Watch CBS News

SCOTUS Declines To Hear Minnesota Assisted Suicide Case

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear the case of a national group convicted of assisting in the 2007 suicide of a Minnesota woman.

The high court's decision means the 2015 conviction will stand against Final Exit Network Inc., which was found guilty of assisting in the suicide of 57-year-old Doreen Dunn, of Apple Valley. She took her own life with advice from the group after a decade of chronic pain. The group was fined $30,000 and ordered to pay funeral expenses.

Florida-based Final Exit Network argued that Minnesota's law making it a crime to help other people kill themselves violates the freedom of speech.

But Minnesota's appellate courts disagreed, saying the state's assisted-suicide law is constitutional and that "assisting" suicide can include speech instructing another person on methods.

(© Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.