Helping Someone Kill Himself Is Illegal, But Merely Encouraging Him to Do So Isn’t

A provision of a state assisted-suicide law making it illegal to encourage or advise someone else to commit suicide violates the First Amendment, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled March 19 (State v. Melchert-Dinkel, 2014 BL 75768, Minn., No. A11-0987).

In an opinion by Justice G. Barry Anderson, the court reversed the convictions of a former nurse who trolled suicide websites and urged two people he met online to kill themselves.

Law Sweeps Too Broadly.

A prohibition on any speech that advises or encourages suicide sweeps too broadly and would criminalize general discussions about the act of suicide, which ...