suicide

[Curious Cat]

However, some people have medical problems so bad that death really isn't actually that bad of an alternative. Modern medical technology often means that you can add months to someones life, but at the cost of the person being in terrible pain. Some people feel that death is better than spending a few agony ridden months in a hospital at great cost to their relatives. These people should be allowed to avoid suffering if they should choose.

yet its still against the law?

Yes, you can. Murder is the taking of life outside of the legal definition of justifiable homicide, you are not acting in self defense, so you are essentially the victim and perpetrator of the same crime. I am not on either side of the fence on this debate and both sides make good points, however the above logic is exactly how it works.

and what exactly is the above logic???

 

[Spartacus FPV]

If I have a clone, and kill him, is that suicide?

 

[LaMidRighter]

and what exactly is the above logic???

Devil's advocate mode there. Here's the way it works homicide is the taking of a human life in the eyes of the law, criminal charges come in when the homicide is not justifiable, such as murder, manslaughter, negligent homicide, etc. justifiable homicide falls into different catagories depending on the state, but they always require some form of defensive motive. Suicide does not fall into the justifiable catagory in any of the 50 states as of my knowledge(I could be wrong on that), it's justice system logic, not my own. I think the assisted suicide debate is a relevent one, I don't even know my own stance on it to be honest as both sides have very good points, I think for people who can be saved though, we should be extremely vigilant about that.

 

[Curious Cat]

If I have a clone, and kill him, is that suicide?

no, you are no killing yourself, you are merely ridding the world of a secondary image of yourself.

 

[LaMidRighter]

If I have a clone, and kill him, is that suicide?

What a silly question, OF COURSE IT IS!:2razz: Just joking, that's a damn good one, philosophy mode on now.

 

[Curious Cat]

the homicide is not justifiable, such as murder, manslaughter, negligent homicide, etc.

justifiable homicide falls into different catagories depending on the state, but they always require some form of defensive motive. Suicide does not fall into the justifiable catagory in any of the 50 states as of my knowledge(I could be wrong on that), it's justice system logic, not my own. I think the assisted suicide debate is a relevent one, I don't even know my own stance on it to be honest as both sides have very good points, I think for people who can be saved though, we should be extremely vigilant about that.

isnt manslaughter on accident??? if its proven to be not murder and just manslaughter, why do people still get punished? they didnt mean to...

why doesnt it? what if it is defensive? say for someone else? if the person occasionally had moments of being crazy, and the person didnt want to hurt the people they care about...???

 

[CaptainCourtesy]

If I have a clone, and kill him, is that suicide?

No. Since you do not occupy the same space, you are separate entities. I don't know what it would be, but it would not fit the definition of suicide.

My question is this. If you had a clone...how would you feel about that? :2razz:

 

[LaMidRighter]

isnt manslaughter on accident??? if its proven to be not murder and just manslaughter, why do people still get punished? they didnt mean to...

Not necessarily, manslaughter is a lesser charge, it can be willfull, such as a "heat of the moment" kill during a fight, finding your signifigant other in the middle of cheating, PMS(which has been a successful defense in court) etc. Negligent manslaughter is an accident, examples would be drunk driving accident with fatality, or reckless operation with accident, etc.

why doesnt it? what if it is defensive? say for someone else? if the person occasionally had moments of being crazy, and the person didnt want to hurt the people they care about...???

It would be a good argument in court for an attempted suicide, but then that would still give the court the right to have the defendant committed to a mental institution rather than criminal punishment.

 

[LaMidRighter]

No. Since you do not occupy the same space, you are separate entities. I don't know what it would be, but it would not fit the definition of suicide.
My question is this. If you had a clone...how would you feel about that? :2razz:

geneticide considering you and the clone are essentially the same person.

 

[Curious Cat]

Not necessarily, manslaughter is a lesser charge, it can be willfull, such as a "heat of the moment" kill during a fight, finding your signifigant other in the middle of cheating, PMS(which has been a successful defense in court) etc. Negligent manslaughter is an accident, examples would be drunk driving accident with fatality, or reckless operation with accident, etc.

It would be a good argument in court for an attempted suicide, but then that would still give the court the right to have the defendant committed to a mental institution rather than criminal punishment.

i suppose.

what happens with negligent manslaughter? like what are the punishments for that?

 

[Edify_Always_In_All_Ways]

geneticide considering you and the clone are essentially the same person.

Unless the clone's life was the same as his to the last detail, they'd be very different people, and killing any human being that isn't you is still murder. I think that attempted suicide is fine, so long as you're 18 and you don't want to press charges against yourself. As for real suicide, there isn't much left to judge.

 

[ADK_Forever]

Suicide being illegal sounded like one of those urban legends to me. So, I looked into it.

From: Is it legal to commit suicide?- ABA Family Legal Guide

Is it legal to commit suicide?

It is not against the law to commit, or to attempt to commit, suicide. The rationale is that suicide is usually prompted by a mental illness and people should not be criminally punished for being mentally disabled.

From: WikiAnswers - Why is it illegal for people to kill themselves

In the United States of America it is not illegal to commit suicide. None of the fifty states has a law which makes suicide illegal. No federal law prohibits suicide. (Several of the states have laws which prohibit assisting a suicide.)

Some history on suicide laws:
From: [ame=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_views_of_suicide]Legal views of suicide - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]

Historically, various states listed the act as a felony, but all were reluctant to enforce it. By 1963, six states still considered attempted suicide a crime (North and South Dakota, Washington, New Jersey, Nevada, and Oklahoma that repealed its law in 1976). By the early 1990s only two US states still listed suicide as a crime, and these have since removed that classification.

In some U.S. states, suicide is still considered an unwritten "common law crime," that is, a crime based on the law of old England as stated in Blackstone's Commentaries. (So held the Virginia Supreme Court in Wackwitz v. Roy in 1992.) As a common law crime, suicide can bar recovery for the family of the suicidal person in a lawsuit unless the suicidal person can be proven to have been "of unsound mind." That is, the suicide must be proven to have been an involuntary, not voluntary, act of the victim in order for the family to be awarded money damages by the court.

There is not a law, per se, that is used by insurance companies allowing them to not pay out upon suicide. We know a woman who did collect on her husband's life insurance policy after he did himself in. You, or your insurance company, can write anything into a policy as long as you both agree to it.

 

[LaMidRighter]

i suppose.

what happens with negligent manslaughter? like what are the punishments for that?

Not sure in every state, here it's a maximum 20 years and I think 5 have to be served.

 

[LaMidRighter]

Unless the clone's life was the same as his to the last detail, they'd be very different people, and killing any human being that isn't you is still murder. I think that attempted suicide is fine, so long as you're 18 and you don't want to press charges against yourself. As for real suicide, there isn't much left to judge.

I agree with you, now it's time for those that write the law to see that point.

 

[Jerry]

Moderator's Warning:

I do not think this is a Conspiracy Theory in any way. Moving it to Law and Order.

He's trying to get us to kill ourselves after reading his posts :lol: