Public Opinion And Activism In The Terri Schiavo Case
The case of Terri Schiavo became the subject of intense public debate and activism. Public opinion Two polls conducted in the days following the removal of Schiavo's feeding tube on March 18, 2005, showed that a large majority of Americans believed that Michael Schiavo should have had the authority to make decisions on behalf of his wife, Terri Schiavo, and that the United States Congress overstepped its bounds with its intervention in the case. According to an ABC News poll from March 21, 2005, 70% of Americans believed that Schiavo's death should not be a federal matter, and were opposed to the legislation transferring the case to federal court. In the same poll, when ABC said "Terri suffered brain damage and has been on life support for 15 years. Doctors say she has no consciousness and her condition is irreversible", 63% said that they support the removal of Schiavo's feeding tube. Sixty-seven percent agreed with the statement that "elected officials trying to keep Schiav ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Terri Schiavo Case
The Terri Schiavo case was a series of court and legislative actions in the United States from 1998 to 2005, regarding the care of Theresa Marie Schiavo (née Schindler) (; December 3, 1963 – March 31, 2005), 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 (1998 to 2005) delay before Schiavo's feeding tube was ultimately removed. On February 25, 1990, at age 26, Schiavo went into cardiac arrest at her hom ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party, also referred to as the GOP ("Grand Old Party"), is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States. The GOP was founded in 1854 by anti-slavery activists who opposed the Kansas–Nebraska Act, which allowed for the potential expansion of chattel slavery into the western territories. Since Ronald Reagan's presidency in the 1980s, conservatism has been the dominant ideology of the GOP. It has been the main political rival of the Democratic Party since the mid-1850s. The Republican Party's intellectual predecessor is considered to be Northern members of the Whig Party, with Republican presidents Abraham Lincoln, Rutherford B. Hayes, Chester A. Arthur, and Benjamin Harrison all being Whigs before switching to the party, from which they were elected. The collapse of the Whigs, which had previously been one of the two major parties in the country, strengthened the party's electoral success. Upon its founding, it supported c ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Electroshock Gun
An electroshock weapon is a less-lethal weapon that utilizes an electric shock to incapacitate a target by either temporarily disrupting voluntary muscle control and/or through pain compliance. There are several different types of electroshock weapons. An electroshock is not a taser, though the two terms are often used interchangeably, stun guns and Tasers refer to two different devices. Stun guns administer an electric shock through direct contact, whereas a taser device administers the shock through thin flexible wires connected to two probes that are fired into the target. History In 1935 Ciril Diaz of Cuba designed an electroshock glove for use by the police. The glove delivered 1,500 volts of electricity (only 0.03% of the modern tasers voltage) Jack Cover, a NASA researcher, began developing the Taser in 1969. By 1974, he had completed the device, which he named after his childhood hero Tom Swift ( "Thomas A. Swift's electric rifle"). The Taser Public Defender product ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Police Line
A crime scene is any location that may be associated with a committed crime. Crime scenes contain physical evidence that is pertinent to a criminal investigation. This evidence is collected by crime scene investigators (CSI) and law enforcement. The location of a crime scene can be the place where the crime took place or can be any area that contains evidence from the crime itself. Scenes are not only limited to a location, but can be any person, place, or object associated with the criminal behaviours that occurred. After a crime scene has been discovered, measures must be taken to secure and protect the scene from contamination. To maintain the integrity of the scene, law enforcement must take action to block off the surrounding area as well as keep track of who comes in and goes out. By taking these precautions, officers can ensure that evidence that is collected can be used in court. Evidence that has become contaminated, tampered with, or mistreated can pollute the scene an ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Trespassing
Trespass is an area of tort law broadly divided into three groups: trespass to the person, trespass to chattels, and trespass to land. Trespass to the person historically involved six separate trespasses: threats, assault, battery, wounding, mayhem (or maiming), and false imprisonment. Through the evolution of the common law in various jurisdictions, and the codification of common law torts, most jurisdictions now broadly recognize three trespasses to the person: assault, which is "any act of such a nature as to excite an apprehension of battery";''Johnson v. Glick'', battery, "any intentional and unpermitted contact with the plaintiff's person or anything attached to it and practically identified with it"; and false imprisonment, the " or of freedom from restraint of movement".''Broughton v. New York'', 37 N.Y.2d 451, 456–7 Trespass to chattel does not require a showing of damages. Simply the "intermeddling with or use of … the personal property" of another gives caus ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Disability
Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be Cognitive disability, cognitive, Developmental disability, developmental, Intellectual disability, intellectual, mental disorder#Disability, mental, physical disability, physical, Sense, sensory, or a combination of multiple factors. Disabilities can be present from birth or can be acquired during a person's lifetime. Historically, disabilities have only been recognized based on a narrow set of criteria—however, disabilities are not binary and can be present in unique characteristics depending on the individual. A disability may be readily visible, or Invisible disability, invisible in nature. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities defines disability as: Disabilities have been perceived differently throughout history, through a variety of different theoretical len ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Not Dead Yet
