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Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Where To Place The Blame...
More thoughts on the Terri Schiavo case.
Yeah, Michael's a dweeb. He's wanted her to die for years, if the anecdotal evidence is to be believed. The judge is incompetent, dismissing some hear-say while allowing other. Terri never put her wishes in writing, so, in a way, she shares a bit of the blame (although, in her defense, 99% of people in their 20s think they'll somehow cheat death, so she's not alone in this.) But that's not who I look to cast some of the blame.
Look at the federal rulings (let's ignore Greer's findings for a while). Here's what the appeals courts said:
Consistently, the parents' lawyer has failed to make their case. He has to convince the judges that they have a good chance of winning the case, in order to establish the injunction. That is the law- it's the way it has to be. And he has consistently not done that.
This is horrible, tragic. And there is plenty of blame to go around.
Yeah, Michael's a dweeb. He's wanted her to die for years, if the anecdotal evidence is to be believed. The judge is incompetent, dismissing some hear-say while allowing other. Terri never put her wishes in writing, so, in a way, she shares a bit of the blame (although, in her defense, 99% of people in their 20s think they'll somehow cheat death, so she's not alone in this.) But that's not who I look to cast some of the blame.
Look at the federal rulings (let's ignore Greer's findings for a while). Here's what the appeals courts said:
In a 2-1 ruling early Wednesday, a panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta said the parents "failed to demonstrate a substantial case on the merits of any of their claims" that Terri's feeding tube should be reinserted immediately.By design, the courts are limited in what they can do. They have to look at the law, not what is the right thing to do. They can't legally, from the Bench, go beyond what the law says to what it should say.
"There is no denying the absolute tragedy that has befallen Mrs. Schiavo," the ruling said. "We all have our own family, our own loved ones, and our own children. However, we are called upon to make a collective, objective decision concerning a question of law."
Consistently, the parents' lawyer has failed to make their case. He has to convince the judges that they have a good chance of winning the case, in order to establish the injunction. That is the law- it's the way it has to be. And he has consistently not done that.
This is horrible, tragic. And there is plenty of blame to go around.
