Florida, judge tussle in last-minute Schiavo protective bid News
Florida, judge tussle in last-minute Schiavo protective bid

[JURIST] The government of Florida and a Florida judge engaged in a last-minute legal tussle late Wednesday as the state made what could be its final bid to restore Terri Schiavo's feeding tube. At a press conference held while the Florida Senate was still debating legislation that might have authorized tube reconnection [JURIST report], Governor Jeb Bush said that new evidence from neurologist Dr. William Cheshire [Mayo Clinic profile] suggested that Schiavo was minimally conscious and therefore that the current diagnosis of her being in a persistent vegetative state might not be correct [NBC WFLA-8 TV Tampa video]. The Florida Department of Children and Familes [official website] meanwhile petitioned [PDF] Pinellas County circuit judge George Greer, who has already made numerous rulings in the Schiavo case, for leave to intervene based on Cheshire's affidavit [PDF] and allegations of abuse and endangerment of Schiavo that

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Connecticut adopts first modern constitution

On January 14, 1639, the first written governmental constitution in modern history was adopted in the Colony of Connecticut. The Fundamental Orders represented the first time that a government was based upon a written constitution anywhere in the world. Along with the Mayflower Compact, the Fundamental Orders served as bases for the United States Constitution 150 years later, which in turn influenced the development of later constitutions throughout the world. Three hundred and twenty-six years after the original Fundamental Orders were adopted by Connecticut, the modern Constitution of Connecticut was ratified.

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