Lawless Trailer

02/22/22 • 3 min

By the spring of 2005, a severely disabled Florida woman named Terri Schiavo had lived in a dark, tiny hospice room for four years. On the morning of March 18, Terri was sitting up in a chair, unhooked to machines of any kind. Her aunt and sister were visiting. As Terri listened to them talk, she was smiling. She had no idea that the State of Florida was about to dehydrate her to death. Lawless is a true crime podcast that examines a frightening fact of American life: That not every crime is against the law. Season 1 investigates a story that in 2005 riveted the world: the case of Terri Schiavo, a brain-injured woman whose husband and parents fought a bitter legal war over Terri’s right to die, or.... right to live.

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Episode 1: Thunderstorm (Prologue)

You may remember the Terri Schiavo case as a bitter public feud over a severely disabled woman’s right to die...or right to live. As Terri’s husband, Michael Schiavo, sought to end her life, the case ignited a national firestorm that pulled in Congress, the American president, and even the Pope.

By March 18, 2005, Terri had lived alone in a dark, tiny hospice room for four years. That morning, she was sitting up in a chair, unhooked to machines of any kind. Her aunt and sister were visiting. As Terri listened to them talk, she smiled. She had no idea that the State of Florida was about to dehydrate her to death.

This episode was updated/remastered March 2025.