Schiavo Law Is Test For Divesting Federal Courts Of Abortion Jurisdiction

[Floogeldy]

If the Schiavo law holds up to legal challenges, and the precedent is set that Congress has the power to tinker with the jurisdiction of Federal courts based on "protecting life," then the next thing they will do is divest Federal courts of jurisdiction to hear challenges to, and appeals from, state anti-abortion laws and cases.

I have a strong suspicion this is what the fundies are up to.

[RPM]

1. good call

i think you may have it...

[Dulcinea]

20. We have a winner! *ding*ding* eom

[Walt Starr]

2. DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING DING!!!!!

Good call!

[Warpy]

19. That's exactly what this attack on the separation of powers

is all about. The USSC is going to have to step in at some point, or accept the fact that they've just done themselves out of a job by declaring themselves irrelevant.

I will not be voting to return my Dem Senator in two years. He no longer deserves the office.

[GodlessBiker]

3. Wait...

They want to give jurisdiction to federal courts over some "right to life" issues and take it away with other issues. Is that the gist of it?

[Floogeldy]

6. Yes

Once it is established Congress has the power to alter jurisdiction in this area, the power will extend to giving or taking away.

[Walt Starr]

14. Jane Roe has become a fundie and is seeking to have Roe Vs. Wade overturne

If the SCOTUS doesn't allow it, Congress could use this law as a precedent to give an entirely new hearing to the Roe case and push it back to the 5th circuit court of appeals.

[ClarkUSA]

4. Democrats will never go along with it the way they went along with this

[Walt Starr]

9. Democrats are a minority

Now think of a Senate where the nuclear option has been played.

[grumpy old fart]

5. Exactly. The whole "culture of life" has one aim-Ban Abortion......

that is exactly what this whole charade is about. Period. This is the toe in the door the Talibush have been looking for.

[Corgigal]

7. Sure is

They certainly don't give a flip about any disabled people, unless some rich jackass found a way to make income off of them. This isn't about Schiavo at all.

[KharmaTrain]

8. And To Interfere With Marriage...

If Michael Schiavo loses the power of attorney and custody of Terri, this means any crazy relative or other third party (who says blood has to be involved here) to step in with some goofy lawyers and judges; using federal courts to supercede state laws regarding marriage and custody issues.

Citing this "exception" (and how long do these exceptions remain that way???) lawyers can throw federal suits and they have to be heard (equal protection) and then the federal could over-rule a state court and overturn any ruling from child custody to community property to issuance of benefits and so on.

Yes, the abortion, anti-choice goons are driving this engine, but I don't see how this specific legal case goes to overturn Roe V. Wade, as that's already a federal case and, if anything, these charlatans want this issue returned to the states where they can squash it where they haven't on the federal level.

Maybe someone can connect dots here for me.

[Floogeldy]

16. Article III, Section 2 of the Constitution

" . . . . In all the other Cases before mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make."

If Congress divests the Supreme Court of jurisdiction to hear constitutional challenges to state anti-abortion laws, the Court will never have the opportunity to rule that a state anti-abortion law is unconstitutional based on Roe v. Wade.

[kbm8170]

27. Welcome to the world of same-sex couples

Except usually they don't even have a fighting chance.

[w4rma]

10. I don't think its anything so complex. I think they're just power hungry

whackos, who got into power by blatantly lying and smearing and accepting bribes, who have no idea of how the Constitution works and have no interest in following it.

[denverbill]

11. This may come back to bite them in the ass.

If they are arguing that the preservation of life through medical intervention is such a sacred right that federal intervention is justified, why can't a poor mother with no access to funds force the federal government to pay for medical care for an experimental procedure to save her child? It could basically force the government to adopt a universal health care system.

[Norquist Nemesis]

12. Yep! Just said pretty much the same thing on another thread

Not that precisely, but that it's really about the abolish abortion goal.

[Floogeldy]

21. Sorry I missed your thread

B-)

[cookiebird]

13. You're spot on

Thanks for articulating an idea I've wondered about. This makes a helluva lot of sense, given the rabid nature of the RW devotion to this whole sad, sorry situation.

