Thursday, March 20, 2014

An appalling creep, and freedom of speech

Suicide voyeur William Melchert-Dinkel, who posed as a female nurse and went by the name 'Falcon Girl', has case overturned
He was found guilty of aiding the suicide of Mark Dryborough, 32, who died
in Coventry, UK, in 2005, and of Nadia Kajouji, 18, who took her own
life in 2008.

In the original trial, the court was told that Mr Melchert-Dinkel, who is
married with two children, posed online as a compassionate female nurse
to prey on depressed individuals, but then gave them advice on how to
suicide.

He allegedly told police that he acted for the ‘‘thrill of the chase’’ and
wanted to watch his targets die via a computer webcam.

But in a ruling eagerly awaited across the United States by both sides in
the assisted suicide debate, the state supreme court has ruled that a
state law prohibiting ‘‘advising’’ and ‘‘encouraging’’ suicide broke the
constitution by restricting freedom of speech.

However, it upheld the part of the statute that outlaws ‘‘assisting’’ suicide
and sent Mr Melchert-Dinkel’s case back to a lower court.

County prosecutors must now decide whether to appeal against the ruling in the
US Supreme Court or to bring fresh charges against Mr Melchert-Dinkel
for assisting suicid
e.
It's another example of why I don't care for the American approach to rights.

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