Terri Schiavo: A law professor weighs in

From Blogs for Terri, an incisive discussion by Elizabeth Price Foley of the weakness of the legal judgment to remove food and water.

On Feb. 11, 2000, Pinellas Circuit Court Judge George Greer determined that there was ''clear and convincing evidence'' that Terri Schiavo would want to disconnect her feeding tube. Once this decision was made, the judicial balance became tilted in favor of withdrawing care to an extent nearly impossible to overcome.

That initial erroneous decision by Greer five years ago has had a snowball effect that has tainted all subsequent judicial proceedings. The Second District Court of Appeal affirmed Greer's decision, concluding, in a disturbingly cursory fashion, that Schiavo's ``statements to her friends and family about the dying process were few, and they were oral. Nevertheless, those statements, along with other evidence about Theresa, gave the trial court a sufficient basis to make this decision for her.''

However, Greer's conclusion that the evidence was ''clear and convincing'' is shocking . . .

The danger of letting this become judicial precedent is huge.