Force-feeding of inmates deemed legal.Inmates in Washington's correctional system do not have the right to refuse force-feeding if they are attempting to kill themselves through fasting or a hunger strike hunger strike, refusal to eat as a protest against existing conditions. Although most often used by prisoners, others have also employed it. For example, Mohandas Gandhi in India and Cesar Chavez in California fasted as religious penance during otherwise political or , reported The Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. . The state Supreme Court ruled 8-1 against prison inmate Charles R. McNabb, who claimed Washington's constitutional privacy protections gave him the right to starve starve v. 1. To suffer or die from extreme or prolonged lack of food. 2. To deprive of food so as to cause suffering or death. himself while incarcerated incarcerated /in·car·cer·at·ed/ (in-kahr´ser-at?ed) imprisoned; constricted; subjected to incarceration. in·car·cer·at·ed adj. Confined or trapped, as a hernia. . The court, however, ruled that McNabb's situation is differentfrom the privacy laws that grant protection to gravely ill people who refuse life-sustaining treatment. The court concluded that "the state's interests in orderly administration of the prison system, preservation of life, prevention of suicide and maintenance of the ethical integrity of the medical profession outweigh McNabb's limited right" to refuse food and water. The dissenting justice said the court was incorrectly casting the privacy question as a right to commit suicide Verb 1. commit suicide - kill oneself; "the terminally ill patient committed suicide" kill - cause to die; put to death, usually intentionally or knowingly; "This man killed several people when he tried to rob a bank"; "The farmer killed a pig for the holidays" ; he supported McNabb's argument that he has a privacy right to refuse food. |
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