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Pastor to Jeb Bush: Disobey judge

Pastor to Jeb Bush: Disobey judge

D. James Kennedy says governor must 'disregard' judge to save Terri

With all legal remedies apparently exhausted, a prominent evangelical Christian leader is urging Jeb Bush to disobey a judge's order barring the Florida governor from intervening to save the life of Terri Schiavo.

In a statement shortly after Judge George Greer's decision today, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., minister D. James Kennedy pointed to Bush "as the only legal authority who can save the life of Terri Schiavo."

Kennedy, president of Coral Ridge Ministries, said Bush "must act and he must act immediately on her behalf."

"He must disregard the order of Judge Greer," Kennedy said. "He has both the authority and the duty to do so under the state constitution."

As governor, Jeb Bush has the "supreme executive power," and the constitutional duty, stated in Article IV, Section 1, to "take care that the laws be faithfully executed," Kennedy said.

The governor, who is sworn to uphold the constitution, is obligated to safeguard this constitutional guarantee of the "inalienable right ... to enjoy and defend life," regardless of physical disability, he argued.

"The governor may not disregard that obligation even if a member of the judiciary has ordered otherwise," Kennedy said. "He is not bound by a court order that is at odds with a constitutional guarantee."

"Jeb Bush must choose between the clear mandate of Florida's constitution and a judiciary which, in this case, has acted in defiance of that state supreme law."

"The governor may not disregard that obligation even if a member of the judiciary has ordered otherwise," Kennedy said. "He is not bound by a court order that is at odds with a constitutional guarantee."


http://www.worldnetdaily.com/ne
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Posted by Editor at March 24, 2005 06:00 PM