Resolved: Suicide ought to be a crime.

[Quintus Ennius]

I'm doing a paper on this for my debate class and I would like to hear some more opinions.

[KCurtis]

I'm doing a paper on this for my debate class and I would like to hear some more opinions.
Well, if one committed suicide how would that person be charged with a crime? Give him/her the death penalty? :lol:

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

Suicide being a crime is one of the most ludicrous ideas imaginable. The purpose ofma crime is to keep people from doing something because they will face punishment. What punishment can someone who's committed suicide possibly receive?

I think a better debate would be the morality of suicide.

[smerdyakov]

Well it's a moot question cos if you do it, you're not gonna be around to give a sh!t either way.

[Delta40]

Insurance companies consider it a crime.

[Darcy88]

Suicide being a crime is one of the most ludicrous ideas imaginable. The purpose ofma crime is to keep people from doing something because they will face punishment. What punishment can someone who's committed suicide possibly receive?

I think a better debate would be the morality of suicide.

Agreed. Also I'm pretty sure they define the suicidal state of mind as irrational and insane, so holding someone criminally responsible for committing the act really is ludicrous.

[smerdyakov]

Also, (if anyone really cares) the catholic church won't give you a proper burial/ceremony whatever if you take your own life.

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

Yeah, well the catholic church is insane.

[Charles Darnay]

Suicide as a crime = blaming the person who commits suicide for the act.

This is exactly the vindication that certain persons of the United States are currently using in the face of accusations for causing a series of teen suicides in the past few years.

Creating suicide as a crime completely negates the fact that suicide is often the result of another crime, whether is a "legal crime" like sexual assault, or an unrecognized crime like bullying.

[smerdyakov]

Yeah, well the catholic church is insane.

Insane, no. Retrograde, yes.

[AuntShecky]

The reply numbered #2 is absolutely correct.

Unless the suicide is "successful" there is no crime; hence, no punishment.
Do you mean suicide attempts should be punished? Or shouldn't be
interpreted as a desperate cry for help?

[PMLondonderry]

Well, if one committed suicide how would that person be charged with a crime? Give him/her the death penalty? :lol:

I was wondering this exact thing. :lol:

Honestly, I feel that answer is perfectly legitimate as much as it may be sarcastic. How can something be a crime when it can't be punished? You can't punish someone for committing suicide. They're already dead.

As for punishing those who attempt suicide, our justice system already incarcerates people with illness and then throws them back out into the world with no psychological help. Instead of criminalizing people who attempt suicide, get them some real help. Jail, in many cases, is just an expensive excuse to lock someone away without actually doing anything to help them out.

[Arrowni]

Only a country with no social security sponsored by the goverment would consider the possibility of making suicide a crime, because otherwise it saves tax money.

[BienvenuJDC]

I really think that more attention should be focused on helping the poor souls who are so depressed about something that they want to take their own life. It seems that the government is so concerned about the action, but they care nothing about the cause. It is okay that someone is living in such a state AS LONG AS they don't try to commit suicide.

[BienvenuJDC]

Only a country with no social security sponsored by the goverment would consider the possibility of making suicide a crime, because otherwise it saves tax money.

Yes, because those countries that DO have a social security sponsored by the government would prefer that another recipient of a government check would be taken off the roster. Governments don't care about people. "Let them die if they are too much of a burden."

[OrphanPip]

Well in Canada at least, if you survive a suicide attempt, you are institutionalized for a maximum of 3 days, until it can be determined whether you are a risk to the community, then you are released. Therapy will be provided to you on an outpatient basis if you consent to it, but legally you can not be forced to receive treatment, which makes the question of treating mental illness difficult.

People who are clinically depressed can not be completely trusted to make a rational decision about their health in all cases. However, legally, it is difficult to justify imposing treatment except at a point where taking their life is imminent. This is why we have those occasional cases of people with untreated mental illnesses committing murders or other crimes. And what constitutes mental illness is also in part a matter of social construct rather than an objective fact. There is no prototypical "ill" brain that can be identified, eccentricity or difference is not reason enough to criminalized certain bodies/brains.

