garry@batcomputer.TN.CORNELL.EDU (Garry Wiegand) (03/21/86)
Why on earth is suicide still illegal??? Morally, it seems similar to the abortion controversy in that there is a right to privacy and control of oneself that is opposed to a societal view that "this is a bad thing." Is it the religious view that "suicide is murder [of yourself]" just as it is said "abortion is murder [of the fetus]"?? What is the theological rationale? (Are there Western/ Christian religions that hold it *not* to be a sin?) Legally, it seems silly. Do (presumably unsuccessful) suiciders *ever* get prosecuted in the United States? If not, why is there a law on the subject? Is there any state in which the law reckons an attempted suicide as an automatic proof of insanity (as opposed to reckoning it a crime?) Is there any state in which suicide is legal? What is the moral and legal status of someone who *abets* a suicide? Is suicide itself a legal crime just so assistants (doctors, relatives, etc) can be prosecuted under the statutes relating to "aiding the commission of a felony"? Are there states in which the act itself is legal but aiding in it is not? Vice versa? And is there any theological distinction between suiciding and aiding a suicide? Lastly, does anyone have personal experience with the long arm of the law? I'm interested because to me the illegality of suicide seems like a civil-rights question -- one that's never been addressed by liberal politics. I'm posting this to net.suicide, net.legal, and net.religion, and I'm directing followups to net.suicide. garry wiegand garry%cadif-oak@cu-arpa.cs.cornell.edu
steve@bambi.UUCP (Steve Miller) (03/23/86)
> Why on earth is suicide still illegal??? > > Legally, it seems silly. Do (presumably unsuccessful) suiciders *ever* > get prosecuted in the United States? If not, why is there a law on the > subject? Is there any state in which the law reckons an attempted > suicide as an automatic proof of insanity (as opposed to reckoning it > a crime?) Is there any state in which suicide is legal? > Jack Moore, a New Jersey attorney tells us: Suicide is still illegal because its accomplishment increases the probablility that others will commit the act. Assuming that the number of suicides increases, the level of organization, productivity, etc., in society generally decreases, affecting individuals adversely. Legally it's NOT silly because the laws on suicide deter people from exhorting others to commit the act for fear of prosecution for complicity. And people ARE prosecuted for this kind of accomplice liability, even if only at the complaint stage of criminal procedings. For example: If X tells Y "Go ahead, take this poison and end your misery," and if Y fails, and the complaint is brought against X, X is less likely to encourage Y to repeat the attempt. And to some degree, it lowers the probability that Y will do so. (How refreshing to get an answer from a REAL lawyer, don't you think?) -Steve Miller ihnp4!bambi!steve
desj@brahms.BERKELEY.EDU (David desJardins) (03/23/86)
In article <430@batcomputer.TN.CORNELL.EDU> garry%cadif-oak@cu-arpa.cornell.edu.arpa writes: >Why on earth is suicide still illegal??? > >Legally, it seems silly. Do (presumably unsuccessful) suiciders *ever* >get prosecuted in the United States? If not, why is there a law on the >subject? Is there any state in which the law reckons an attempted >suicide as an automatic proof of insanity (as opposed to reckoning it >a crime?) Is there any state in which suicide is legal? The reason for making suicide a crime is to give the government (i.e. the police) the authority to try to prevent it. I don't know whether I agree with this or not, but this is clearly the rationale. I don't think people are often prosecuted, but note that charging an individual with such a crime gives the police the authority to detain him (to seek appropriate care and to prevent a repeated attempt). -- David desJardins
ferris@tcville.UUCP (Mark Ferris) (03/28/86)
C'mon people, this subject can't really be construed as a topic for
humor. I would imagine that the majority of readers of net.suicide
have at one point gone through a depressing enough period of their
life that the word "suicide" at least went through their head.
For those who have made it through that time and looking back
realized how silly the notion of suicide actually is and how easy
it may have been to go through with it, suicide is not funny.
I know that joking about things often makes it easier to deal
with. I disagree that that is something we want to do.
Completely aside from any issues of legality, I believe strongly
that suicide is morally wrong (look at 1 Kings and how God dealt
with Elijiah went he said it would be better for him to die), and
am convinced that no problem is _objectively_ that great that
suicide is the only way out (granted it may be the easy way
out). (many, many supporting points and reasons are left out
of that statment, but I'll leave it as is)
Primarily because suicide seems to be on the rise, particularly
among teenagers, I think the issue is one to be examined gravely
in light of why people do commit suicide, and why they though there
was no other solution. Why do I read net.suicide? Certainly not
to read jokes about it. I have a certain personal interest in
depression and suicide, and I'm interested in how people have
coped with and survived (not suicide explicitly, but the temptation
to).
I'm not sure, but I think I'm done for now.
mdf
--
Mark Ferris Proverbs 2:7
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