Patterico's Pontifications

5/12/2006

Schiavo (or His Ghost Writer) Blogging at Kos

Filed under: General,Schiavo — Patterico @ 9:53 pm



Michael Schiavo is blogging at Kos. (H/t Malkin.) Or, more likely, his ghost-writer is ghost-blogging there.

Go say hi.

6/21/2005

Michael Schiavo’s Latest: Using Terri Schiavo’s Gravestone to Take a Dig at Her Parents

Filed under: Schiavo,Scum — Patterico @ 6:37 am



There is no evidence that Michael Schiavo is a murderer. There is ample evidence that he is scum. Apparently having failed in his efforts to hide his wife’s remains from her parents, he has done the next best thing. Despite the existence of a court order that he inform the Schindlers of any memorial service, he held the memorial service without informing them, and decorated her gravestone with an inscription specifically designed to serve as a figurative thumb in the Schindlers’ eye, every time they come to visit their daughter:

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6/15/2005

Schiavo Autopsy Released

Filed under: Dog Trainer,Schiavo — Patterico @ 12:39 pm



You can read the autopsy report here. (Link via How Appealing.)

I’ll have to read it later. Here’s what seemed significant to me after a brief lunchtime glance: her brain was half the size it should have been; there is no conclusion as to whether she was in a PVS, as that diagnosis must be made of a living person; she probably could not have learned to swallow on her own; there are indications of “cortical blindness”; it’s unclear whether she suffered from bulimia; she apparently did not have a heart attack; there are no signs of strangulation (though this is based primarily upon medical records and not the pathological examination); and there is no sign of trauma (though here again the report relies heavily on contemporaneous records).

Take a look and tell me what you see.

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5/21/2005

Joan Didion on Terri Schiavo

Filed under: Schiavo — Patterico @ 11:52 pm



Joan Didion has a long article about Terri Schiavo in the New York Review of Books. Anyone unfamiliar with the case should read this lengthy and detailed article. It is a great place to learn the facts the media has largely hidden from you.

It is hard to excerpt — you really should read it all. I’ll quote only a couple of passages that shatter myths you have heard about the case, including many repeated by commenters to this and similar sites:

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5/6/2005

Michael Schiavo: Still a Lowlife

Filed under: Government,Schiavo,Scum — Patterico @ 10:04 pm



Michael Schiavo’s true self is made painfully apparent once again:

MIAMI (AP) — The family of a severely brain-damaged woman who died after her feeding tube was removed in March said Friday they still have not been told where her remains will be laid to rest.

Terri Schiavo’s parents and siblings, who waged a lengthy court battle over her end-of-life wishes, said on Fox’s “Hannity & Colmes” show that her husband is keeping her remains from them.

“They were supposed to tell us, and we still have not heard from … Michael Schiavo where Terri’s been laid,” said Terri Schiavo’s brother, Bobby Schindler. “Our family expected this. Michael has disobeyed court orders throughout the ordeal and continues to do so today.”

Scum.

UPDATE: For those who defend Schiavo: he is violating a court order by this behavior. Details in this earlier post of mine.

4/24/2005

My Position on the Courts and Terri Schiavo

Filed under: Government,Schiavo — Patterico @ 12:03 pm



Recently, someone rarely acquainted with the truth accused me of disagreeing with every lawyer in the country about the Schiavo case. Rather than debate the issue with him, I thought I’d make my position clear here.

First, as regards the initial (pre-Congressional involvement) litigation, I have expressed serious doubts regarding the soundness of the factfinding done by the probate judge — in particular on the topic of Terri Schiavo’s wishes. I have documented one specific and crucial error he made in the factfinding process. Even putting that aside, I just don’t see how the quality of the evidence presented to the probate judge rises to the level of “clear and convincing” — especially given the conflicts of interest Michael Schiavo had.

The state appellate judges simply deferred to the probate judge on that issue, as appellate courts generally do.

As regards the law passed by Congress, I believe that the federal courts were wrong not to re-insert the tube while they considered a constitutional argument that I believe to be strong. I have explained at length my reasons that I believe the courts got it wrong, here. I am joined in this view by two judges from the 11th Circuit, including a highly respected judge named Gerald Tjoflat. I may also be joined in that view by several Supreme Court Justices, since the Court’s decision not to grant certiorari indicates nothing about the Justices’ view of the merits.

