| Should suicide be a criminal offence? | |
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+8MandyPerfumeGirl Forgiveness Man Nystyle709 femme fatale Tony Marino Supernova Shale Chris 12 posters |
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Chris Chamber Admin.
Join date : 2010-01-30 Location : Oak Park, Michigan Posts : 23201 Rep : 330
| Subject: Should suicide be a criminal offence? Tue Nov 02, 2010 8:16 am | |
| If a person kills someone else, or attempts, that is illegal. They'll be charged with murder, attempted murder, manslaughter, etc., etc.
That being said, do you think the law ought to make suicide a criminal offense? Obviously you can't penalize someone who completes the act, but let's say someone attempts suicide and fails, should they law step in and penalize them in some way (with fines, community service, or something like *mandatory* counseling and psych evaluations?) | |
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Shale ...is a Chamber Royal.
Join date : 2010-09-27 Location : Miami Beach Posts : 9699 Rep : 219
| Subject: Re: Should suicide be a criminal offence? Tue Nov 02, 2010 9:13 am | |
| The laws are already mired in religious bias against suicide, hence the big controversy over assisted suicide, which I think should be anyone's choice when faced with certain end-life or debilitation.
There should be no law against attempted suicide unless the attempt endangers others and those endangerments are covered by other laws already. Forcing a failed attempter into psych counseling might be a good idea, but incarceration will not likely do any good for the person.
When I was a cop in New Orleans I once wrestled a guy down who was about to jump in the river. (The Mississippi at New Orleans is a killer with a 30 MPH current and undertows) I arrested him and he was supposed to be held for psych eval, but when I showed up for court, he had already been cut loose. It was an obvious administrative screw up, typical of the poorly run city of New Orleans (The City that Forgot to Care). Coulda been one of those personal dramas for attention and he was not planning on killing himself after all. So, in that case maybe some time in the slammer would be a preventive. But first he should have been seen by a shrink to determine if his "attempt" was sincere. | |
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Supernova The Book Chamber
Join date : 2010-06-22 Posts : 11954 Rep : 182
| Subject: Re: Should suicide be a criminal offence? Tue Nov 02, 2010 10:30 am | |
| I don't get that, HOW can suicide be illegal? I never got that, it made no sense. SUICIDE, is illegal, so if you succeed they can't do anything with you anyway because you're already dead. And it's certainly NOT like people never commit suicide in prison, think about it, yeah they take your belt and your shoelaces but they leave you a bedsheet. | |
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Tony Marino …is a Global Moderator.
Join date : 2010-01-31 Location : New York Posts : 26786 Rep : 607
| Subject: Re: Should suicide be a criminal offence? Tue Nov 02, 2010 11:37 am | |
| No there should be no law against someone that tries to commit suicide, what they should do is get them professional help so that they won't do it again, not prosecute them into further desperation or depression.
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femme fatale …is a Power Member.
Join date : 2010-06-30 Posts : 1160 Rep : 46
| Subject: Re: Should suicide be a criminal offence? Tue Nov 02, 2010 2:47 pm | |
| - Chris wrote:
- If a person kills someone else, or attempts, that is illegal. They'll be charged with murder, attempted murder, manslaughter, etc., etc.
That being said, do you think the law ought to make suicide a criminal offense? Obviously you can't penalize someone who completes the act, but let's say someone attempts suicide and fails, should they law step in and penalize them in some way (with fines, community service, or something like *mandatory* counseling and psych evaluations?) I don't think a fine or community service will help and in such instances there should be empathy to someone's plight, but mandatory counseling I can see. Maybe assign anyone who makes a documented suicide attempt a case worker, and put a lean on their legal privileges (like driving) per their progress. | |
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Nystyle709 ...is a 20G Chamber DIETY.
