Last night I began filling out the form for my living will advance directive. I didn't finish because I got stumped in the middle by whether what I was directing would be allowed. Jeff Jarvis had the same thought today.

If I wrote my living will with explicit instructions [again: I'm not going that yet] saying that I would want life support removed but only with sufficient narcotics to cause death, what would doctors and courts do then?

Do we all have to move to Oregon? And if Bush is successful in the Supreme Court this fall overturning Oregon's physician-assisted suicide law, do we all have to move to Amsterdam?

Raw Story obtained a copy of the Republican talking points on the Terri Schiavo bill.

The Judge has not ruled. Since time is so critical, it would seem that he is not going to order the feeding tube reinserted. Jeff Brown, a Tampa defense lawyer who is trying a case in the courtroom next to Judge Whittemore, was on Greta Van Susteren's On the Record tonight.

by TChris

At least 23 states have laws that require police officers to arrest a person accused of domestic abuse if they have probable cause to do so. Mandatory arrest laws were enacted to correct a perceived problem -- the willingness of officers to drive an accused abuser around the block to let him "cool off" before returning home, rather than taking him to jail. In practice, the laws often result in arrests that accusers would prefer not to happen. Accusers who call the police hoping that their spouses will be lectured or driven around the block to "cool off" are frequently surprised when they find themselves driving to the police station (or a courthouse) to post bail for the spouse they've inadvertently caused to be arrested.

The value of mandatory arrest laws is debatable, particularly when police aren't required to arrest individuals who probably committed much more serious crimes. The laws put the police in a tough position. A wife who calls the police expecting a "cool him off" response may be shocked to learn that the police, as a result of her call, will cart her husband off to jail, and may beg the police not to make an arrest. The officer then confronts a difficult choice: disregard the law and honor the wife's request, or follow the law and make a bad domestic situation even worse.

The Supreme Court heard argument today in a case that asks whether the police violate the Constitution by disregarding a mandatory arrest law. The facts of the case are horrific. Jessica Gonzalez told the police that her daughters were missing, probably abducted by her estranged husband in violation of a restraining order that barred him from contacting the children. The police took no action.

Sharon Bush and Robert Andrews, the former husband of Bush brother Neil's current wife Maria, have settled the slander suit Andrews brought against Sharon Bush for spreading false rumors that Neil was the father of the John and Maria Andrews' child. Neil had to take a paternity test as a result of the suit, and the result showed he was not the father. Background here and here.

Question for civil lawyers out there: Does her homeowner's umbrella policy pay for the settlement?

Trial Update 2
Monday, March 21

The Prosecution is presenting its "expert" testimony. Dr. Anthony J. Urquiza testified about Child Sexual Abuse Accommodation Syndrome (CSAAS).

The Judge should give the jury California's Instruction No. 10.64, a cautionary pattern instruction that informs the jury that CSAAS testimony is not to be considered as proof that the molestation claim is true. They are to consider CSAAS evidence only for the limited purpose of showing that the alleged victim's reactions are not inconsistent with molestation.

The trial court is supposed to give this instruction whenever CSAAS evidence is presented by the prosecution. Here's what it says (available on lexis.com)

Update: The hearing adjourned without a ruling. The Judge said he understands that time is of the essence. Predictions?

Update: Liberal Common Sense has a profile of the Judge. Majikthise has a roundup of liberal blog coverage.

Bump and Update: There will be a hearing at 3pm ET in federal court on Terri Schiavo's parents request to reinsert the feeding tube.

The case will be heard by United States District Judge James D. Whittemore, who was appointed to the court in 1999 by President Clinton. David Gibbs II, a lawyer for the Schindlers, told The Associated Press that the judge had sent a message saying he was reviewing the filings in the case.

Bush's statement:

President Bush said in a statement just after 1 a.m.: "In cases like this one, where there are serious questions and substantial doubts, our society, our laws, and our courts should have a presumption in favor of life. This presumption is especially critical for those like Terri Schiavo, who live at the mercy of others."

President Bush comes to Denver today to push his social security plan. A leading Yale finance economist says,

Nearly three-quarters of workers who opt for Social Security personal accounts under President Bush's "default" investment option are likely to earn less in benefits than those who stay with the traditional Social Security system.

A new paper by Yale University economist Robert J. Shiller found that under Bush's default "life-cycle accounts," which shift assets from stocks to bonds over a worker's lifetime, nearly a third of workers would bring in less in benefits than if they remained in the traditional system. That analysis is based on historical rates of return in the United States. Using global rates of return, which Shiller says more closely track future conditions, life-cycle portfolios could be expected to fall short of the traditional system's returns 71 percent of the time.

Two years later, we are no safer. Iraq has become a "training ground for killing Americans.":

Two years after U.S. troops invaded Iraq, Americans are no safer from Islamic terrorism, and the war that President Bush bills as "a vital front of the war on terror" has become a major obstacle in the United States' effort to curb international terrorism, experts warn.

Experts say the war has made the terror problem worse and Bush's "anti-terrorism coalition is crumbling." [link via Cursor.]

So much for our concern for the "culture of life."

Think Progress has more in Iraq by the Numbers.

Trial Update
March 21

Why isn't this trial being delayed? If the defendant were anyone other than Michael Jackson, the jury would be sent home for a few days. Illness of a trial participant is not that uncommon. In a trial expected to last six months, where court adjourns at 2:30 p.m. every day, surely the Judge can make some adjustments on humanitarian grounds. Or do you have to be in a persistent vegetative state before a Court supplies relief?

Accused 9/11 defendant Zacarias Moussaoui has lost his bid to the Supreme Court to require that 3 alleged 9/11 participants be made available to him for interviews.

The defense has wanted to question Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the accused mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks; Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi, viewed as one of the financiers of the hijackings; and Ramzi bin al-Shaibah, who is suspected of coordinating them.

Defense attorneys said testimony from the al Qaeda captives could help prove Moussaoui was not involved in the attacks. The captives have been held as "enemy combatants" and have been interrogated overseas by the United States.

A former lawyer for Guantanamo detainee David Hicks says there are 500 hours of videotape of Guantanamo detainees that evidence torture.

Mr [Stephen] Kenny said the full story of abuse at Guantanamo Bay would not be told until the tapes were released, but they could be as damaging as the images of Iraqi prisoners being abused by US soldiers at the Abu Ghraib prison.

"I believe that these videos, if they are ever released, will be as explosive as anything from Abu Ghraib," Mr Kenny told the LawAsia Downunder conference.

These are the tapes of the Immediate Reaction Force (IRF) that we wrote about in May, 2004, here .

Chief Justice William Rehnquist returned to the bench today. He swore in new lawyers and listened to oral arguments.