Somebody could theoretically bring a test case in Virginia about suicide rights

[Leucosticte]

Well, it wouldn't really be a test case per se, since unlike published appellate court rulings, jury verdicts don't set legal precedents, but it would be an opportunity to poll public opinion.

Let's suppose someone announced he wanted to kill himself. He could get civilly committed, but then he would have the right to appeal to a jury:

A written explanation of the involuntary admission process and the statutory protections associated with the process shall be given to the person, and its contents shall be explained by an attorney prior to the commitment hearing. The written explanation shall describe, at a minimum, the person's rights to (i) retain private counsel or be represented by a court-appointed attorney, (ii) present any defenses including independent evaluation and expert testimony or the testimony of other witnesses, (iii) be present during the hearing and testify, (iv) appeal any order for involuntary admission to the circuit court, and (v) have a jury trial on appeal. The judge or special justice shall ascertain whether the person whose involuntary admission is sought has been given the written explanation required herein.

The jury could then rule on whether there is

clear and convincing evidence that (a) the person has a mental illness and there is a substantial likelihood that, as a result of mental illness, the person will, in the near future, (1) cause serious physical harm to himself or others as evidenced by recent behavior causing, attempting, or threatening harm and other relevant information, if any, or (2) suffer serious harm due to his lack of capacity to protect himself from harm or to provide for his basic human needs

I kinda wonder how a jury would rule if someone said, "I just don't fit into society, so that's why I want to kill myself." Probably there would be an expert witness on the other side saying, "He really needs to be civilly committed for his own good," but the jury would be free to reject that notion. If they did, would that send a powerful message, I wonder, about public sentiment about suicide rights.

 

[Smilla]

The chances of the courts letting a case like this travel all the way to jury stage is less than nil.

 

[Leucosticte]

The chances of the courts letting a case like this travel all the way to jury stage is less than nil.

So you're saying they would give up that easily and say, "Go ahead and kill yourself; it's not worth bringing this to a jury"?

 

[Smilla]

So you're saying they would give up that easily and say, "Go ahead and kill yourself; it's not worth bringing this to a jury"?

A judge would rule prior to letting it get to the jury stage for a case like this, it's a no brainer because there is no crime, so no jury required. It's maybe analogous to a divorce case: judges rule, not juries.