Rational Suicide, Irrational Laws American Psychology- Law Society Series Series Editor The Psychology of Judicial Patricia A. Zapf Decision- Making Edited by David Klein and Editorial Board Gregory Mitchell Gail S. Goodman Thomas Grisso The Miranda Ruling: Its Past, Present, Craig Haney and Future Kirk Heilbrun Lawrence S. Wrightsman and John Monahan Mary L. Pitman Marlene Moretti Juveniles at Risk: A Plea for Edward P. Mulvey Preventive Justice J. Don Read Christopher Slobogin and N. Dickon Reppucci Mark R. Fondacaro Ronald Roesch The Ethics of Total Confinement Gary L. Wells Bruce A. Arrigo, Heather Y. Bersot, Lawrence S. Wrightsman and Brian G. Sellers Books in the Series International Human Rights and Trial Consulting Mental Disability Law Amy J. Posey and Michael L. Perlin Lawrence S. Wrightsman Applying Social Science to Reduce Death by Design Violent Offending Craig Haney Edited by Joel Dvoskin, Jennifer Psychological Injuries L. Skeem, Raymond W. Novaco, William J. Koch, Kevin S. Douglas, and Kevin S. Douglas Tonia L. Nicholls, and Children Who Resist Postseparation Melanie L. O’Neill Parental Contact Emergency Department Treatment Barbara Jo Fidler, Nicholas Bala, of the Psychiatric Patient and Michael A. Saini Susan Stefan Trauma, Stress, and Wellbeing in The Psychology of the Supreme Court the Legal System Lawrence S. Wrightsman Edited by Monica K. Miller and Proving the Unprovable Brian H. Bornstein Christopher Slobogin Psychology, Law, and the Wellbeing Adolescents, Media, and the Law of Children Roger J.R. Levesque Edited by Monica K. Miller, Jared C. Chamberlain, and Twila Wingrove Oral Arguments Before the Supreme Court Murder in the Courtroom: The Lawrence S. Wrightsman Cognitive Neuroscience God in the Courtroom of Violence Brian H. Bornstein and Brigitte Vallabhajosula Monica K. Miller Rational Suicide, Irrational Expert Testimony on the Psychology Laws: Examining Current Approaches of Eyewitness Identification to Suicide in Policy and Law Edited by Brian L. Cutler Susan Stefan Rational Suicide, Irrational Laws Examining Current Approaches to Suicide in Policy and Law Susan Stefan 1 1 Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and certain other countries. Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, United States of America. © Oxford University Press 2016 First Edition published in 2016 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, by license, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reproduction rights organization. Inquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above. You must not circulate this work in any other form and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer. Cataloging-in-Publication data is on file at the Library of Congress ISBN 978– 0– 19– 998119– 9 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed by Webcom, Canada Estragon: I can’t go on like this. Vladimir: That’s what you think. —Samuel Becket (Waiting for Godot, 1954) Excerpts from WAITING FOR GODOT, copyright ©1954 by Grove Press Inc., Copyright © renewed 1982 by Samuel Beckett. Used by permission of Grove/ Atlantic Inc. Any third- party use of this material, outside of this publication, is prohibited. Concurrent permission provided by Faber and Faber Limited. To my mother, Gabrielle Stefan (June 13, 1917– August 20, 2006): I told you that I could not live without you, and I was right. For more than three thousand days now, I have been unable to live without you. To my husband Wes, my best friend Jamie, and my sister Didi: In the darkness, you have always been the lights along the shore. And to all the people reading this who cannot go on living, and do, Especially to the people kind enough to share their stories with me: I hope that this book does you the justice you deserve. I am glad you are still here. Contents Series Foreword  xi Acknowledgments  xiii Introduction  xv 1. “Sane” and “Insane” Suicide: The Law of Competence  1 2. The Right to Die, Involuntary Commitment, and the Constitution  52 3. Assisted Suicide in the States  124 4. International Perspectives in Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia  179 5. Assisted Suicide and the Medical Profession  221 6. Mental Health Professionals and Suicide  270 7. Types of Suicide  319 8. Discrimination on the Basis of Suicidality  372 9. Prevention and Treatment: Policy and Legal Barriers  412 ix