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From: mjc@cmu-cs-cad.ARPA (Monica Cellio)
Newsgroups: net.suicide
Subject: Re: Is suicide an attempt of murder?
Message-ID: <239@cmu-cs-cad.ARPA>
Date: Tue, 15-Jan-85 22:33:43 EST
Article-I.D.: cmu-cs-c.239
Posted: Tue Jan 15 22:33:43 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 20-Jan-85 00:34:27 EST
Organization: Carnegie-Mellon University, CS/RI
Lines: 37

I read this several years ago, so my memory might be fuzzy, but...

1. Historically, suicide was illegal (when?  don't recall).  The penalty was
death (!).  This actually isn't as backward as it sounds; a public execution
was humiliating for the family, and automatically meant that the
state/king/etc claimed the criminal's land, money, etc.  

2. In (something like) 9 states in the U.S., it is illegal to attempt
suicide.  I expect that this is never enforced, and I don't know what the
penalties are.  Of course, on a wider scale a would-be suicide loses anyway,
since it is trivial to get that person locked up for a long, long time.
[Flame later, maybe, on this point.]

3. I think it is illegal in every state to aid someone in committing suicide.
I don't know if passive aid (failing to interfere) falls under this category,
or whether any of this is actually enforced.  Come to think of it, might this
be where the anti-euthenasia people get their legal backing?  [Digression:
there are two kinds of euthenasia, active (say, giving the person a lethal
injection) and passive (removing all support and letting him die).  While I
think the latter is starting to get a bit of support, there seem to be an
awful lot of people who oppose the former, including most judges from what I
can gather.]

I've known quite a few people who have attempted to kill themselves (all in
the U.S.), and none of them was ever prosecuted.  On the other hand, many
were committed, which is probably worse.  At least prison guards can't say,
"I think we'll keep you here a while longer."  Doctors can, and it takes the
cooperation of someone on the outside to beat the system.  (Ever try to call
the ACLU from inside a mental hospital?)  While things are not on the order 
of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", they aren't real good and there is
plenty of room for improvement in the system.  It is still a form of
punishment much more than it is a form of rehabilitation, though.

							-Dragon
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