Swiss court extends physician-assisted suicide to incurable mental patients News
Swiss court extends physician-assisted suicide to incurable mental patients

[JURIST] The Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland [official website, in German] ruled Friday that people with serious mental illnesses may be permitted to commit physician-assisted suicide under certain conditions. The decision recognized "that an incurable, permanent, serious mental disorder can cause similar suffering as a physical [disorder]" and extended Switzerland's current physician-assisted suicide for the terminally ill for such patients. Patients suffering from serious mental illnesses will be required to demonstrate that the desire is not the "expression of a curable, psychiatric disorder" but a "well-considered and permanent decision" based on rational judgment. Basler Zeitung has local coverage [in German].

Netherlands legalized euthanasia [JURIST news archive; BBC report] in 2001 and Belgium in 2002. Under Article 115 [text, in German] of the Swiss penal code, assisting another in suicide is not criminal unless the assistance was rendered with a "selfish" motive. AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

38 Santee Sioux hanged by US for rebellion

On December 26, 1862, 38 Santee Sioux men were hanged in a mass execution for their roles in a rebellion against US authorities in Minnesota which left hundreds dead and made refugees of some 40,000 white settlers. Government annuities promised under a treaty with the Sioux had failed to arrive on schedule and credit for purchases was not advanced in the meantime, threatening the tribe with starvation. The Santee Sioux Tribe's members were deported first to South Dakota and ultimately to Nebraska, where they remain today. Learn more about the 1862 Minnesota Sioux Rebellion.

Louis XVI put on trial during French Revolution

On December 26, 1792, Romain de Sèze, a defense attorney for deposed King Louis XVI, presented a defense of his client. The former King was on trial before a French Revolutionary court on thirty-three charges, including treason and other crimes against the state. He was convicted on January 15, 1793 executed by guillotine on the following January 21.