My views on the Schiavo case are well-documented. Any honest person who disagrees with my legal analysis of the federal courts’ rulings is welcome to weigh in on the relevant thread (linked above), which has garnered almost 200 comments so far — not one of which has raised a convincing argument that my analysis is wrong. I’m still waiting . . .

4/22/2005

Schiavo Abuse Investigation Documents

Filed under: Schiavo — Patterico @ 2:45 pm



DJ Drummond at Polipundit has links to court records relating to the DCF investigation of claims that Michael Schiavo abused Terri Schiavo. I have not been able to read the reports myself, but DJ has a summary. (Hat tip to Xrlq.)

4/17/2005

A Legal Argument Why the Federal Courts Should Have Granted the Schiavo Injunction

Filed under: Court Decisions,Schiavo — Patterico @ 4:32 pm



The Terri Schiavo case is over, but it continues to have importance to the looming battle over judicial confirmations. For example, in a commentary titled Latest Assault on Judges Threatens Rule of Law, University of Chicago law professor Cass Sunstein argued:

The problem, as the legal battle over Terri Schiavo demonstrated, is that whatever their politics, judges are unlikely to ignore the law. In that case, the law clearly did not authorize federal judges to order Schiavo’s feeding tube reinserted — but some Republicans are outraged that the judges did not have it reinserted anyway.

Sunstein is wrong. The law clearly did authorize federal judges to order Schiavo’s feeding tube reinserted. The courts got it wrong.

The courts’ fundamental error was brushing aside the Schindlers’ meritorious argument that the Due Process Clause of the Constitution requires a showing of clear and convincing evidence for the withdrawal of a feeding tube under these circumstances.

If the Constitution requires a clear and convincing evidence standard, that changes everything. It means that the question whether that standard was met is a federal issue rather than a purely state law issue. And that means that the federal courts were required to take a fresh look at whether the evidence was sufficient under that standard.

I do not believe this means a new evidentiary hearing was required. But, at a minimum, such a determination would require the federal district court to comb through a mountain of transcripts from various proceedings — something Judge Whittemore could not possibly have done in the few hours that he allowed himself to decide the Schindlers’ final claims.

The extended entry discusses the Schindlers’ claim that the federal Constitution requires “clear and convincing evidence” of the patient’s wishes in a case like that of Terri Schiavo. It analyzes how that claim was cavalierly dismissed by the federal courts. It also explains why this was, indisputably, a solid claim that justified the reinsertion of the feeding tube while the merits of the claim were reviewed.

[NOTE: This post is about a legal issue. I welcome any comments about the soundness of my arguments. But any comments that revisit tired arguments about the facts of the Schiavo case will be unceremoniously deleted. You have been warned.]

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Schiavo Original Documents and Testimony

Filed under: Schiavo — Patterico @ 11:32 am



I have discovered a fascinating resource for those still interested in the facts of the Terri Schiavo case. It is a website that contains much original material from the case, including documents and transcripts of testimony that I haven’t seen anywhere else.

There are excerpts of Michael Schiavo’s testimony at the trial over her wishes, here. The excerpts contain all of his direct testimony, and the beginning of the cross-examination. Here are some of the excerpts I found interesting:

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4/7/2005

Schiavo Memo

Filed under: Schiavo — Patterico @ 8:16 am



Power Line has the scoop on the Schiavo “talking points memo.” It turns out that the memo — which was billed as a memo created by and distributed to top GOP officials — was drafted by a staffer to a freshman senator. In a real boneheaded move, that senator (Mel Martinez) gave it to Tom Harkin.

Mike Allen, the reporter who disseminated so much misleading information about the memos, apparently believes he is off the hook. He e-mailed the AP story about the identity of the memo’s author to John Hinderaker, as if that story somehow vindicated him. As Hinderaker makes clear, it doesn’t. Allen is not off the hook.

And Mel Martinez seems to think he’s off the hook as well, because he accepted the resignation of the memo’s author. Mel, Mel, Mel. Staffers write stupid things now and then. That doesn’t bother us. What bothers us is when you distribute it to others.

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