1. 1I teach law courses primarily in our graduate programs. I have used this approach in the following courses: Ethics and the Legal Environment (in our MBA program); The Legal Environment (in our EMBA program); Legal and Ethical Issues in Health Care Administration (in our MS in Health Care Policy and Administration program); and Computers and the Law (in our MS in Technology Management program). I have also used it in one undergraduate course, Computers and the Law.
2. 2Since graduate students are generally older and arguably more mature than undergraduates, they probably are better able to reflect upon the various issues and ramifications of physician-assisted suicide. I have never had a class that was not interested in hearing about and discussing the issue.
3. 3I have told my classes for years now thatPicket Fenceswas the best legal show ever on television. One of the reasons was that its creators understood the formulas for success. Its main characters included lawyers, judges, doctors, policemen and children. The only ones missing were the cowboys. The show also, of course, had superb writing. There were several excellent episodes about physician-assisted suicide and physician-aid-in-dying.
4. 4For excellent discussions of the history of suicide and attempted suicide,Washington v. Glucksberg, 117 S. Ct 2258, 2262 (1997);
5. Quill v. Vacco, 80 F.3d 716 (2nd Cir. 1996) (Calabresi, J., concurring); Compassion in Dying v. Washington, 79 F.3d 790 (9th Cir., 1996) (en bane), and Marzen, O'Dowd, Crone & Balch, 24 Duq. L. Rev. 1, 17-56 (1985).