Stakeout SCOTUS - Gonzales versus Oregon
Stakeout SCOTUS - Gonzales versus Oregon.
COURT PLAZA STAKEOUT
10/5/05
Jay Sekulow, American Ctr for Law and Justice
11:06:18 start
11:06:19 clear today this is still closely divided ct on this issue, quite poss b/c of changes we might see where this has to be reargued, think it's close
11:06:37 seemed to be majority govt has legit interest in regulating use of these scheduled narcotics, this may well be illeg use I think is of what would be legit drug
***** 11:06:56 this shows the shifting nature of personnel is very very impt for these key cultural issues
11:07:18 these narcotics in OR can be given out but cannot be implemented by a physician
** missed person in here b/c of manny 320
Kathryn Tucker
11:10:44 there are other states watching closely, nationl watching closely what happens in OR
11:10:58 evidence is there has not been any threat to public interest in OR, addit'l choice to dying patients.for whom this is a least worst alternative
11:11:14 improvements across board in end of life care - enrollment in hospice skyrocketed
11:11:25 we've sen good improvement in end of life care
11:11:32 states like CA looking very acdtively this yr at very sim. Law, .when cloud lifted in OR law.that wil,.l galvanize state of CA to move fwd with similar laws which respect autonomy
11:11:59 CA, VT has a very active campaign -= VT legislature empanelled task force..report concluded OR doesn't pose risk to public health
Q: any other way to facilitate - govt says you can have just w/o these drugs
11:12:59 very perverse argument made that patients should somehow be regulated to bring about detah without use of controlled substacnces, meaning by means that are not humane, not peaceful.perverse argument
11:13:22 they want means that are efficacious and gentle
11:13:29 idea that you would foreclose
Timothy Quill - with Death w/ Dignity and palliative care physician
11:14:01 data overwhelmingly positive.in the rest of country this is all under the table, still occurring
Tucker
11:14:23 in 1997 court said this is issue to be left to states and we invite the states to grapple with this
11:14:34 beauty of system - one state can be courageous..rest of nation can watch and learn
11:14:45 we heard court not wanting to ack away from what they invited in 1997
11:15:00 virtually every justice was disinclined to embrace justice dept opinion
11:15:10 even scalia who has long said fed govct doesn't have business in this arena, let's leave to democratic processes
11:15:33 most likely - this decision will be made with o'connor on bench, o'connor of course invited experimentation in lab to the states, as she said she invited to be left to democratic processes
Jim Bopp, Nat'l Right to Life Cmte
Coordinated amicus effort tin support of govt
11:16:25 vast maj of states prohibit assisted sucide by any means b/c vast majority recognizes every patient has quality and value and don't want them forced into choice of killing selves and medical treatment state doedns't want to pay for
11:16:50 it's cheaper to kill, more expensive to treat so that's not a real choice
11:17:10 patients.only have to be predicted to die in six months, there's not question of intimate death here
11:17:25 in OR assisted suicide is illegal except for this exception, they have made an exception for people they believe are simply not worth living
Tucker tries to intertrupt -
11:17:46 critical point is this is not medical treatment, we have gone in assisted sucide area, gone from concept of doing no harm to patients at minimum.to now authorizing physicians to actively kill patienst. It's inconveivable fed govt in adopting Controlled substances act had in mind that state by state we should be able to decide controlled substances can be used to kill patients under guise it is med treatment, it is not med treatment, it is the opposite of medical treatment, doing harm to your patient
11:20:40 cutaway reporters
Robert Atkinson - argued the case *****
11:22:09 we think that coingress legislated against the background of 200 or more yrs of state regulation of medical practice
11:22:20 states have acted responsibily in 200 yr period, reglated med practice and congress clearly contemplated states would continue to do that
11:22:35 there's nothing in CSA that purports to authorize AG to act as a nat'l medical board
11:23:20 (Q: are you saying govt should regulate drugs and states should regulate doctors) in essence yes
Nico Van Aelstyn (sp?)
11:23:57 the states have been given authority traditiaonll in federal scheme to regulate medicine.does not give that authority to AG, who is not elected, not a doctor, not given authority anywhere to regulate medicine
11:24:32 AG did not canvass the public interest, most importantly he ignored the 7 yhrs of data in OR
11:24:46 OR has acted responsibly.also documenting its use
11:24:53 only 208 patients in OR during 7 yrs have utilized the act under strict control, the AG ignored all of that data
Eli Stutsman, represented pharmacists and physicians before court
11:26:38 when the people enact a law, it's same as legislative powr - .no different than anty other law
11:26:49 key differences between raich.key difference is we are dealing with schedule II and lower drugs, when AG successful in past he's been enforcing sched I ban, no Sched I ban, they are Sch II or III or lower drugs
11:27:23 for first time he's not focusing on the drug but the medical practice at issues, all cases heretofore would be on drug use
11:28:07 focused on medical practice and not on the drug
11:28:15 we expect to win this case
11:29:51 we are not dealing with federally banned substance
11:30:20 there's no such ban in place today for this case coming out of OR
11:30:28 wide shot Stutsman
Charlene Andrews - breast cancer stage 4 diagnosed in Dec 2000
From Salem, OR
11:30:41 wide shot
11:30:53 with cancer you know when your treatment options are over
11:31:09 I want to be able to die with some dignity and with some compassion surrounding me, I feel very strongly that it is my right to have that.
11:31:27 we need to quit using the word suicide - it is compassion in dying, it is dying with dignity and compassion
Betty Rollin - Death with Dignity
11:32:18 20 yrs ago helped my mother die in NY where there was no law like in OR
11:32:30 what didn't come up is human sside - people in OR have choice about dying if they are terminally ill
11:32:40 this is not about recreation or botox or about anything else but people having control and peace of mind
11:33:02 this is a peace of mind issue
LOOKS LIKE IT'S OVER