From our private database of 37,500+ case briefs...
Washington v. Glucksberg
United States Supreme Court
521 U.S. 702, 117 S.Ct. 2258, 138 L.Ed.2d 772 (1997)
Facts
Under Washington state law, it is a crime to knowingly cause or aid another person to attempt suicide. Glucksberg (plaintiff), a Washington physician, along with other Washington physicians brought suit against the State of Washington (defendants), alleging that Glucksberg frequently treated terminally-ill patients and would have assisted those patients in ending their lives if not for Washington’s ban on assisted suicide. Glucksberg brought suit in federal district court seeking a declaration that the Washington state law violated a liberty interest protected by the Fourteenth Amendment. The district court found that the Washington law violated both the Due Process Clause and Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, and the court of appeals affirmed. The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Rehnquist, C.J.)
Concurrence (O’Connor, J.)
Concurrence (Stevens, J.)
Concurrence (Breyer, J.)
Concurrence (Souter, J.)
Concurrence (Ginsburg, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 631,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 37,500 briefs, keyed to 984 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
