Sunday, December 05, 2004
Prof Destro seeks cert
I knew that Prof. Destro of our own CUA CSL was involved in the Florida case over Terri Schiavo, the brain-damaged woman whose husband (against the wishes of her parents) wants to disconnect life support. Destro is a Catholic's Catholic, and was involved in the case on issues of the right to life of disabled persons. (No one has ever explained to me why the extraordinary means being used to keep Schiavo alive are morally required on Catholic principles, but there is a (to me, unexplained) groundswell of Catholic support for the unfortunate woman's parents.)
I also knew that the Florida Sup Ct resolved the case on the particular brand of separation of powers contained in the Florida Constitution. So it seemed to me that the case was over. Apparently, Destro is not giving up yet. Destro is the counsel of record for Gov. Jeb Bush, and filed a cert. petition asking for review of the case. The cert. petition can be found at http://www.terrisfight.org (cert. pet. here).
This seems odd to me, and in no way required to fight the good Catholic fight. Catholic principles about moral action may be implicated by the unplugging of life support; they are not implicated by Florida's form of separation of powers. I share the sceptical view of Lyle Denniston over at SCOTUSblog.
(I do, however, find it interesting that Denniston suggests that Destro's reputation may be a basis for Sup Ct interest in the case.)
I also knew that the Florida Sup Ct resolved the case on the particular brand of separation of powers contained in the Florida Constitution. So it seemed to me that the case was over. Apparently, Destro is not giving up yet. Destro is the counsel of record for Gov. Jeb Bush, and filed a cert. petition asking for review of the case. The cert. petition can be found at http://www.terrisfight.org (cert. pet. here).
This seems odd to me, and in no way required to fight the good Catholic fight. Catholic principles about moral action may be implicated by the unplugging of life support; they are not implicated by Florida's form of separation of powers. I share the sceptical view of Lyle Denniston over at SCOTUSblog.
(I do, however, find it interesting that Denniston suggests that Destro's reputation may be a basis for Sup Ct interest in the case.)
# posted by Anonymous : 1:41 AM
