Schiavo memo

Last updated

During the Terri Schiavo controversy in March 2005, a talking points memo on the controversy was written by Brian Darling, the legal counsel to Republican Senator Mel Martinez of Florida. [1] The memo suggested the Schiavo case offered "a great political issue" that would appeal to the party's base (core supporters) and could be used against Senator Bill Nelson, a Democrat from Florida who was up for reelection in 2006, because he had refused to co-sponsor the bill which came to be known as the Palm Sunday Compromise. [2] Bill Nelson was nevertheless reelected as Senator on November 7, 2006 with 60% of the vote.

Martinez stated that he had not read the memo before he inadvertently passed it to Iowa Senator Tom Harkin, a Democratic supporter of the Palm Sunday Compromise legislation which gave federal courts jurisdiction to review the Terri Schiavo case. [1] Then it became public knowledge.

After the existence of the memo was reported by ABC News and The Washington Post , Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist denounced the memo and asserted that the Republican Party's interest in the case was solely based on moral grounds. Darling remained silent about his authorship of the memo as commentators from the conservative magazine Weekly Standard and other publications questioned its authenticity. [3] [4] The source of the memo had not been disclosed by either ABC News or The Washington Post. The Washington Post says that it neither implied that the memo originated from a Republican source nor that it was circulated by Republicans, though it did in fact make these assertions when it published the story by reporters Mike Allen and Manuel Roig-Franzia on its wire service on March 19, 2005. The authorship claim was removed before publication of the print version on March 20, 2005. [5] [6] On April 6, 2005, Darling admitted to writing the memo, and resigned his position as legal counsel to Senator Martinez. [7]

Related Research Articles

Bill Frist Former United States Senator from Tennessee

William Harrison Frist is an American physician, businessman, and politician who served as United States Senator from Tennessee from 1995 to 2007. A heart and lung transplant surgeon by occupation, he was Senate Majority Leader from 2003 to 2007. He is a member of the Republican Party.

Bill Kristol American writer (born 1952)

William Kristol is an American neoconservative writer. A frequent commentator on several networks including CNN, he was the founder and editor-at-large of the political magazine The Weekly Standard. Kristol is now editor-at-large of The Bulwark.

Mel Martínez American politician

Melquíades Rafael Ruiz Martínez is a Cuban-American lobbyist and former politician who served as a United States Senator from Florida from 2005 to 2009 and as general chairman of the Republican Party from November 2006 until October 19, 2007. Previously, Martínez served as the 12th Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President George W. Bush. Martínez is a Cuban-American and Roman Catholic. He announced he was resigning as general chairman of the Republican National Committee on October 19, 2007.

Bill Nelson American politician, attorney, and NASA administrator

Clarence William Nelson II is an American politician and attorney serving as the administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Nelson previously served as a United States Senator from Florida from 2001 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served in the Florida House of Representatives from 1972 to 1978 and in the United States House of Representatives from 1979 to 1991. In January 1986, he became the second sitting member of Congress to fly in space, after Jake Garn, when he served as a payload specialist on the Space Shuttle Columbia. Before entering politics he served in the U.S. Army Reserve during the Vietnam War.

Dave Weldon American politician and physician

David Joseph Weldon is an American politician and physician. He was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Florida's 15th congressional district, and was an unsuccessful candidate for the Republican nomination in Florida's 2012 U.S. Senate race.

Terri Schiavo case American right-to-die legal case

The Terri Schiavo case was a euthanasia legal case in the United States from 1998 to 2005, involving Theresa Marie Schiavo, a woman in an irreversible persistent vegetative state. Schiavo's husband and legal guardian argued that Schiavo would not have wanted prolonged artificial life support without the prospect of recovery, and in 1998 elected to remove her feeding tube. Schiavo's parents disputed her husband's assertions and challenged Schiavo's medical diagnosis, arguing in favor of continuing artificial nutrition and hydration. The highly publicized and prolonged series of legal challenges presented by her parents, which ultimately involved state and federal politicians up to the level of President George W. Bush, caused a seven-year delay before Schiavo's feeding tube was ultimately removed.

Killian documents controversy Six documents containing unsubstantiated critical allegations about President George W. Bush

The Killian documents controversy involved six documents containing unsubstantiated critical allegations about President George W. Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard in 1972–73, allegedly typed in 1973. Dan Rather presented four of these documents as authentic in a 60 Minutes II broadcast aired by CBS on September 8, 2004, less than two months before the 2004 presidential election, but it was later found that CBS had failed to authenticate them. Several typewriter and typography experts soon concluded that they were forgeries. Lt. Col. Bill Burkett provided the documents to CBS, but he claims to have burned the originals after faxing them copies.

