Stephen L. Mikochik

For over seven hundred years, Anglo-American law has condemned suicide. Self-murder was a felony under common law; but, since the dead person was beyond penalty, his property was forfeited as a deterrent to others. Recognizing the harm this caused the innocent family, English and American law gradually decriminalized suicide. By 1997, when the Court rejected the claim that physician assisted suicide was a constitutional right, the vast majority of states had made it criminal. Nevertheless, assisted suicide has recently become acceptable… . Continue Reading »

In their April 12 statement on religious freedom, Our First, Most Cherished Liberty, the U.S. Catholic bishops “address an urgent summons to our fellow Catholics and fellow Americans to be on guard, for religious liberty is under attack.” Among the bishops’ critics is Nicholas Cafardi, former dean of Duquesne Law School, who wrote a particularly skewed account of the bishops’ statement… . Continue Reading »