For some reason, Fox News and some others continue to report that the majority opinion in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals' denial of a rehearing on the Schiavo case "addressed the 'activist judges' label" and criticized Congress for its intervention.
"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," Judge Stanley F. Birch Jr. wrote for the majority.
Not really. The majority didn't write an opinion but simply denied the rehearing. Judge Birch wrote for himself, concurring with the majority decision but for reasons he was obviously unable to convince his colleagues to officially adopt. You can find the majority ruling (a single sentence), Judge Birch's concurrence, the separate concurring opinion of Judges Carnes and Hull and the dissenting opinion of Judges Tjoflat and Wilson here.