Join date : 2010-03-16 Location : New York Posts : 27030 Rep : 339
| Subject: Re: Should suicide be a criminal offence? Tue Nov 02, 2010 5:16 pm | |
| I don't know what they do elsewhere....but in NY....if you tried to jump off of a bridge and they have to talk you down, you make a big spectacle of trying to kill yourself and they have to stop you, you will go to Bellevue. It's not an option. No, I don't think there needs to be a law prosecuting people who attempt suicide. They need help, not punishment. | |
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Forgiveness Man …is a Chamber Royal.
Join date : 2010-06-25 Location : Chilling on your sofa Posts : 6657 Rep : 153
| Subject: Re: Should suicide be a criminal offence? Tue Nov 02, 2010 5:20 pm | |
| They should get professional help and be required to repair any damage that may have resulted from their failed attempt, but arresting them isn't exactly going to remedy their problems much. | |
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MandyPerfumeGirl …is a Power Member.
Join date : 2010-05-31 Location : Illinois Posts : 1273 Rep : 26
| Subject: Re: Should suicide be a criminal offence? Tue Nov 02, 2010 10:08 pm | |
| No, those who attempt suicide should not be penalized. It's their body, their life, they can do what they want.
If counseling or therapy was imposed on them, I'm not sure how much impact that would have on their lives - after all, suicide is the final option for most people and chances are they've already thought of that and for some reason or other it doesn't work for them. The other thing with forced counseling and therapy is that a person who needs help cannot be helped unless they want it themselves. That's not to say I'm against the idea totally, I'm just questioning it.
But imposing other things on them like fines or community service? No, that's ridiculous, that's not going to help them any. | |
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Jason B. …is a Power Member.
Join date : 2010-02-11 Posts : 2967 Rep : 70
| Subject: Re: Should suicide be a criminal offence? Tue Nov 02, 2010 10:12 pm | |
| No but I think they should be legally remanded to a psych ward for X amount of time. Most people who try suicide are really just crying out for help anyway, so help them. | |
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Alan Smithee ...is a 20G Chamber DIETY.
Join date : 2010-09-03 Location : 40º44’18.33”N 73º58’31.82”W Posts : 25792 Rep : 381
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Alan Smithee ...is a 20G Chamber DIETY.
Join date : 2010-09-03 Location : 40º44’18.33”N 73º58’31.82”W Posts : 25792 Rep : 381
| Subject: Re: Should suicide be a criminal offence? Wed Nov 03, 2010 7:54 am | |
| - Supernova wrote:
- I don't get that, HOW can suicide be illegal? I never got that, it made no sense. SUICIDE, is illegal, so if you succeed they can't do anything with you anyway because you're already dead. And it's certainly NOT like people never commit suicide in prison, think about it, yeah they take your belt and your shoelaces but they leave you a bedsheet.
It's illegal because it's still "murder", self-murder. Of course if you succeed, the law can’t prosecute because the victim was also the perpetrator and if you fail, as others have already said, it doesn’t help the problem if you’re charged with attempted murder. Though I supposed that has happened somewhere. | |
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Marc™ …is a Chamber DEITY.
Join date : 2010-01-30 Location : Michigan Posts : 12006 Rep : 212
| Subject: Re: Should suicide be a criminal offence? Wed Nov 03, 2010 8:58 am | |
| I think attempted suicide should come with mandatory time in a sanitarium, and that it should be a permanent splotch on your medical records (assuming that they don't do that already.) And if the attempted was an adult, they should be declared legally incompetent for at least six months to a year. While I wouldn't treat someone who wanted out of life like a criminal, I do think that....from a legal standpoint....empathetic "tough love" should be enacted to get their head back on straight....because chances are, if they tried before, they'll try again. Don't just calm them down, pump their stomach, and then let 'em go on their marry way. | |
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RedBedroom …is a Chamber DEITY.
Join date : 2010-02-18 Posts : 10696 Rep : 312
| Subject: Re: Should suicide be a criminal offence? Wed Nov 03, 2010 6:01 pm | |
| I agree with everyone who said they need help, not legal trouble. But I must add that if their attempt racks up a lot of money in the police having to get them off a ledge or something like that, they should have to pay some of that money back. | |
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