March 30, 2005

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Federal court agrees to hear new Schiavo request (RON WORD, 3/30/05, Associated Press)

In a rare legal victory for Terri Schiavo's parents, a federal appeals court agreed to consider an emergency motion requesting a new hearing on whether to reconnect their severely brain-damaged daughter's feeding tube.

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta issued a written order without comment late Tuesday allowing Bob and Mary Schindler to file the appeal, even though the court had set a March 26 deadline for doing so.

In the one-sentence order, the court said: "The Appellant's emergency motion for leave to file out of time is granted."

The court didn't say when it would decide whether to grant the hearing. Last week, it twice ruled against the Schindlers, who are trying to keep their daughter alive.

In requesting a new hearing, the Schindlers argued that a federal judge in Tampa should have considered the entire state court record and not just the procedural history when he ruled against the parents.

Time was running out for Schiavo, however. Bob Schindler described his daughter as "failing" on Tuesday, her 12th day without nourishment.

"She still looks pretty darn good under the circumstances," Schindler said. "You can see the impact of no food and water for 12 days. Her bodily functions are still working. We still have her."

Posted by Orrin Judd at March 30, 2005 8:17 AM
Comments

What a sick joke.

Posted by: Peter B at March 30, 2005 8:21 AM

For all of their good intentions, the lawyers for Ms. Shiavo's family have not been at all impressive. The grounds for the request for a rehearing-- that the court below did not consider the entire record-- may or may not be persuasive, but there is no excuse for not having included at least a throwaway reference to the issue in the original moving papers, or, even more tellingly, to have to file a request out of time when the March 26 deadline was known 10 days before that.

Posted by: Dan at March 30, 2005 8:57 AM

So it goes from tragedy to farce...

Posted by: Rick T. at March 30, 2005 9:36 AM

It's too late now. Even the most robust and healthiest of persons would have severe health problems after almost two weeks of no water or food.

At this point, she should just be allowed to finish her painful journey and not be yanked back for another round of legal bickering.

The left think they have a winning issue here, but I think it will backfire bigtime especially when her devoted husband branches out into the world made for TV movies and the talk show circuit.

I still can't understand why the MSM is giving his new family a pass. Think of the ratings for Larry King or Oprah if the new "wife" and kids are the featured guests. Something's cooking here and I can't figure out what it is.

Posted by: erp at March 30, 2005 1:26 PM

erp: Or why are they giving Felos a pass? The guy's a loon.

Posted by: b at March 30, 2005 1:59 PM

As the facts become more widely known, there are going to be a number of embarrassed participants in this death.

George Felos won't be one of them.

Posted by: jim hamlen at March 30, 2005 2:32 PM

It appears that the 11th Circuit took this appeal only so it could rectify an mistake-- they forgot to declare the legislation unconstitutional in their earlier ruling. Just when you think that judicial arrogance can't get any lower.

Posted by: Raoul Ortega at March 30, 2005 5:34 PM
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