Prickly City is a daily comic strip originally drawn by Scott Stantis, the editorial cartoonist for the Chicago Tribune, and distributed through United Features Syndicate. The cartoon follows the adventures of Carmen, a young girl of color, and a coyote pup named Winslow. The strip is frequently politically oriented with a conservative point-of-view. It is currently drawn by Eric Allie.

James D. Whittemore American judge

James David Whittemore is a Senior United States District Judge presently serving in the Tampa division of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida. He was previously a Florida state trial court judge, a federal public defender, and an attorney in private practice who won a criminal case before the United States Supreme Court. As a federal judge, Whittemore presided over a number of high-profile cases, including a lawsuit against Major League Baseball to challenge its draft procedure, and the Terri Schiavo case, after the United States Congress had specifically given the Middle District of Florida jurisdiction to hear the seven-year-long fight over whether the brain-damaged Schiavo should be taken off life support.

The Palm Sunday Compromise, formally known as the Act for the relief of the parents of Theresa Marie Schiavo, is an Act of Congress passed on March 21, 2005, to allow the case of Terri Schiavo to be moved into a federal court. The name "Palm Sunday Compromise" was coined by House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, referring to it having been passed on Palm Sunday.

Howard Kurtz American journalist and author

Howard Alan Kurtz is an American journalist and author best known for his coverage of the media.

Brian Darling

Brian Darling is the president and founder of the firm Liberty Government Affairs. He was Senior Communications Director and Counsel for Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) and a former senior fellow in government studies at The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think-tank based in Washington, D.C. Darling has been involved in U.S. politics since the early 1990s, in roles as a congressional aide, lobbyist and legal counsel. Darling came to national media attention when he resigned as legal counsel to Republican Senator Mel Martinez of Florida after admitting he was the author of the "Schiavo memo."

The legislative, executive, and judicial branches, of both the United States federal government and the State of Florida, were involved in the case of Terri Schiavo. In November 1998 Michael Schiavo, husband of Terri Schiavo, first sought permission to remove his wife's feeding tube. Schiavo had suffered brain damage in February 1990, and in February 2000 had been ruled by a Florida circuit court to be in a persistent vegetative state. Her feeding tube was removed first on April 26, 2001, but was reinserted two days later on an appeal by her parents, Bob and Mary Schindler.

The case of Terri Schiavo became the subject of intense public debate and activism.

2006 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania Class I U.S. Senate election in Pennsylvania

The 2006 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania was held November 7, 2006. Incumbent Republican Rick Santorum ran for re-election to a third term, but was defeated by Democrat Bob Casey, Jr., the son of former Pennsylvania governor Bob Casey Sr. Casey was elected to serve between January 3, 2007 and January 3, 2013.

Alexander Strategy Group was an American lobbying firm involved in the K Street Project, founded by Ed Buckham and his wife Wendy. Buckham is a former chief of staff of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, and the firm openly promoted its access to DeLay. Its chief lobbyist was Paul Behrends, who became Dana Rohrabacher's aide.

The political positions of Norm Coleman have changed dramatically over his career. Originally a Democrat and an anti-war activist as a university student during the Vietnam War, Coleman has since switched parties and is now generally considered a moderate Republican.

Pamela Roach is an American politician who served as a member of the Pierce County Council from 2017 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, she previously served as a member of the Washington State Senate, representing the 31st district from 1991 to 2017.

This article contains the list of candidates associated with the 2016 Republican Party presidential primaries for the 2016 United States presidential election.

Rachel Hope Mitchell is an American attorney from Arizona. In 2019, she briefly served as the acting County Attorney for Maricopa County after the appointment of Bill Montgomery to the Arizona Supreme Court. Previously, she was the Chief Deputy County Attorney, and chief of the Special Victims Division.

References

  1. 1 2 "Senator's office produced Schiavo memo". Associated Press. April 6, 2005 – via NBC News.
  2. ↑ "The Seattle Times: Nation & World: GOP memo says issue offers political rewards". The Washington Post. April 4, 2005. Archived from the original on January 27, 2007 – via The Seattle Times.
  3. ↑ Barnes, Fred (April 4, 2005). "The ABCs of Media Bias". The Weekly Standard . Vol. 10 no. 27. Archived from the original on December 19, 2005.
  4. ↑ Hinderaker, John (March 27, 2005). "Fake but Accurate Again?". The Weekly Standard. Archived from the original on April 1, 2012.
  5. ↑ Kurtz, Howard (March 30, 2005). "Doubts Raised On Schiavo Memo". The Washington Post.
  6. ↑ Kurtz, Howard (April 4, 2005). "Leaving the Anchor Desk, Its Greatest Generation". The Washington Post.
  7. ↑ Allen, Mike (April 7, 2005). "Counsel to GOP Senator Wrote Memo On Schiavo". The Washington Post.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.