Schiavo Case a Study in Judicial Review

March 24, 2005 — -- In the more than seven years that the Terri Schiavo case has been winding through the Florida state and federal court systems, at least 10 judges have looked at the factual and legal issues surrounding the question of whether the severely brain-damaged woman's feeding tube should be removed. Now, with the feeding tube removed on order from a state court judge and federal courts thus far refusing to intervene, the case has come down to very narrow legal points.

Late Wednesday, Terri Schiavo's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, asked the U.S. Supreme Court to order the reinsertion of their daughter's feeding tube. The Schindlers are alleging constitutional violations of Terri's rights to due process and religious freedom; they contend her husband, Michael Schiavo -- her legal guardian -- decided to remove her feeding tube without sufficient proof of her consent. The high court is expected to rule today on their petition.

Schiavo, 41, has been incapacitated since 1990, when she suffered heart failure and subsequent brain damage. Court-appointed doctors have diagnosed her as in a persistent vegetative state, meaning she is unable to respond voluntarily and has virtually no hope of recovery.

The Schindlers and Michael Schiavo have battled for years in the courts. Since 1998, he has sought to disconnect his wife's feeding tube in accordance with what he says were her previously expressed wishes. The Schindlers argue their daughter should be kept alive.

While the family issues between Michael Schiavo and the Schindlers remain unresolved, the U.S. Supreme Court -- like the courts that have ruled before it -- will not be engaging in any new fact-finding in the case. The courts' refusal to reconsider the factual issues in the case has been criticized by Terri's parents and their supporters. After a Tuesday ruling by U.S. District Judge James Whittemore to deny the Schindlers emergency injunctive relief because they had not established a "substantial likelihood of success" at trial on the merits of their arguments, Terri's brother, Bobby Schindler, lamented to ABC News' "Good Morning America" that "I'd love for these judges to sit in a room and see this happening as well."