Cruzan v. missouri department of health (1990) - sustany/dvg GitHub Wiki

Overview:

Cruzan v. Missouri Department of Health (1990)�is an important United States Supreme Court case involving an incompetent young adult and the �right to die.��This case was the first�"right to die"�case heard by the Supreme Court. In a 5�4 decision,�the Court affirmed the Supreme Court of Missouri�s decision�ruling in favor of the State of Missouri that it was�acceptable to require "clear and convincing evidence"�of the specific individual patient's wish to remove life support.

Background:

The main issue in this case was�whether the State of Missouri could require "clear and convincing evidence"�for the Cruzans' to take their daughter off life support. The Supreme Court thus decided whether the State of Missouri was violating the�Due Process Clause�of the�Fourteenth Amendment�by refusing to remove the Cruzans� daughter from life support. The�Due Process Clause�of the�Fourteenth Amendment�explicitly states that�"[N]or shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law[.]"

Here, the Court decided that�while competent individuals had the right to stop or refuse medical treatment�under the�Due Process Clause, the circumstances were different for incompetent individuals. The Supreme Court�supported the state of Missouri's higher standard for evidence�of whether the incompetent individual would want to refuse or stop medical treatment had they been able to make their own decisions.�The Supreme Court held that this higher standard of evidence was constitutional�since family members of the incompetent individual might make decisions that the incompetent individual would not have wanted.