James Whittemore (Florida)

James Whittemore

United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida (senior status)

Tenure

2017 - Present

Years in position

7

Prior offices

United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida

Education

Personal

Contact

Terri Schiavo case (2005)

See also: United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida (SCHIAVO EX REL. SCHINDLER v. SCHIAVO, 8:05-CV-530-T-27TBM)

Judge Whittemore was the presiding judge in a case where the parents of Terri Schiavo, Robert and Mary Schindler, were suing to keep her feeding tube inserted, as they believed she was not afforded due process by the Florida state courts. The other party in the case was Michael Schiavo, husband of Terri, who wanted the feeding tube removed in concurrence with Terri's wishes if she was found to be in a vegetative state. The case came before Judge Whittemore after the Congress passed a bill on March 21, 2005 at 12:30 a.m. that was signed in to law by George W. Bush. The law allowed the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida to have the ability to review the case. The case was heard by Whittemore on the same day the bill was passed and signed and, his opinion was issued on March 22nd.

Whittemore's ruling

Schiavo's parents brought five counts before Judge Whittemore, three counts of violation of Terri's Fourteenth Amendment rights and two counts of violation of freedom to exercise religious freedom. Whittemore found there were no grounds to issue an injunction on the five counts presented to him. The first claim was that Terri Schiavo's Fourteenth Amendment rights were violated when Judge George W. Greer ruled on guardianship of Terri in 2001 and also ruled on the removal of Terri's feeding tube in 2005. The claim stated that he became an advocate for Schiavo's death when he ruled in favor of Michael Schiavo remaining as the guardian. Whittemore dismissed this claim stating:

The second Fourteenth Amendment claim was that Terri's right of due process was violated when Judge Greer failed to appoint a guardian ad litem, or guardian for the suit. Schiavo's parents claimed that since there was no independent attorney for Terri she did not have access to due process. Again Judge Whittemore found that Terri's due process was upheld in that both her parents and Michael Schiavo adequately represented her on the state court level and another court appointed lawyer would not have provided more protection for Ms. Schiavo.^[4] The third count of violation of the Fourteenth Amendment, the right to equal protection of the law, was found to have no merit on the same grounds as the first count.

The fourth and fifth counts claimed that Ms. Schiavo's religious freedoms were restricted by the court's ruling in that the removal of the feeding tube was contrary to her Roman Catholic faith. Whittemore stated in his ruling that those protections were only provided from the state, and the Plaintiffs failed to prove that either Mr. Schiavo or the Defendant Hospice were acting on behalf of the state. Judge Whittemore denied the request for a Temporary Restraining Order to keep the feeding tube inserted.

Eleventh Circuit's affirmation and subsequent amendments

On March 23, 2005, Whittemore's ruling was affirmed by the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals by a three judge panel; the opinion can be found here. An appeal to have the Eleventh Circuit hear the case en banc, by the whole court, was denied.^[6] The Supreme Court of the United States chose not to review the case on March 24th. The case would return to Judge Whittemore one more time, on March 25th, with five new amendments to the original case. The new counts again focused on a lack of due process and improper representation, but this time added an Eighth Amendment claim about cruel and unusual punishment and claims naming The Americans with Disabilities Act and The Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Again the claims by Ms. Schiavo's parents were denied on the grounds that the lower courts had ruled correctly and Hospice care was acting in accordance with previous rulings.^[7] Terri Schiavo passed away on March 31, 2005, nine days after Whittemore's ruling.^[8]

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} Federal Judicial Center, "Biography of Judge James D. Whittemore," accessed August 24, 2017
2. ↑ United States Congress, "PN 646 — James D. Whittemore — The Judiciary," accessed August 24, 2017
3. ↑ American Bar Association, "Ratings of Article III judicial nominees, 106th Congress," accessed August 24, 2017
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} University of Miami, "Schiavo ex rel. Schindler v. Schiavo," March 22, 2005
5. ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
6. ↑ University of Miami, "Schiavo ex rel. Schindler v. Schiavo 11th Cir.," March 23, 2005
7. ↑ University of Miami, "Schiavo ex rel. Schindler v. Schiavo," March 25, 2005
8. ↑ University of Miami, "Schiavo Timeline, Part 2," accessed March 18, 2014
9. ↑ Chicago Tribune, "DeLay vs. the Constitution," April 3, 2005
10. ↑ Philly.com, "DeLay offers apology for judge criticism He said had spoken inartfully. He said he backed a strong judiciary but said Congress had a role, too.," April 14, 2005