Brief Fact Summary. Theresa Schiavo lived in a vegetative state for over ten years due to a cardiac arrest. After about eight years, her husband, the respondent, Michael Schiavo, petitioned the guardianship court to authorize the termination of the life-prolonging procedures.
Synopsis of Rule of Law. When a final judgment is issued in a court of law, and all post-judgment procedures are followed, the Legislature does not have the authority to pass a law that allows the executive branch to interfere with a final judicial determination in a case. Furthermore, a statute may not delegate legislative power to the Governor.
When legislation is so lacking in guidelines that neither the agency nor the courts can determine whether the agency is carrying out the intent of the legislature in its conduct, then, in fact, the agency becomes the lawgiver rather than the administrator of the law.
View Full Point of LawIssue. Whether a statute granting the governor of a State the power to issue a one time stay to prevent the withholding of nutrition and hydration from a patient is unconstitutional?
Held. Yes. The Legislature enacted the law giving the Governor the power to reinsert a feeding tube which a court had given another person the power to remove. This act is a violation of the separation of the powers of the executive, judicial, and legislative branches. Furthermore, the statute delegates legislative power to the Governor because it does not set forth criteria for lifting the stay, it does not say how long the stay should be issued, and it gives the Governor absolute discretion to decide when to issue the stay and went to lift it.
Discussion. The Legislature may not pass a law that overrides a decision of a court and it may not delegate to persons in an executive position lawmaking ability.