TCO Assessed

Given a carefully drawn case on a contentious subject, such as physician-assisted suicide, same-sex marriage, or genetic engineering, develop a legal opinion grounded in (U.S.) constitutional reasoning.

The Activity

• Review the Remember This box regarding the use of precedent in the U.S. court system in the Week 3 Lecture.
• Consider the following situation concerning the right to die in America.

Preston Trident is a 35-year-old male. He is a professor at a prestigious university and a working artist, recognized for his excellent work as a sculptor. He is in a committed long-term relationship. Approximately 6 months ago, Preston was involved in a severe automobile accident, which left him a quadriplegic. Although his mind is alert and he is able to communicate verbally, the only bodily functions he can perform on his own (other than speaking) are to turn his head, eat, and blink his eyes. He does have normal hearing and vision. He has been examined by four of the best neurological specialists in the world and all agree that current medical technology offers him no hope for a recovery of any kind. Also, he has been examined by three board-qualified psychiatrists who all agree that he is of sound mind and fully capable of making his own decisions. He remains in the same hospital he was brought to by ambulance the day of his accident. He requires constant nursing care and must have dialysis 3-4 times per week. 

About 4 months into his hospital confinement, Preston came to the conclusion that because of the hopelessness of his condition, he no longer wanted to live. Because he could not pursue the things in life that were most important to him (teaching, sculpting, participating in a relationship), he decided that it was not in his best interest to go on living. He did not regard lying in a hospital bed, and waiting possibly decades for a normal death, as anything resembling a quality life. 

Having come to this conclusion freely, he asked the hospital to release him, realizing that without the dialysis and other essential medical services, he would die quickly. The Chief of Medical Services for the hospital, also understanding that death would quickly follow if Mr. Trident is released, refused to release him on the grounds that to do so would be a violation of medical ethics and his moral responsibility. Preston has sued the hospital for his immediate release on the grounds that he is being confined against his will in violation of the due process clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. 

• Research and review the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and explore the use of due process in the above case.
• Research Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Health, which is a right-to-die case, and see what precedent it established.
• Assess how the Cruzan case connects to the above scenario.
• Create a list of other right-to-die cases decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.
• Complete the assessment.

The Questions

What are your initial, nonlegal, thoughts on this case? How would you decide it based on your own belief structures? For example, if you were the judge in this case, would you would allow Mr. Trident to leave the hospital, thus bringing about his death? Or would you feel for Mr. Trident but side with the hospital because he clearly is not in the right mind to make such decisions for himself? Or would you perhaps side with the hospital because people should not be allowed to refuse medical treatment or go to the extreme of ordering the hospital to aid in the shortening of his life so that he did not have to suffer a painful death? What would you do? Please put some thought into your answer and provide at least 4-5 sentences as you explain it.

What is the difference between moral and legal reasoning?

In a true legal argument, should legal reasoning or moral reasoning be used?

Mr. Trident is arguing that the hospital has violated his 14th Amendment right to due process. What part of the 14th Amendment is he referring to in his argument?

Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Health is a case studied in the right-to-die debate. What precedent did it help to establish?

How does the Cruzan case factor into Mr. Trident's argument?