About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

6 Washburn L.J. 395 (1966-1967)
Medical-Legal Aspects of Suicide

handle is hein.journals/wasbur6 and id is 399 raw text is: ASPECTS OV SUICID MEDICAL-LEGAL ASPECTS OF SUICIDE By ROBERT E. LITMAN, M. D.* The purpose of this communication is to survey the changing legal as- pects of suicide and their relationships to psychiatric practice. Society is tending to view suicide less as a sin or crime, and more as an unfortunate consequence of mental illness and social isolation. Social and judicial atti- tudes regarding suicides have been gradually turning away from assessing guilt and enforcing punishment, toward protecting suicidal persons, when possible, and compensating the victims of suicide deaths. SUICIDE AS A CRIME For centuries, English law designated suicide as a special crime pun- ished by mutilation of the body, sanctions on the place and manner of burial, forfeiture of property, and censure of the family. It is questionable whether these laws were effective in preventing suicide. Possibly they tended to decrease the frequency of nonlethal suicide attempts. It became apparent that in order to bypass the excessive penalties, self-deaths were often labeled something other than suicide, and most suicide attempts were not reported. In Britain, the penal sanctions against suicide were gradually modified, and by 1962 the last of them had been repealed. It should be emphasized that suicide is not against the law in most parts of the United States of America. According to written reports from the Attorney General of each of the states (in 1964), there are only nine states -Alabama, Kentucky, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Okla- homa, South Carolina, South Dakota, Washington-in which suicide is a crime. Since such punishments as mutilation of bodies or forfeiture of estates are repugnant to the American spirit, no penalty is provided for breaking the law against suicide, but in these states suicide attempts are felonies or misdemeanors and could result in jail sentences, although the laws are seldom enforced. In recent times, two states (Nevada, New York) repealed such laws, stating in effect that suicide is a grave social wrong, but there is no way to punish it. Twenty-three states have no penal statutes referring to suicide. Eighteen states-Alaska, Arkansas, California, Florida, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Mis- ouri, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Wisconsin, Wy- oming-have no laws against suicide or suicide attempts but they specify that it is a felony to aid, advise or encourage another person to commit suicide. *Chief Psychiatrist, Suicide Prevention Center, Los Angeles, California. 19671

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most