Congress and Schiavo
I suppose I am too old to be surprised by this sort of thing, but I am really quite mortified by the actions being taken in Congress regarding the Terry Schiavo case. It is a nightmare scenario for a states rights libertarian (which is vaguely what I'd call myself), yet the vanguard of this movement is led by those would supposedly champion the importance of federalism and of local government rule, and have spent decades trying to limit access to federal courts!
This case has been completely litigated, through every level of the Florida courts, with appeals to the US Supreme Court, with dozens of rulings on Schiavo's status. Her husband, doctors, and the Florida judiciary all agree on the proper course of action. But just because Congress doesn't like that, they are giving de novo jurisdiction of the case to federal courts, ordering the federal judiciary to completely disregard all of the testimony and decisions that have already been rendered. This is a total abuse of federal power, attempting to reopen a court case by creating new jurisdiction solely to cover these litigants.
The fact that this legislation ONLY applies to the Schiavo case also raises totally separate equal protection problems, and is precisely the type of thing a legislature should not be involved in.
Do I know all the details about this case? No. Do I have a personal opinion on whether the husband is really looking out for his wife's interests? No. What I do have is a confidence in the judicial process of the state of Florida, that after hearing all of the testimony about this case (and not just the particular details beneficial to one side or the other, like on FoxNews), the courts have rendered good and sufficient decisions.
To allow Congress to essentially overturn rendered decisions by creating new federal jurisdiction is a recipe for federal overreach and the destruction of what little state sovereignty still remains. That it is being done by those who normally stake their political livelihood on protection of local power shows that this is political pandering of the absolute lowest kind. I hope people can see through it.
Check out Jack Balkin and Andrew Cohen at CBS News for more.
