On Thursday, November 12, 2015, Professor H. Scott Fingerhut discussed the practical (and often agonizing) legal considerations of assisted suicide during a teach-in sponsored by the School of Integrated Science and Humanity (SISH), part of FIU’s College of Arts & Sciences.
The panel featured Barbara Mancini, a nurse for over three decades, who was arrested in 2013 and prosecuted in Pennsylvania for allegedly aiding the attempted suicide of her dying 93-year-old father who was in hospice care. After a fierce legal battle, and much national and international attention, the case was dismissed last year.
“I have spent over half my life in criminal court,” Professor Fingerhut noted, “and though there are moments of great joy and liberation, they are unfortunately far outweighed by the type of unfairness and longing for justice that Barbara Mancini survived. How we get to live, who we get to love and how we choose to die are among the legal questions of our time. Barbara’s manifestly inhumane and politically-driven prosecution serves as a stark reminder to us all that none of us is beyond living this nightmare, that the law can only be as wise and compassionate as are we, the People, and, that justice – cherished and pure — is something we must discover together.”
In Florida, assisting self-murder constitutes manslaughter, a felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
Other panelists included: Associate Professor, Department of Psychology at SISH, Leslie Frazier, Ph.D. and Associate Dean and Professor at the Nicole Wertheim College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Deborah Sherman, Ph.D., CRNP, ANP-BC, ACHPN, FAAN. The panel was moderated by Senior Associate Dean in the College of Arts & Sciences, Professor of Psychology and Founding Director of SISH, Suzanna Rose, Ph.D.
Professor Fingerhut serves as Assistant Director of the Trial Advocacy Program and teaches Trial Advocacy, Pretrial Practice and Criminal Procedure. He also serves as a Fellow in FIU’s Honors College and Director of its Pre-Law Programs. He may be contacted at fingerhut@fiu.edu.
Faculty Website: http://lawdev.wordpress.fiu.edu/faculty/directory/h-scott-fingerhut/