Also known as: death by her own hand · death by his own hand · deaths by one's own hand · suicide · self-inflicted death
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
The intentional causation of one's own death by direct action.
Damian Decker, delirious from medication, threatened to jump from his hospital window. Nurse Devon Drake locked the door and windows to stop him. Drake faced no liability for the restraint because the intervention prevented apparent self-harm.
Diana Delgado, in a persistent vegetative state after an accident, had previously stated she would not want artificial nutrition. Her family directed withdrawal of the feeding tube. The hospital complied, resulting in death by one's own hand through refusal of treatment rather than active assistance.
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David Dawson was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. He argued the penalty constituted cruel and unusual punishment. The Court upheld the sentence, distinguishing state execution from death by one's own hand.
Deborah Dunn raped and murdered a child. The state sought the death penalty. The Court ruled the sentence unconstitutional for a non-homicide offense, preserving the distinction between execution and death by one's own hand.
Darrell Duncan challenged a state law criminalizing contraceptive use. The Court dismissed the case on justiciability grounds, leaving intact statutes that also addressed suicide and death by one's own hand.
Dominion Capital employee Devon Drake killed a coworker during a psychotic episode. The court applied the Durham test and found the act resulted from mental disease, excusing liability even though the conduct involved risk of death by one's own hand.
Yes. When the declarant has died by suicide and is unavailable, a note that admits personal wrongdoing is admissible under the statement-against-interest exception if it exposes the declarant to civil or criminal liability and is corroborated by the circumstances of its making.
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A third party may use reasonable force without consent when the circumstances reasonably indicate an imminent risk of self-harm. The privilege arises independently of consent and is illustrated by locking doors to stop a delirious person from jumping or restraining an agitated patient who removes medical equipment.
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No. States may prohibit physician-assisted suicide because they have legitimate interests in preserving life, preventing suicide, protecting the vulnerable, and maintaining the integrity of the medical profession. Such bans satisfy rational-basis review.
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…Oath was not uncontested even in Hippocrates' day; only the Pythagorean school of philosophers frowned upon the related act of suicide. Most Greek thinkers, on the other hand, commended abortion, at least prior to viability. See Plato, Republic, V, 461; Aristotle, Politics, VII, 1335b 25. For the Pythagoreans, however, it…