There a saying among lawyers that hard cases make bad law.
The Schiavo case also makes for bad politics.
There will be an effort to federalize many issues which have no reason to be considered either by Congress or the federal courts. The State courts have acted properly. There is no reason to second-guess them. The popular notion that the Florida state judicial system is incompetent, etc., is purely fictional.
The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the Trial Court's detailed findings, which were denied review by the Florida Supreme Court. The Second District said this:
The evidence is overwhelming that Theresa is in a permanent or persistent vegetative state. It is important to understand that a persistent vegetative state is not simply a coma. She is not asleep. She has cycles of apparent wakefulness and apparent sleep without any cognition or awareness. As she breathes, she often makes moaning sounds. Theresa has severe contractures of her hands,elbows, knees, and feet.
Over the span of this last decade, Theresa’s brain has deteriorated because of the lack of oxygen it suffered at the time ofthe heart attack. By mid 1996, the CAT scans of her brain showed a severely abnormal structure. At this point, much of her cerebral cortex is simply gone and has been replaced by cerebral spinal fluid.
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I have no interest in seeing Congress spend taxpayer dollars in setting up a law that is meant to apply to one person.
I have no interest in seeing the federal courts be used to further the the political considerations involved. These include Jeb Bush's presidential prospects and Florida's seemingly permanent status as a critical swing state.
I have no interest in seeing Congress give the federal courts the right to second guess state courts on issues which are uniquely a matter of state law.
If there has been a judicial lapse, it is up to the Florida Supreme Court to deal with it, not a a federal court.
The problem with the federaliztion of this state matter is that we open up the door for Congress to be asked to federalize similar cases. Because Congress is a political animal, it will be tempted to act, thereby turning it into a Town Hall. It will inevitably enlarge the jurisdiction of the federal courts to deal with all manner of issues which are of purely local concern. |
