Also known as: self-destruct · self-destructive · suicide
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
The intentional act of causing one's own death.
Sofia Stern, delirious after medication, climbs toward a hospital window threatening to jump. Nurse Seth Shapiro locks the window and restrains her without consent. The intervention prevents the self-destruction and shields Shapiro from battery liability.
Selena Singh, facing mounting personal debts, forges documents to obtain a large loan in her own name. When repayment becomes impossible she attempts self-destruction by overdose. The inquiry examines whether her conduct was knowing and voluntary.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Samuel Soto receives a capital sentence after conviction. He argues the punishment will result in state-ordered self-destruction of his own life. The court weighs whether the sentence violates evolving standards of decency.
Stephen Shaw elects to represent himself at trial despite warnings. The judge confirms the choice is knowing and voluntary. Shaw's decision risks self-destruction through an uninformed guilty plea but is upheld as an exercise of autonomy.
Sylvia Santos, held at Guantanamo, contests the legality of her military commission. She claims the process may lead to self-destruction by denying her any meaningful defense. The court examines whether the tribunal complies with statutory requirements.
Southland Foods employee Sylvia Santos attempts self-destruction during a psychotic episode by turning a weapon on herself. At trial she pleads insanity, arguing the act was a product of mental disease rather than voluntary self-destruction. The jury considers the causal link to her condition.
Yes. The privilege permits reasonable force to prevent a person from committing suicide or inflicting serious self-harm when immediate action is necessary.
No. States may prohibit physician-assisted suicide because they have legitimate interests in preserving life and protecting vulnerable persons.
A person who purposely aids or solicits another to commit suicide is guilty of a felony if the conduct causes the suicide or an attempted suicide.
No. Force is justifiable only when the actor believes it is immediately necessary to prevent suicide or serious self-harm.
No. A state may treat refusal of life-sustaining treatment differently from active assistance in causing death without violating equal protection.
…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…