, 2005 at 01:05:05 PM EST
    No sympathy for the parents they invoked godwinism and compared her to a concentration camp victim. And now they are back in the Fla courts again --they are just court and judge shopping They have no respect for the husband and zero respect for their own daughter and her rights --they are on record saying it wouldn't have mattered if she had a written health care directive they would not have honored her wishes. They manufactured an ethical crisis where one did not exist to force their view on their adult child

    Re: Federal Judge Denies Relief Again (none / 0) (#17)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Mar 25, 2005 at 03:09:00 PM EST
    Now the parents are claiming when they took the tube out she said I want to live the only witness is a lawyer for the parents

    Re: Federal Judge Denies Relief Again (none / 0) (#18)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Mar 25, 2005 at 03:32:50 PM EST
    Re Jeb: Nagourney doesn't get it at all. Religious conservatives will hate him forever if he doesn't find a way to force the tube back into Terri Schiavo. World O'Crap has been rounding up the denunciations -- go here and here.

    Re: Federal Judge Denies Relief Again (none / 0) (#19)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Mar 25, 2005 at 04:37:55 PM EST
    DonS: Obviously. So you would not mind going the way of Ms. Schiavo as long as no one offers any food or water? So you have no problem with using it in capital cases as a form of execution? It would only be cruel and inhuman if the person was taunted with the promise of food and water.

    Re: Federal Judge Denies Relief Again (none / 0) (#20)
    by Jlvngstn on Fri Mar 25, 2005 at 05:22:43 PM EST
    sure wile as long as the inmate is as brain dead as terri.

    Re: Federal Judge Denies Relief Again (none / 0) (#21)
    by DonS on Sat Mar 26, 2005 at 05:53:12 AM EST
    Wile, you are correct. I have been present for days at the passing of several relatives, including mother-in-law and sister-in-law. I repeat, "starvation" is not an issue. Pain, from related or unrelated processes is well managed with morphine. You do not seem to honor the fact of natural disease processes and death. Nor, of course, do those perhaps well meaning protesters who have taken Ms. Schiavo's cause to grind their very narrow axes even sharper. Why you insist on dragging the red herring of capital punishment in I have no idea. But if you insist, I would by far prefer to die in such a manner. By your reasoning it would also be cruel and unusual to withold pain medication. But since I believe all capital punishment is cruel and unusual I don't even know why I am responding.

    Re: Federal Judge Denies Relief Again (none / 0) (#22)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Mar 26, 2005 at 08:16:55 AM EST
    the system wants her dead for a good reason, it sets up the coming millions of old for death by order of the Judge, see 1933 hitler.

    Re: Federal Judge Denies Relief Again (none / 0) (#23)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Mar 26, 2005 at 10:12:13 AM EST
    Load - "And now they are back in the Fla courts again --they are just court and judge shopping" Please get your facts straight. The only court they can go to is Judge Greer, and the Federal Appeals. Fred D - I am concerned. You're starting to make sense.

    Federal Judge Denies Relief Again | 23 comments (23 topical)