Friday, March 25, 2005
That Schiavo mess.
I have not been blogging about the Schiavo mess in Florida because I am ignorant of the facts and history of the case. But one thing strikes me as interesting.
The U.S. Congress passed a law stating that Schiavo's parents can bring their lawsuit into the Federal courts. Their obvious intent was for the Federal courts to make a full review of the case to protect Schiavo's civil rights.
The judges cannot ignore that directly. So they decided not to order her feeding tubes reinserted, becuase they believe that there is not a strong enough chance that the family will prevail in court to justify this action. So the family has their Congressionally mandated day in Federal court, but Schiavo will be dead so it is irrelevant.
How can Congress write laws that have any value? The judges maybe dead on when they say that there is no chance that the parents will win. But they are completely ignoring the intent of the law as it is written. This is a huge problem.
Whether it is gay marriage, rights to privacy, or Schiavo's civil rights, the judiciary ignores the written law and does whatever it believes is right. Whether you support gay marriage or not, you should be nervous. Unaccountable power is wonderful when it does what you want. But you will understand the unaccountable part of it, when it turns on you.
The U.S. Congress passed a law stating that Schiavo's parents can bring their lawsuit into the Federal courts. Their obvious intent was for the Federal courts to make a full review of the case to protect Schiavo's civil rights.
The judges cannot ignore that directly. So they decided not to order her feeding tubes reinserted, becuase they believe that there is not a strong enough chance that the family will prevail in court to justify this action. So the family has their Congressionally mandated day in Federal court, but Schiavo will be dead so it is irrelevant.
How can Congress write laws that have any value? The judges maybe dead on when they say that there is no chance that the parents will win. But they are completely ignoring the intent of the law as it is written. This is a huge problem.
Whether it is gay marriage, rights to privacy, or Schiavo's civil rights, the judiciary ignores the written law and does whatever it believes is right. Whether you support gay marriage or not, you should be nervous. Unaccountable power is wonderful when it does what you want. But you will understand the unaccountable part of it, when it turns on you.
