united-states criminal-law mental-health suicide
Is it criminal to threaten suicide, or to have thoughts of suicide?
<p>Psychiatric doctrine asserts entitlement to incarcerate someone on grounds of the bogeymen of suicidal and homicidal ideations. This is arguably a bit rich, because suicide and homicide are both criminally illegal so here psychiatric industry is arguably sidestepping criminal due process rights. But to dig into a bit more detail while committing suicide and committing homicide are both crimes, and threatening homicide is almost certainly a crime in majority if not all jurisdictions, what about merely threatening suicide without following through?</p>

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<p>suicide and homicide are both criminally illegal</p>
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<p>This is incorrect: according to the LII article <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/suicide" rel="nofollow noreferrer">&quot;Suicide&quot;</a> :</p>
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<p>Suicide is no longer considered a crime in the United States; however, some states have attempted suicide listed as a crime in their criminal statutes. On the other hand, assisted suicide (when someone helps another to commit suicide) is a crime in all U.S. states, with physician-assisted suicide being an exception to this rule in some states.</p>
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<p>The Wikipedia article <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_legislation#Americas" rel="nofollow noreferrer">&quot;Suicide legislation&quot;</a> confirms this.</p>
<p>detention and involuntary commitment for treatment of those thought likely to commit suicide is not based on criminality, and is not supposed to be a punishment. Rather it is based on preventing them from harming their own best interests. At least, that is the legal theory. And such persons <strong>do</strong> have due process rights, and can bring an action.
In the case of <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/422/563/" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><em>O'Connor v. Donaldson</em>, 422 U.S. 563 (1975)</a> the US Supreme Court majority opinion stated:</p>
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<p>A finding of &quot;mental illness&quot; alone cannot justify a State's locking a person up against his will and keeping him indefinitely in simple custodial confinement. Assuming that that term can be given a reasonably precise content and that the &quot;mentally ill&quot; can be identified with reasonable accuracy, there is still no constitutional basis for confining such persons involuntarily if they are dangerous to no one and can live safely in freedom.</p>
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<p>The court in that case specifically declined to decide whether a state might confine a person adjudges dangerous to himself.</p>
