# another suicide legality question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 29, 2009, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-suicide-legality-question/504644 "2009-07-29T05:51:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Janeqpublic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Janeqpublic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Janeqpublic)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-suicide-legality-question/504644/1 "2009-07-29T05:51:42Z")
Hello, So Ive read and understand the premise that laws of old made suicide illegal and therefore a punishable offence. But in todays laws, is it still illegal in the united states to commit suicide or attempt it? If you try to kill yourself, do the men in the white jackets have a legal right to cart you off? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-suicide-legality-question/504644/2 "2009-07-29T06:00:35Z")
[Depends if you have an ‘unsound mind’ or not.](http://www.jaapl.org/cgi/content/full/33/2/176) > [@](#): > > However tempting it may be psychiatrically to classify all attempts to commit suicide as the irrational product of mentally disordered behavior, the law asks the assistance of forensic mental health experts in distinguishing those suicides that result from a sound mind from those that result from an unsound mind. Unless or until the criminal law is reformed to decriminalize suicide and insurance law is reformed to limit exclusion of coverage for self-destructive acts, the legal construct of “sound” and “unsound mind” applied to suicide cases softens the impact of harsh legal rules that would otherwise deny recovery of claims of malpractice resulting in a suicide or claims after the death of an insured. See also; > **[Suicide legislation | United States](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_views_of_suicide#United_States)** > > In the United States, some topics are determined by federal law whereas others differ across states. The information on suicide prevention legislation will be discussed at the federal level first and will be followed by those states that have some form of legislation. > In 2004, Congress passed the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act (GLSMA). The GLSMA made federal funding available for the first time to states, tribes, and colleges across the nation to implement community-based youth and young adult s... > [@](#): > > 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,” … > 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 ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-suicide-legality-question/504644/3 "2009-07-29T06:10:05Z")
> [@Janeqpublic](#): > > . . . But in todays laws, is it still illegal in the united states to commit suicide or attempt it? It depends, I suspect, on which of the United States you have in mind. According to Wikipedia, all of the states which had statutes criminalising suicide have repealed or amended them. But suicide was originally a crime at common law, and there may still be an argument, especially in jurisdictions which never dealt with the matter by statute and therefore had no suicide statute to amend or repeal, that it still is. > [@Janeqpublic](#): > > If you try to kill yourself, do the men in the white jackets have a legal right to cart you off? Completely different question, since being committed as an involuntary psychiatric patient has nothing to do with whether you have committed a crime. Rules vary from place to place, but in general mental health laws allow involuntary committal on the basis of a two-part test. First, you must have a mental illness. Secondly, you must be a danger to yourself or others. (Plus, of course, there is a procedure to be followed.) Somebody who attempts suicide is clearly a danger to themvelves, but is not necessarily mentally ill. Somebody who is mentally ill, and who attempts suicide, can probably be committed in most jurisdictions. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-suicide-legality-question/504644/4 "2009-07-29T06:10:31Z")
[The Master speaks - is suicide against the law?](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2501/is-suicide-against-the-law) ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-suicide-legality-question/504644/5 "2009-07-29T06:45:34Z")
I read in the old days the illegality of suicide or attempted suicide was used to force people into mental health clinics. In other words, the judge gave you a choice, go to therapy or jail. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-suicide-legality-question/504644/6 "2009-07-29T07:09:28Z")
When my first attempt at suicide failed, I was put under observation in the nut ward for either 21 or 27 days, I forget which it was. But I wasn’t charged with a crime. The second time, I was able to convince the medical staff that I hadn’t realized I had ODed; they sent me home but they were still suspicious. But I’m feeling much better now.