Federal Judges slap Bush and Congress

The Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected another appeal by Terri Schiavo's parents today and in the process chastised President George W. Bush and the congress.

"Any further action by our court or the district court would be improper," Judge Stanley F. Birch Jr. wrote. "While the members of her family and the members of Congress have acted in a way that is both fervent and sincere, the time has come for dispassionate discharge of duty."

Birch went on to scold President Bush and Congress for their attempts to intervene in the judicial process, by saying: "In resolving the Schiavo controversy, it is my judgment that, despite sincere and altruistic motivation, the legislative and executive branches of our government have acted in a manner demonstrably at odds with our Founding Fathers' blueprint for the governance of a free people-- our Constitution."

It should be noted that the conservative judge, William Pryor, given a recess appointment by Bush in February of 2004 voted to reject the appeal.