Santorum is ignorant of the Law

and most other things. I asked a close family member for their view of the Schiavo decision, specifically Rick Santorum's quote regarding the decision, courtesy of Atrios. Here is his opininon of what Santorum said; Santorum is ignorant of the law. The judge has not denied them the right to a full trial de novo [which, by the way, does not necessarily mean that there has to be a trial in open court since much of the facts and testimony is already existent -- it just means that he must review the testimony and evidence anew -- without giving any deference to the other rulings by the 19 other judges who ruled in the husband's favor]. What his ruling means is that the plaintiffs had failed to meet the heavy legal burden that is imposed upon anyone seeking a temporary restraining order -- they must demonstrate both (1) irreparable harm [this is two edged sword here since one can argue that her dying is irreparable harm but if her wish is not to live this way, each day that she is forced to remain in this condition is irreparable harm to her -- thus irreparable harm is a wash [at least that is the way I see it -- not sure how judge came out on this one]; (2) the likelihood that they will ultimately prevail at a trial on the merits. It is this latter one that probably was the basis for the court's ruling. In evaluating this, the judge could look to the fact that 19 other judges have found for the husband on this and deem this strong evidence [as opposed to judicial deference - which is a differrent concept] countering the likelihood that they would ultimately prevail on the merits. I think that this is the way that the case may go all the way to the Sup. Ct. denying review. But we shall see. The act of Congress was ill-thought out and from what I can see fairly impotent -- precisely because due to the separation of powers the legislative branch is limited in how they can dictate the outcome of judicial cases. p.s Thanks Dad