Show Me the Money

Just as I suspected, the real issue behind the Terri Schiavo case is not about life or death, but about who has the most money to pay the lawyers. It is a real shame that in a case that could possibly determine life and death in this country, it all came down to who had the deepest pockets. According to Steve Sailer's weblog, one Florida attorney wrote:

"I have been following the case for years. Something that interests me about the Terri Schiavo case, and that doesn't seem to have gotten much media attention: The whole case rests on the fact that the Schindlers (Terri's parents) were totally outlawyered by the husband (Michael Schiavo) at the trial court level.

"This happened because, in addition to getting a $750K judgment for Terri's medical care, Michael Schiavo individually got a $300K award of damages for loss of consortium, which gave him the money to hire a top-notch lawyer to represent him on the right-to-die claim. He hired George Felos, who specializes in this area and litigated one of the landmark right-to-die cases in Florida in the early '90s.

"By contrast, the Schindlers had trouble even finding a lawyer who would take their case since there was no money in it. Finally they found an inexperienced lawyer who agreed to take it partly out of sympathy for them, but she had almost no resources to work with and no experience in this area of the law. She didn't even depose Michael Schiavo's siblings, who were key witnesses at the trial that decided whether Terri would have wanted to be kept alive. Not surprisingly, Felos steamrollered her.

It has already been well documented that George Felos, Michael Schiavo's attorney, has a conflict of interest issue having served on the board of directors for the Florida Hospice currently housing Terri Schiavo. He is also famous(infamous) for his stands on right-to-die issues. The fact that he can report to the media how calm and and at peace Terri Schiavo appears to him, completely nauseates me. That it also boils down to who can show whom the money is equally appalling.

See Also: News Max

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