ANOTHER DEFEAT FOR SHINDLERS, AND A PLEASANT SURPRISE

Overnight it was announced that a three judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit denied an appeal of a federal district judge's decision in Tampa seeking to have Terri Schiavo's feeding tube reinserted. You can read the decision for yourself here (pdf file). So while their next step in the process is to appeal directly to the United States Supreme Court, which has refused to hear the case twice before. Any emergency appeal would first go to Justice Anthony Kennedy, a Reagan appointee who is said to be moderate in the area of social issues.

It looks as though their best hope at this juncture is to press the Florida Senate to pass legislation which would allow the reinsertion of Terri's feeding tube. Senator Daniel Webster has said he would continue the effort, but he needs to have three of his collegues to change their votes. And today is the last day for the State Senate to meet before the Easter holiday break.

I was rather surprised that two Polk County state senators decided to break from most of their collegues with seven other Republicans in voting against the proposal. J.D. Alexander of Frostproof and Paula Dockery of Lakeland ended up on "Wanted" flyers that were passed around the State Capitol, as they will surely be targeted by right wing activists for voting their consicence. I've had doubts in the past about these two, as I disagree with both on many issues. But I have to give kudos to them here for refusing to have the state interfere once again in what is, bascially, a private matter that belongs in the judicial system.