Moreover, what do we do about the issue of freedom of choice and self-determination. One has the right to refuse medical treatment and die on your own terms, yet it is illegal to help someone take their own life if they are too incapacitated to do so on their own. A great deal of legal debate has surrounded providing "suicide machines" to terminally ill patients. Is it still assisting a suicide to set up a machine where the patient needs only press a button to kill themselves? Is assisted suicide and euthanasia the same thing?

[JuniperWoolf]

Apparently in Canada if we commit suicide our family members still get our life insurance too (I googled it just now) unless you kill yourself within less than two years of getting insured. I guess that makes sense.

[KCurtis]

Well in Canada at least, if you survive a suicide attempt, you are institutionalized for a maximum of 3 days, until it can be determined whether you are a risk to the community, then you are released. Therapy will be provided to you on an outpatient basis if you consent to it, but legally you can not be forced to receive treatment, which makes the question of treating mental illness difficult.

People who are clinically depressed can not be completely trusted to make a rational decision about their health in all cases. However, legally, it is difficult to justify imposing treatment except at a point where taking their life is imminent. This is why we have those occasional cases of people with untreated mental illnesses committing murders or other crimes. And what constitutes mental illness is also in part a matter of social construct rather than an objective fact. There is no prototypical "ill" brain that can be identified, eccentricity or difference is not reason enough to criminalized certain bodies/brains.

Moreover, what do we do about the issue of freedom of choice and self-determination. One has the right to refuse medical treatment and die on your own terms, yet it is illegal to help someone take their own life if they are too incapacitated to do so on their own. A great deal of legal debate has surrounded providing "suicide machines" to terminally ill patients. Is it still assisting a suicide to set up a machine where the patient needs only press a button to kill themselves? Is assisted suicide and euthanasia the same thing?

This is true in the U.S. as well. A suicide survivor is committed for probably three days also. And like Canada, there is free will. The government cannot protect someone from suicide. It is impossible. The hope is that people will get the help they need. But, as we all know, it is different with children, and they do receive treatment after a suicide attempt because the parents are held responsible for the follow-up. Ofcourse this does not always work, it can't.

[Darcy88]

There was an incident in my community recently where a clinically depressed guy told his sister he was going to kill himself and then left the house. Sister phoned the cops, the cops tracked him down and found him with a back-pack containing a bottle of liquor and a rope. They admitted him to the hospital but then the nurses released him, told him to come back the next day. The family was flabbergasted and spent the night awake keeping watch. Pretty messed up.

[KCurtis]

There was an incident in my community recently where a clinically depressed guy told his sister he was going to kill himself and then left the house. Sister phoned the cops, the cops tracked him down and found him with a back-pack containing a bottle of liquor and a rope. They admitted him to the hospital but then the nurses released him, told him to come back the next day. The family was flabbergasted and spent the night awake keeping watch. Pretty messed up.
Bad hospital! Someone should complain- call a newspaper, go to the hospital CEO. It's not as hard as one would think.

[Delta40]

There is currently an investigation into the local psych unit here concerning suicides. One example is a young girl who admitted herself because she was afraid she was going to kill herself. That night she attempted suicide but was released against her will the following morning and then hung herself in the park. I guess if you try to kill yourself in a psych ward you break the rules of compliance and get booted.

[Revolte]

Suicide is a crime if you fail and authorities are aware, doing time in the mental hospital is only so different then in jail. It's also one of the questions they don't lay off of when going to jail, as well as your sexual preferences and turn ons. Or so was my experience.

It should not be illegal, that is no less then disgusting. To take someones right to do what they wish to their body is to take away all reasons to be alive. Funny how that works.

[Revolte]

There is currently an investigation into the local psych unit here concerning suicides. One example is a young girl who admitted herself because she was afraid she was going to kill herself. That night she attempted suicide but was released against her will the following morning and then hung herself in the park. I guess if you try to kill yourself in a psych ward you break the rules of compliance and get booted.

Those places don't have the best rap sheet, including in present time.