ACLU Misinformed on the Terri schiavo Case?

Where did the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) get their information? The records in the case clearly show that Michael Schiavo was put in control of everything on February 14,1993.

On June 18, 1990, Judge Robert F. Michael signed an "order determining totally incapacity" and appointing Michael Schiavo "plenary." In doing so, Judge Robert Michael listed things that the guardian could not do without court permission.

What does this mean? Michael schiavo say's in his book that it meant:

As the husband, I was able to approve her health-care treatment, but guardianship gave me power of attorney for her. Getting guardianship of another person means that you become that person. You are her mind and body. You speak for her legally....Dan drew up the petition and we went before a judge. The court appointed a guardian ad litem to take Terri's side, but that person really doesn't do much in a case such as this. There was one court hearing, and on June 18, the court officially appointed me guardian...."[Terri:the Truth,page 31]

QUESTION: If being appointed guardian gave Michael Schiavo "power of attorney" and he was "officially appointed" Terri's guardian on June 18, 1990; and Judge W.D. Baird signed a "Letter of Plenary Guardian" on July 3, 1990, where was the need to have Judge Thomas Penick Jr. sign an "Amended Letter of Plenary Guardian" on February 14, 1993?

Simple! Both ,Judge Robert Michael and Judge Douglas Baird,placed restrictions on what Michael Schiavo could and could not do with Terri's property without court permission. Judge Thomas Penick Jr.'s "amended" letter of plenary guardian lifted all restrictions. (see document below)

A plenary guardian is a person appointed by the court to exercise all delegable legal rights and powers of the adult ward after the court makes a finding of incapacity. Wards in plenary guardianships are, by definition, unable to care for themselves. Court Programs

The legal authority for guardianship in Florida is found in Chapter 744, Florida Statutes. The court rules that control the relationships among the court, the ward, the guardian, and the attorney are found in Part III, Probate Rules, Florida Rules of Court. Together, these statutes and rules describe the duties and obligations of guardians and attorneys, as well as the court, to ensure that they act in the best interests of the ward, minor, or person who is alleged incapacitated. http://www.flcourts.org/gen_public/family/self_help/guardianship/legal_resources.shtml

This page is from Judge Michael's June 18, 1990 court order.

This is from Judge Baird's July 3, 1990 Court order.

Judge Penick Jr.'s "amended"order lifting all restrictions.

The "Trust" is another story.

Written by justice1949 Blog about this entry

This entry has 1 comments: (Add your own)

#1 Comment from tatoosmark
9/29/06 10:25 AM | Permalink

The ACLU obviously didn't bother to take the time or make the effort to research anything about the guardianship. For a legal group, this is one of the lowest examples of competancy I've ever seen.
There was so much talk that the conflict between the parents and husband was due to money, but the media was interested in the sensationalism and agenda of the right to die groups.
Judge Greer sealed the financial records but he and his buddies didn't get all the guardianship records removed.
All the professionals involved are assumeing the "ordinary people" as Goodman labels them are too ignorant to get to the facts. Maybe they assume all the ignorant people are dispensible...scarey thought.

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