10/23/2003
Schiavo law reax: 'grandstanding' and 'mob rule'
Columnists and editorialists react with alarm and loathing to the Legislature's extralegal grandstanding in the Schiavo case:
Columns --
+ Fred Grimm -- Old-time religion trumps science. The folks from Scripps Research Institute, on the cutting edge of scientific research, must have thought that on their way to modern Florida, they had stumbled through a time warp. It was as they had landed, instead, in some isolated, backward place of Bible-thumping politicians, gearing up for a reprise of the Scopes monkey trial.
+ Mary Jo Melone -- Schiavo's life confiscated by agendas of strangers. What happened this week in Tallahassee was a breathtaking display of mob rule.
Editorials
+ NY Times -- Scorning the Courts in Florida. The State Legislature and Gov. Jeb Bush have mocked the courts' careful deliberations and embarked on a ghoulish medical journey by directing that her feeding resume. The courts should reaffirm Ms. Schiavo's right to die in peace.
+ Miami Herald -- Schiavo vote provokes constitutional crisis. The governor and Legislature ... made a mockery of Florida's right-to-privacy and death-with-dignity laws. They did so for no good reason other than to curry political favor with religious-conservative voters in Florida and elsewhere.
+ Fla Today -- Shameful power grab marks Schiavo case. ... political grandstanding in the ugliest sense, with Bush and Byrd eagerly bowing to the right-to-life faction of the Republican Party in a we'll-do-anything hunt for votes.
+ Sarasota Herald-Trib -- In Schiavo action, Bush and Legislature gravely injure the rule of law. The governor and the Legislature in effect tossed out a series of court rulings they didn't like. Floridians should worry about that at least as much as they do over the fate of Terri Schiavo.
+ Gainesville Sun -- Hall of the Gods. Bush and the lawmakers anointed themselves God's own earthly surrogates.
+ Lakeland Ledger -- The Legislature Was Stampeded. The Legislature should have stayed out of it -- and probably would have had House Speaker Johnnie Byrd, R-Plant City, who forced the issue, not been a candidate for the U.S. Senate.
+ Palm Beach Post -- State intervenes illegally in Terri Schiavo case. Terri Schiavo didn't leave a living will, which might have helped. Surely, though, she wouldn't have wanted her condition to be exploited for political show biz.
+ Pensacola News Journal -- Could the state overrule spouse's say either way? There is only one person with the responsibility and right to make it, and that is Michael Schiavo. To have state government assume the authority through exercise of state power is a dangerous precedent.
+ Daytona Beach News-Journal -- Schiavo bill was rash, badly timed. "I hope -- I really do hope -- we've done the right thing," King said as the Senate concluded debate Tuesday afternoon. It was clear from the tone of his voice that he already knew the answer -- and that it was no.
+Sun-Sentinel -- There's a sharp lesson for everyone in the bitter battle over Terri Schiavo: Write a Living Will.
Columns --
+ Fred Grimm -- Old-time religion trumps science. The folks from Scripps Research Institute, on the cutting edge of scientific research, must have thought that on their way to modern Florida, they had stumbled through a time warp. It was as they had landed, instead, in some isolated, backward place of Bible-thumping politicians, gearing up for a reprise of the Scopes monkey trial.
+ Mary Jo Melone -- Schiavo's life confiscated by agendas of strangers. What happened this week in Tallahassee was a breathtaking display of mob rule.
Editorials
+ NY Times -- Scorning the Courts in Florida. The State Legislature and Gov. Jeb Bush have mocked the courts' careful deliberations and embarked on a ghoulish medical journey by directing that her feeding resume. The courts should reaffirm Ms. Schiavo's right to die in peace.
+ Miami Herald -- Schiavo vote provokes constitutional crisis. The governor and Legislature ... made a mockery of Florida's right-to-privacy and death-with-dignity laws. They did so for no good reason other than to curry political favor with religious-conservative voters in Florida and elsewhere.
+ Fla Today -- Shameful power grab marks Schiavo case. ... political grandstanding in the ugliest sense, with Bush and Byrd eagerly bowing to the right-to-life faction of the Republican Party in a we'll-do-anything hunt for votes.
+ Sarasota Herald-Trib -- In Schiavo action, Bush and Legislature gravely injure the rule of law. The governor and the Legislature in effect tossed out a series of court rulings they didn't like. Floridians should worry about that at least as much as they do over the fate of Terri Schiavo.
+ Gainesville Sun -- Hall of the Gods. Bush and the lawmakers anointed themselves God's own earthly surrogates.
+ Lakeland Ledger -- The Legislature Was Stampeded. The Legislature should have stayed out of it -- and probably would have had House Speaker Johnnie Byrd, R-Plant City, who forced the issue, not been a candidate for the U.S. Senate.
+ Palm Beach Post -- State intervenes illegally in Terri Schiavo case. Terri Schiavo didn't leave a living will, which might have helped. Surely, though, she wouldn't have wanted her condition to be exploited for political show biz.
+ Pensacola News Journal -- Could the state overrule spouse's say either way? There is only one person with the responsibility and right to make it, and that is Michael Schiavo. To have state government assume the authority through exercise of state power is a dangerous precedent.
+ Daytona Beach News-Journal -- Schiavo bill was rash, badly timed. "I hope -- I really do hope -- we've done the right thing," King said as the Senate concluded debate Tuesday afternoon. It was clear from the tone of his voice that he already knew the answer -- and that it was no.
+Sun-Sentinel -- There's a sharp lesson for everyone in the bitter battle over Terri Schiavo: Write a Living Will.
