dc.contributor.author	Duva, Anthony W.
dc.coverage.spatial	United States	en_US
dc.coverage.temporal	1973-2018	en_US
dc.date.accessioned	2019-08-15T16:57:10Z
dc.date.available	2019-08-15T16:57:10Z
dc.date.issued	2018-12
dc.identifier.other	BA1CFC47-6DF5-30B1-459A-399B8EE513BE	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/10428/3931
dc.description.abstract	The phrase “Right to Die with Dignity” has long been a tag-line for the topic of assisted suicide. This dissertation tackles that topic through a qualitative policy evaluation study that includes a review and analysis of assisted suicide laws in 19 States in the United States, the District of Columbia, six countries other than the United States, and Supreme Court cases and other court decisions that are relevant to the topic. The dissertation also considers whether the time is right for assisted suicide policy development, based on recent court interpretations of the Fifth, Tenth and most specifically the Fourteenth Amendment(s) and how recent court decisions have been influenced by either the Constitution or public policy. The purpose of the dissertation is to recommend a public policy that establishes a new federal policy that represents a dignified, compassionate, and common-sense approach to assisted suicide. The primary methodology is the use of the “legal lens of study approach,” which lays the foundational groundwork for the five research questions this dissertation explores. Analysis of the common elements of the existing laws was a first step in this policy evaluation and helped identify principles that should be included in any new policy. Also key to the analysis and the proposal of a new federal policy was the legal study of most relevant assisted suicide cases from several states and from the federal court system, including Supreme Court cases involving the Fourteenth Amendment in decisions concerning socially relevant issues that involve liberty interests and individual rights. Critical historical events concerning assisted suicide were uncovered in order to chronologically interpret the issue of assisted suicide over the past 45 years and how these cases and more recent court decisions might create opportunities for policy changes. Results indicate that leaving the issue of assisted suicide to be dealt with by each individual state or waiting for the Supreme Court to make a ruling that would finalize the issue on a national level has created an intolerably diverse quagmire for society as a whole and especially for those competent adult individuals who would prefer to choose this end-of-life option.	en_US
dc.description.tableofcontents	I. INTRODUCTION 1 -- General overview, explanation of the issue and conceptual framework 2 -- Purpose of the study 5 -- Definition of terms 6 -- Procedures and organization of dissertation 7 -- Significance of study 11 -- II. LITERATURE REVIEW 12 -- An important national concern 12 -- Suicide and assisted suicide statistics 13 -- Reporting, state laws and laws of other countries 14 -- Five critical events concerning assisted suicide 17 -- United States Constitution–14th Amendment Summary 20 -- Supreme Court of the United States 14th Amendment cases–1990 to 2018 21 -- Foundational litigation and case law from 1990 to 2018 21 -- Federal trial court–state of Washington–1994 21 -- Federal trial court–state of New York–1994 26 -- Washington and Vacco–Journey to the Supreme Court–1997–All nine justices weigh -- in on assisted suicide 28 -- A decade+ of expanding “individual rights” under the 14th Amendment–1997–2018 36 -- State legislation from 1994 to 2018 39 -- Precedent (stare decisis) 42 -- Final consideration from a legal perspective–an individual’s ability to manipulate information rationally 44 -- Theoretical underpinnings–1801 to 2018 45 -- Professor John A. Rohr (1934–2011) 45 -- Jeffrey R. Toobin 49 -- Synopsis 57 -- III. METHODOLOGY 61 -- Research and data collection 61 -- Methodology overview 61 -- Legal lens of study approach defined 67 -- Secondary methodology considerations 67 -- The importance of legal research in informing policy, in academia and in qualitative policy evaluation dissertation studies in public administration 70 -- States and countries selected 72 -- Statistics, state laws and statutes, U.S. Constitution, case law and legal precedent 75 -- Theoretical underpinnings 81 -- Synopsis 83 -- IV. FINDINGS 85 -- Overview 85 -- Introduction 87 -- Research Question 1 92 -- Figure 1 95 -- Table 1 95 -- Table 2 103 -- Table 3 107 -- Research Question 2 108 -- Table 4 111 -- Research Question 3 112 -- Research Question 4 115 -- Research Question 5 134 -- Conclusion 138 -- V. CONCLUSION 141 -- Introduction 141 -- Research Questions, Findings and Implications 145 -- Part A – Individual State Legislation–Research Questions 1, 2 and 3 146 -- Research Question 1 147 -- Research Question 2 150 -- Research Question 3 151 -- Part B - Research Question 4 152 -- Litigation – the necessity of a “perfect storm” case in the Supreme Court 152 -- Part C - Status Quo 158 -- Part D - Research Question 5 160 -- Current state of affairs, directional paths ignored and not taken, and where we may -- be going relative to the issue of assisted suicide 160 -- Part E - A proposed federal law following constitutional principles and based on -- common sense, compassion and dignity 173 -- Proposed Federal Statute 174 -- Limitations of Study… 178 -- TABLE OF CASES 179 -- REFERENCES 181 -- Appendix A – Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution 200 -- Appendix B – State of Oregon Statute 203 -- Appendix C – State of California Statute 217 -- Appendix D – State of Colorado Statute 243 -- Appendix E – State of Hawaii Statute 255 -- Appendix F – State of Vermont Statute 275 -- Appendix G – State of Washington Statute 284 -- Appendix H – District of Columbia Act 305 -- Appendix I – Baxter v. Montana (Supreme Court of Montana, 2009) 318 -- Appendix J – Institutional Review Board Protocol Exemption Report 388.	en_US
dc.format.extent	1 electronic document, 404 pages.	en_US
dc.format.mimetype	application/pdf	en_US
dc.language.iso	en_US	en_US
dc.rights	This dissertation is protected by the Copyright Laws of the United States (Public Law 94-553, revised in 1976). Consistent with fair use as defined in the Copyright Laws, brief quotations from this material are allowed with proper acknowledgement. Use of the materials for financial gain with the author's expressed written permissions is not allowed.	en_US
dc.subject	Dissertations, Academic--United States	en_US
dc.subject	Right to die	en_US
dc.subject	Right to die--Government policy	en_US
dc.subject	Right to die--Law and legislation	en_US
dc.subject	Assisted suicide	en_US
dc.subject	Assisted suicide--Law and legislation	en_US
dc.title	The 'Right to Die' With Dignity: A Policy Evaluation Study of Assisted Suicide Laws in 20 Jurisdictions in the United States of America	en_US
dc.type	Dissertation	en_US
dc.contributor.department	Department of Political Science of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences	en_US
dc.description.advisor	Peterson, James W.
dc.description.committee	Peterson, Bonnie E.
dc.description.committee	Wickersham, Mary
dc.description.committee	James, Christine A.
dc.description.committee	Cruz, Becky K. da
dc.description.degree	D.PA.	en_US
dc.description.major	Public Administration	en_US