Not Dead Yet (NDY) is a United States disability rights group that opposes assisted suicide and euthanasia for disabled people. Diane Coleman, JD, is the founder and president of this national group. Stephen Drake, a research analyst with NDY, is one of the group's chief spokespersons and contacts for press releases. In 2004, NDY protested against the removal of Terri Schiavo case, Terri Schiavo's feeding tube. It also protested against the movie ''Million Dollar Baby'', in which the injection of an overdose of epinephrine to euthanize a suicidal quadriplegic woman is depicted as a rational and compassionate act. The group has been highly critical of Utilitarianism, utilitarian philosophers such as Peter Singer of Princeton University. Coleman has called Professor Singer "the most dangerous man on earth" and asserted that he was advocating genocide. In June 2015, NDY organized protests against Singer's position that new-born babies with certain disabilities can morally be kille ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Civil Rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of society and the state without discrimination or repression. Civil rights include the ensuring of peoples' physical and mental integrity, life, and safety; protection from discrimination on grounds such as sex, race, sexual orientation, national origin, color, age, political affiliation, ethnicity, social class, religion, and disability; and individual rights such as privacy and the freedom of thought, speech, religion, press, assembly, and movement. Political rights include natural justice (procedural fairness) in law, such as the rights of the accused, including the right to a fair trial; due process; the right to seek redress or a legal remedy; and rights of participation in civil society and politics such as freedom of associati ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jesse Jackson
Jesse Louis Jackson (né Burns; born October 8, 1941) is an American political activist, Baptist minister, and politician. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and served as a shadow U.S. senator for the District of Columbia from 1991 to 1997. He is the founder of the organizations that merged to form Rainbow/PUSH. Former U.S. Representative Jesse Jackson Jr. is his eldest son. Jackson hosted ''Both Sides with Jesse Jackson'' on CNN from 1992 to 2000. Early life and education Jackson was born in Greenville, South Carolina, to Helen Burns (1924–2015), a 16-year-old high school student, and her 33-year-old married neighbor, Noah Louis Robinson (1908–1997). His ancestry includes Cherokee, enslaved African-Americans, Irish planters, and a Confederate sheriff. Robinson was a former professional boxer who was an employee of a textile brokerage and a well-known figure in the black community. One year after Jesse's birth, his mother ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ralph Nader
Ralph Nader (; born February 27, 1934) is an American political activist, author, lecturer, and attorney noted for his involvement in consumer protection, environmentalism, and government reform causes. The son of Lebanese immigrants to the United States, Nader attended Princeton University and Harvard Law School. He first came to prominence in 1965 with the publication of the bestselling book ''Unsafe at Any Speed'', a highly influential critique of the safety record of American automobile manufacturers. Following the publication of ''Unsafe at Any Speed'', Nader led a group of volunteer law students—dubbed "Nader's Raiders"—in an investigation of the Federal Trade Commission, leading directly to that agency's overhaul and reform. In the 1970s, Nader leveraged his growing popularity to establish a number of advocacy and watchdog groups including the Public Interest Research Group, the Center for Auto Safety, and Public Citizen. Two of Nader's most notable targets were the C ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Christian Right
The Christian right, or the religious right, are Christian political factions characterized by their strong support of socially conservative and traditionalist policies. Christian conservatives seek to influence politics and public policy with their interpretation of the teachings of Christianity. In the United States, the Christian right is an informal coalition formed around a core of largely white conservative Evangelical Protestants and Roman Catholics. The Christian right draws additional support from politically conservative mainline Protestants and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The movement has its roots in American politics going back as far as the 1940s; it has been especially influential since the 1970s. Its influence draws from grassroots activism as well as from focus on social issues and the ability to motivate the electorate around those issues. The Christian right is notable for advancing socially conservative positions on issues s ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Pro Se
''Pro se'' legal representation ( or ) comes from Latin ''pro se'', meaning "for oneself" or "on behalf of themselves" which, in modern law, means to argue on one's own behalf in a legal proceeding, as a defendant or plaintiff in civil cases, or a defendant in criminal cases, rather than have representation from counsel or an attorney. This status is sometimes known as ''in propria persona'' (abbreviated to "pro per"). In England and Wales the comparable status is that of "litigant in person". Prevalence According to the National Center for State Courts in the United States, as of 2006 ''pro se'' litigants had become more common in both state courts and federal courts. Estimates of the ''pro se'' rate of family law overall averaged 67% in California, 73% in Florida's large counties, and 70% in some Wisconsin counties. In San Diego, for example, the number of divorce filings involving at least one ''pro se'' litigant rose from 46% in 1992 to 77% in 2000, in Florida from 66% ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |