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Cover Story

Judge George W. Greer's déjà vu

by Judi McLeod, Editor,
Wednesday, March 23, 2005

When it comes to the protection of physically endangered women, Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge George W. Greer rates a zero.

Long before finding himself at the epicenter of the Terri Schiavo tempest, Greer was on the wrong kind of the headlines.

In 1998, Greer denied an injunction for a wife seeking protection from her husband.

In the paperwork presented, the august Greer noted that the woman had not listed any acts of violence by the man. The injunction was denied. Within days, the husband stabbed the woman to death.

The members of any women's' shelter would attest that sometimes desperation, sheer fear, haste and even ignorance of dealing with the system, keeps women from committing the salient facts to paper.

Greer said he followed the law. The woman's co-workers protested outside the courthouse.

a fat lot of good a judge following the law did for the stabbed-to-death victim of domestic violence.

"as a judge, there's always the fear that you're going to miss something and somebody is going to get hurt," Greer said. "When you make those kind of decisions, there's very little you can do to be 100 percent certain because you never have 100 percent of the facts." (St. Petersburg Times).

Even striving for 10 percent of the facts is a worthwhile endeavour if it means saving a life.

It was Greer who ignited controversy when he decided that Terri Schiavo was in a persistent vegetative state and that her feeding tube should be removed.

Greer's justification, once again was that he was following the letter of the law.

Why a Florida circuit court judge would pave the road for what some see as judicial murder remains a matter of public speculation.

In 2003, attorney Pat anderson, representing Schiavo's parents, accused Greer of being biased.

"I feel that if Terri called you from hospice, you'd try to talk her into giving up and dying," anderson said. "I feel that you're committed to her death."

anderson asked him to step down–making it the fourth time Greer had been asked to disqualify himself from the case. Greer refused.

"Four of the worst decisions I ever made," Greer later jokingly quipped.

Greer finds no harmonious harbour at Clearwater Calvary Baptist, where he goes to worship. He and the church do not see eye to eye over problems, which Greer contends are unrelated to the Schiavo case.

although officially still a member, the judge has stopped his donations to the church.

a behind-the-headlines incident Greer keeps mum about shows his willingness to sustain human life.

according to the St. Petersburg Times, in 2002 the judge offered to donate one of his kidneys to Ed armstrong, a Clearwater lawyer and close friend. But armstrong, who needed a transplant, found another donor.

Three judges have now held up Greer's original ruling, and Terri Schiavo dehydrates in hospice.

Since as far back as the 1800s, american judges have left imprints in the fine art of getting their way. Salonkeeper Judge Roy Bean, who would often recess court to sell liquor in the courtroom, once fined a dead man.

as Charles Dickens wryly pronounced: "The law is an ass."


Canada Free Press founding editor Most recent by Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years experience in the print media. Her work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck. Judi can be reached at: judi@canadafreepress.com


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