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For immediate
release: For
more information:
Tuesday, March 22,
2005 Megan
Dillon (202) 626-8825
STATEMENT ON “CLEAR LEGAL ERROR” IN JUDGE
WHITTEMORE’S
FAILURE TO APPLY FEDERAL TERRI’S LAW
This
statement may be attributed to Burke J. Balch, J.D.,
Director of the National Right to Life Committee’s
Judge Whittemore’s ruling refusing to
feed Terri while a full trial is conducted in
federal court flouts the clear intent of Congress in
passing the Federal Terri’s Law. It is based on a
clear legal error which must immediately be reversed
by the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals.
The federal law explicitly instructs the
court, “In such a suit, the District Court shall
determine de novo any claim of a violation of any
right of Theresa Marie Schiavo within the scope of
this Act, notwithstanding any prior State court
determination and regardless of whether such a claim
has previously been raised, considered, or decided
in State court proceedings.”
Despite this, Judge Whittemore’s conclusion that the
Schindlers do not have a “substantial likelihood of
success on the merits” and therefore are not
entitled to a temporary restraining order to feed
Terri is based entirely on his judgment about the
adequacy and accuracy of the state court
proceedings.
There has obviously been no time even to
detail for the federal court the specific
constitutional and federal statutory claims the
statute directs it to hear, let alone to conduct a
trial. The Senators and Representatives who crafted
and voted to enact the Federal Terri’s Law
repeatedly emphasized, during its consideration in
Congress, that it would be inconceivable that a
federal court, directed to conduct a new proceeding
fully to determine Terri’s rights, would not
re-insert the feeding tube for the duration of those
proceedings. The inconceivable has happened, and
obviously should immediately be corrected by the
appellate court.
NRLC is the nation's largest
pro-life organization, with 50 state affiliates and
approximately 3,000 local affiliates nationwide.
NRLC works through legislation and education to
protect those threatened by abortion, infanticide,
euthanasia, and assisted suicide.
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