March 24, 2005

Unanswered Issue on Schiavo Case

Posted by William Anderson at March 24, 2005 10:35 AM

While I do agree with much of the Congress (and Republican) bashing that has been going on regarding the Terry Schiavo case, I do fear that we have given too much credit to the Florida courts. Almost all of the posts and LRC articles I have read, including the one today by Jacob Hornberger have declared that (1) the Florida courts got it right, and (2) that the Florida courts were acting within the bounds of law.

That conveniently leaves out the fact that more than a year ago, the Florida legislature intervened into the case, WHICH IS EXACTLY WHAT THE NATION'S FOUNDERS WOULD HAVE WANTED. The Florida courts (which are controlled by the Democrats, something that tells me they are dealing more with politics than the bounds of law) declared the intervention unconstitutional.

I have long been a critic of the overreaching of both Congress and the federal courts. However, on the state levels, we have seen the courts overreaching in much the same way, and somehow the Paleos have seen fit to declare that good. If we are going to speak of the founding of this country and the system of checks and balances, let us remember that the courts were NOT set up as the final authority on the Constitution. John Marshall usurped that power, and while the Congress failed to do something about it, we need remember that the courts originally were not set up as the Great Demigods.

Thus, in the Schiavo case, we seem to conveniently forget that the courts in Florida acted well outside the bounds of their authority. If we are going to praise the courts for their decision to starve an innocent woman to death, perhaps we also need to condemn them for their overreaching behavior.

This is not to condemn Hornberger or the others. Indeed, Congress is acting hypocritically, and I applaud any effort to criticize the behavior of that august body. But I think we need to complete the record in speaking about the role of the courts.


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