Cruzan v. Missouri
· Case: Cruzan v. Missouri
· Year: 1990
· Result: 5-4, favor Missouri
· Related constitutional issue/amendment:Amendment 14: Due process clause
· Civil rights or Civil liberties: Civil Liberties
· Significance/Precedent: People who are incompetent are not able to turn down medical treatment. Because there was absent evidence that Cruzan desired no treatment, the Court found that the State of Missouri's actions to preserve human life was constitutional. The case was the first time the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a right-to-die and right-to-live case.
· Quote from majority opinion: “"the right of a competent individual to refuse medical treatment is a 'constitutionally protected liberty interest' under the Fourteenth Amendment. [The] Fourteenth Amendment provides that no State shall 'deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.' The Court agreed that to deny a person the right to refuse medical treatment that results in long term misery would deprive the person of their constitutional liberty.”
· Illustration/image: See Below
· 6-word summary: No Medical Treatment, hospital versus parents
· Year: 1990
· Result: 5-4, favor Missouri
· Related constitutional issue/amendment:Amendment 14: Due process clause
· Civil rights or Civil liberties: Civil Liberties
· Significance/Precedent: People who are incompetent are not able to turn down medical treatment. Because there was absent evidence that Cruzan desired no treatment, the Court found that the State of Missouri's actions to preserve human life was constitutional. The case was the first time the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a right-to-die and right-to-live case.
· Quote from majority opinion: “"the right of a competent individual to refuse medical treatment is a 'constitutionally protected liberty interest' under the Fourteenth Amendment. [The] Fourteenth Amendment provides that no State shall 'deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.' The Court agreed that to deny a person the right to refuse medical treatment that results in long term misery would deprive the person of their constitutional liberty.”
· Illustration/image: See Below
· 6-word summary: No Medical Treatment, hospital versus parents