Dear Commonsense,
Thank you for your two postings, one one the judicial and biblical basis for the power of the spouse over the life of the other and the other on the duty of the courts.
However I have major problems with them both.
In the case of the power of, in this case, the husband, I would doubt that it could be argued as an absolute since it is superceded by other laws, eg Thou shalt not kill. There is a more and more evidence for example from nurses who worked on the case that Michael Schiavo did not use his connubial power as he should have.
The power of parents for example has been nullified by allowing teen-agers to get an abortion without notifying their parents.
It seems that we are developing an ad hoc appraoch to the law designed to fit an unstated agenda.
That agenda must be made conscious, public and explicit and the debated in the legislatures which is the seat of legal power in our country.
One has to ask also why Michael Schiavo did not allow better treatment and diagnosis.
Why was he allowed to remain guardian of Terri Schiavo when, in effect he had divorced her to enter into a common law marriage with another woman and, as I have said below, fathered two chidren in that marriage.
As to the second point, one has to wonder about the general sloppiness in accumulating data and evidence and then, it seems to me, arbitrarily saying that this materal, and only material, will be used in deciding this case. Terri Schiavo was denied access to the latest test which would have been able to determine the extent of her brain damage.
The judicial branch in general, which Alexander Hamilton in “The Federalist”, called, “The least harmful of the branches of government”, has gone on a tear of its own.
The scope and function of our courts must be re-examined and soon.
For example, I have heard no logical argument for “same-sex marriage”. Nor do I know of any basis for the Supreme Court making decisions based on the laws of other countries. There is a mighty difference between the American code of justice on the one hand an Napoleonic Law or The Sharia on the other.
Some good must be wrung from the murder of Terri Schiavo.
