Minnesota Appeals Ruling that Assisted Suicide Statute Is Unconstitutional

Minnesota's criminal case against the Final Exit Network is proceeding to the court of appeals.  Back at the Dakota County criminal court in December, FEN argued that while the state may bar someone from “assisting” a suicide, it is unconstitutional for the state to ban merely “advising” or “encouraging” a suicide — as stated in the Minnesota statute — because that is pure speech.  



In March, Judge Karen Asphaug found Minnesota’s law  unconstitutionally overbroad. She also narrowed the construction of the term “encouraging” to include only physical acts or language that promote or urge someone to commit suicide.  Based on that finding, Asphaug dismissed charges against the group’s former president, Thomas Goodwin, but kept most of the charges against the other defendants intact.



Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom said his office will not appeal Goodwin’s dismissal, but will contest the ruling as it relates to the group itself and to defendants Lawrence Egbert and Roberta Massey.