Just talked to a lawyer involved in the Schiavo case who is waiting for word from the Middle District of Florida federal court in Florida. Presumably they’ll hear by 1. this emergency petition for an temporary injunction was filed there early this morning.

The basic argument, in my layman’s terms is that the hearings were fundamentally unfair. The assumption in the courts has been that Terri Schiavo wants to die. But how this assumption was reached was fundamentally unfair. The judge acted as judge and guardian for Shiavo. Michael Schiavo’s attorney acted as Michael Schiavo and Terri Schiavo’s representative. These dual roles presented conflicts of interests for both of them—and “taints the fact-finding process.”

This lawyer describes the situation in Florida as just like a death-penalty case—with the warden, so to speak, waiting by the phone for the halt order. And, as Andy McCarthy has argued and then some, argues that “If this person were Scott Peterson, this would have been stayed long ago.”

Anyway, the situation is waiting by the phone on potential federal court stay….