Case Background: “Dr. Death” was the nickname given to a pathologist named Jack Kevorkian who had a controversial practice of assisting those who wanted to commit suicide (McLellan, 2011). In the 1990s, Kevorkian helped to create the dilemma for whether terminally ill people should have the right to kill themselves. “Kevorkian said he assisted in the suicides of more than 130 people from 1990 to 1998.” (McLellan, 2011, para. 9). Those who support the right to die say it is our freedom to choose the way we die and Kevorkian wanted to push professional medicine towards assisting that freedom (McLellan, 2011). Kevorkian was able to avoid conviction a few times due to un-clear laws on assisting suicide, but in 1998 he was convicted of second-degree murder after he had administered the drugs to a patient who could not do it himself. He was paroled after eight years during a ten to twenty-five year sentence due to good behavior and promising never to assist a suicide again (Bhanoo, 2011).
With Kevorkian practicing something controversial, …show more content…
In conclusion, the defendant’s motion for summery disposition was affirmed with the denial of the trail court (Kevorkian v. AMA, 1999). It came down to whether the defendant’s statements protected as expressions of opinion or if they were statements that were false. It was decided by the Court that the accusing Kevorkian of crime was actionable and was defamatory per se. Also, the comments made were provable false, because at the time they were made, Kevorkian was not convicted of being a criminal or murderer. Since statements made by those of American Medical Association were ruled to accuse Kevorkian rather than be strong worded opinions, the First Amendment did not protect them (Kevorkian v. AMA,