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Virginia House advances bill to abolish suicide as a crime
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
mental health weekly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1556-7583
pISSN - 1058-1103
DOI - 10.1002/mhw.32667
Subject(s) - legislation , law , opposition (politics) , homicide , criminology , house of representatives , law enforcement , political science , accidental , enforcement , suicide prevention , psychology , medicine , poison control , medical emergency , politics , physics , acoustics
A panel in the House of Delegates advanced legislation Jan. 20 that would abolish suicide as a crime in Virginia, the Richmond Times‐Dispatch reported Jan. 21. Del. Marcus Simon, D‐Fairfax, who introduced the bill, said suicide should be treated as a symptom of a mental illness. “There's no reason to treat suicide as anything other than a disease,” Simon said in an interview following a quick 17‐5 vote in the House Courts of Justice panel. Suicide isn't listed as a crime in the Virginia code, but rather through common law — the collection of decisions by judges over the years that have deemed it such. Among the impacts of the bill is that law enforcement authorities wouldn't be able to investigate every suicide to rule out homicide or accidental death, unless they had probable cause. Five Republicans opposed the measure, which faced GOP opposition last year and ultimately failed in the Senate.