I case in the UK raised my eyebrow—as so much happening there does these days. A convicted murderer in a mental hospital wants to starve himself to death, but can’t because he is not in a prison—where he apparently could. From the Telegraph story:
Brady, 74, had been due to appear via videolink before a Mental Health Tribunal on Monday, after asking to be transferred from Ashworth special hospital on Merseyside to a prison in Scotland. He has been tube-fed at Ashworth for the past 12 years, where he has been on hunger-strike, but would not be force-fed if he was sent to a prison, meaning he would be able to starve himself to death.
That’s crazy! Why not just say that prison officials can’t cut a prisoner who hangs himself down until the deed is complete?
A prisoner has lost much of his or her personal autonomy. Prison officials should have no obligation to stand back and watch, much less facilitate, an inmate’s suicide.
