Terri Schiavo Judge Will Speak at Florida Bar’s Media Law Conference 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
May 17, 2007
Tampa, FL (LifeNews.com) — The judge that authorized the painful euthanasia death of Terri Schiavo is taking his act on the road again. Circuit County Judge George Greer is one of the most controversial figures in law and he frequently speaks at various events — this time appearing at a Florida Bar conference.
In conjunction with Stetson University’s law school, the Florida Bar is hosting a media law seminar focusing on the relationship between the law and the media.
The bar bills the program as a special event for "lawyers, judges, court staff, reporters, editors, news directors, general managers and publishers" and it says it has invited "an extraordinary group of journalists, judges, attorneys and academics" to participate.
That group includes Judge Greer, who had problems of his own when it came to interacting with the media.
During the trial related to saving Terri Schioavo’s life, the Schindler family filed a motion seeking to disqualify Greer from presiding over the case because of his extensive media interviews.
Patricia Anderson, the attorney for Terri’s family at that time, alleged Greer was in violation of the state code of judicial conduct.
The code says that, while a proceeding is pending in court, judges should not "make any public comment that might reasonably be expected to affect its outcome or impair its fairness or make any non-public comment that might substantially interfere with a fair trial or hearing."
Bob Schindler, Terri’s father, said in the September 2003 motion "I cannot possibly receive a fair, unbiased hearing before Judge Greer."
Terri’s brother Bobby Schindler has said that his family saw Greer’s "pro-euthanasia, pro-death bias" for years during the legal battle and indicated the bias "tempered his decisions in my sister’s case and caused him to unethically, immorally and illegally ordered her to die."
"How can any citizens of Florida have confidence that Judge Greer will remain unbiased now that he is on the speaking circuit justifying the killing of an innocent, disabled woman without any proof of her consent?" Schindler asked.
Schindler said Greer’s public speaking "makes a mockery of the entire judicial system" and "certainly shows his bias against the disabled."
Greer has previously spoken at the National Jury Summit hosted by the American Board of Trial Advocates in January.
Despite Greer’s condemning Terri to a painful 13-day starvation and dehydration death, Greer was also a featured speaker at Loyola Law School Los Angeles last June. There, Greer instructed members of the mainstream media in how to report on significant legal stories like the battle over Terri’s life.
Journalists from CNN, CBS News, ABC News Radio, Bloomberg WNBC, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, the Philadelphia Daily News and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution attended the conference.
ACTION: Send you complaints on Judge Greer’s appearance to, The Florida Bar, 651 E. Jefferson Street, Tallahassee, FL 32399-2300, (850) 561-5600 or [email protected]. Also contact the Stetson of Conferences and Events at (813) 228-0226 or [email protected]
Related web sites:
Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation – https://www.terrisfight.org
