'98 Case Similar to Schiavo's Taught No Lessons, Family Says

Six years after Hugh Finn died a very public death in a Manassas nursing home amid a bitter family dispute, his wife and his brother watch the developments in the Terri Schiavo case and see that their fight did not change anything.

Michele Finn and her husband's brother, Edward, were on opposite sides of the decision to remove Finn's feeding tube, but they both thought that his death might bring about some change.

"When this happened to me," Michele Finn said, "I thought and hoped that it would send a message to government to stay out of these decisions, these very heart-wrenching decisions. It is very disappointing to me that this has gotten up to Congress the way it did over the weekend."

Hugh Finn's brother, Edward, who disagreed with his sister-in-law's decision to withdraw the feeding tube, said his family lives with the circumstances of his brother's death every day.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58237-2005Mar22.html

"...Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University Law School.

"The thing is," Turley said, "I have never seen such a disconnect between the political rhetoric and the legal reality as in this case. I have gotten a lot of calls from members of Congress, including two who were on the floor night, and it is striking how little appreciation there is for the law. The law is relatively clear in this area."

He said the law is clear that such cases as the Finn and Schiavo matters are to be decided in state courts. Turley said that as the U.S. House debated its proposal to give jurisdiction over Schiavo's case to federal courts, members of Congress were calling him. " 'Is there any way I can vote for this without violating federalist principles?' " he recalled one member asking him. "I said, 'No. There is no way to spin this.' "


The law is clear.