[killbotfactory]

15. Yep. and if they can claim that a person with no brain...

can laugh and talk and responds to stimuli, etc... Gosh, abortion sure looks barbaric! What does science know?

[Avalux]

17. Not just abortion -

anything. They want to cripple the judicial branch and be able to pull rank over any federal case.

[The Magistrate]

18. You Are Quite Right, Sir

This has the potential for a genuine Constitutional crisis....

[in_cog_ni_to]

22. The bill stated that this DOES NOT set precedent for any other issue/case.

This bill is for the Schiavo case ONLY. At least that's what was read on C-SPAN. ;)

on edit....He was reading the Bill itself.

[Fovea]

23. But the Schiavo law

goes the opposite direction than they need.

To divest the Federal courts of jurisdiction would stand the government on its head, would it not? Consider: Bush** has done nothing to empower the states over Federal concerns.

To strip the Federal courts of this specific jurisdiction reduces Federal power, and ** will not move to break what he sees as his own toy.

Shiavo is an attempt to use the Federal courts against the State. That is almost a traditional manuver. Using the States to break the Fed is called insurrection, and I predict the attempt would look a lot like Oxford Miss in 62. It doesn't matter who the prez is, or what he says. The Fed will not shoot itself in the cheney when ordered.

[Floogeldy]

24. I'm not sure . . .

I don't think Bush considers the Federal courts his toy. I think he is hostile toward the courts.

[finecraft]

25. Yep....Hannity talking about that right now

I work in an office with a lot of freepers who listen to Hannity in the afternoon.....and lo and behold he is talking about this very subject. Your suspicions are confirmed.

[Floogeldy]

26. They don't even bother to be discreet, now

I HATE the neocons.

[Malva Zebrina]

28. absolutely

not only is this about the sleazy Delay attempting to ward off accusations of his crooked ethics by grandstanding here, but it is ultimatly connected to abortion.

The issue of life and death. That abortion issue as to when life begins is now attempting to be determined by a small amount of people given the whole of the population, who have gained wealth and power, in their quest to have jesus as president and to revert back to the dark ages when witches were burned at the stake by the thousands.

If this Sciavo incident suceeds in determing that a woman without a scintilla left of her congnitive brain needs to be kept alive to preserve the "sanctity of life" or the "culture of life" in the rhetoric of the Catholic and the fundamentalist adherents,and that to discontinue a feeding tube is murder, then it would be quite easy to move toward accusations of women who have abortions, as murderers.

[deacon]

29. Republican Pandering Pimps Should be Jailed for Crimes Against Democracy

The Midnight Coup: The Schiavo Legislation Has Only One Case Application, Just Like the Supreme Court Scalia Coup Election Ruling of 2000. In a Democracy, These Republican Pandering Pimps Should be Jailed for Crimes Against Democracy

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-schiavo21mar21,0,2140071.story?coll=la-news-comment-editorials

[Nothing Without Hope]

30. EXACTLY!!!!!! That's the long-term, major plan. The PR and distraction

are short-term benefits.

No doubt about it at all, it was obvious from the start. Just listen to their language, it's a reprisal of all the usual phrases used in anti-abortion language - "protecting life," "right to life," "err on the side of life," and so on. We know the RW fundie allies have been growing restive over the delays in promised anti-abortion and anti-gay legislation. Blaming the godless Dems only goes so far, they want ACTION. This is one of the strategies.

We need to watch them very, very carefully and plan our own counter-strategies.

[Nothing Without Hope]

31. And not just ABORTION jurisdiction -- ALL jurisdiction is threatened

If they neocons succeed in knocking down legalling binding judicial decisions at their whim, then what will be left standing?

NO jurisdiction will be left standing if they have their way.

Maybe they are impatient with waiting to pack the Supreme Court and are getting an early start on their ongoing project of destroying the judicial branch of the US Government.

[sparky_in_ma]

32. Give the man a kewpie doll!!

Dead on.:thumbsup: One way or another this is the ground work for over turning Roe v Wade.