Political Battle in Schiavo Case Rages On Fri Apr 1, 9:33 AM ET Politics - AP
By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent
WASHINGTON - In death as much as in life, political controversy surrounds Terri Schiavo. "The actions on the part of the Florida court and the U.S. Supreme Court are unconscionable," Sen. Rick Santorum (news, bio, voting record), R-Pa., said Thursday, attacking judges who repeatedly had refused to order tube-fed nourishment restored to the brain-damaged woman.
"This loss happened because our legal system did not protect the people who need protection most, and that will change," House Majority Leader Tom DeLay added in a statement issued hours after Schiavo's death at a Florida hospice.
"The time will come for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior," said the Texan. DeLay was a driving force behind legislation Congress passed two weeks ago that gave federal courts jurisdiction in an attempt to save Schiavo's life.
Asked later at a news conference about possible impeachment proceedings against judges in the case, DeLay said, "There's plenty of time to look into that."
DeLay complained of "an arrogant and out of control judiciary that thumbs its nose at Congress and the president."
Republican Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record) rejected DeLay's characterization of federal judges on Friday. "I don't agree with it," he said on CBS' "The Early Show."
"But I do believe this issue of judges is a hot issue," said McCain of Arizona. "I don't think the Democrats should be blocking the president's appointments."
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (news, bio, voting record) took stronger exception.
"I'm not sure what Mr. DeLay meant when he said 'the time will come for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior,'" the Massachusetts Democrat said in a written statement. "But at a time when emotions are running high, Mr. DeLay needs to make clear that he is not advocating violence against anyone..."
man, at what point can somebody call out these guys as going REALLY un-American, with the whole "fuck the american laws if they don't do what we want them to this week" bit.
also, it's cute how McCain somehow connected this with blocking judicial nominees, as if the conversative republican judges already in place had something to do with it.
now, couple all that with this one:
Conservative judge blasts Bush, Congress for role in Schiavo case
and this one:
GOP Agenda Conflicting With States' Rights Thu Mar 31, 1:57 AM ET U.S. National - AP
By JIM ABRAMS, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - Republicans who swear by the principle of states' rights are having to make some exceptions when it comes to saving Terri Schiavo, or reining in trial lawyers, protecting the sanctity of marriage and advancing the party's other priorities.
Capping medical malpractice payouts, putting in place President Bush's centerpiece education law and modernizing the election system also are among the GOP goals that, critics say, expand federal powers at the expense of states' rights.
"Our members have raised the alarm" about the tendency of Washington to pre-empt state laws, said Susan Parnas Frederick, who heads the law and criminal justice committee of the National Conference of State Legislatures.
"We obviously feel that there are times when national actions are necessary," she said. But recently, she said, "everything comes down from the federal government whether we like it or not."
Her bipartisan group has put out its first "Pre-emption Monitor" to warn state legislators about federal efforts to usurp their powers.
It mentions two of the Bush administration's proudest accomplishments: the No Child Left Behind Act, which establishes national education testing standards, and the recent law that seeks to restrain lawsuit abuse by allowing class-action suits to be moved from state to federal courts.
In addition, there is the 2002 election law that imposed national standards on the states in such areas as registration and provisional balloting. A 2004 law created federal standards for state-issued driver's licenses and personal identification cards.
On a smaller scale, a law last year pre-empted state concealed weapons laws by giving an across-the-board exemption from those laws for active or retired law enforcement officers.
The states' rights issue gained prominence when Republicans, frustrated by the refusal of Florida state courts to reverse the decision to remove the feeding tube from the brain-damaged Schiavo, rushed through emergency legislation allowing the case to be heard by a federal court.
Lawmakers, aware that such an issue is traditionally left to the states, wrote the bill so that it applied only to the Schiavo case and did not affect the substantive rights of the states.
But the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., also noted that "America's federal courts have played a historic role in defending the constitutional rights of all Americans," including the disabled.
Rep. Mark Souder (news, bio, voting record), R-Ind., was more blunt. Whether it is the right to medical treatment or the basic constitutional right to life, "they all prevail over states' rights."
Rep. Mike Castle, one of only five Republicans to vote against the bill, said that as a former governor of Delaware, "I believe strongly in the sovereignty of states and the integrity of their courts." The Schiavo bill, he said, challenged that legitimacy....
Oh LORD are we in for a fun 2 years...
― kingfish, Friday, 1 April 2005 18:44 (twenty years ago)