Historically, various states listed the act as a felony, but all were reluctant to enforce it. By 1963, six states still considered attempted suicide a crime (North and South Dakota, Washington, New Jersey, Nevada, and Oklahoma that repealed its law in 1976). By the early 1990s only two US states still listed suicide as a crime, and these have since removed that classification. In some U.S. states, suicide is still considered an unwritten "common law crime," as stated in Blackstone's Commentaries. As a common law crime, suicide can bar recovery for the family of the suicidal person in a lawsuit unless the suicidal person can be proven to have been "of unsound mind." That is, the suicide must be proven to have been an involuntary, not voluntary, act of the victim in order for the family to be awarded money damages by the court. This can occur when the family of the deceased sues the caregiver (perhaps a jail or hospital) for negligence in failing to provide appropriate care. Some legal scholars look at the issue as one of personal liberty. According to Nadine Strossen, former President of the ACLU, "The idea of government making determinations about how you end your life, forcing you...could be considered cruel and unusual punishment in certain circumstances, and Justice Stevens in a very interesting opinion in a right-to-die raised the analogy. The rate of teenage suicide in the United States remains comparatively high in the 15 to 24 age group with 3,971 suicides in 2001 and over 132,000 suicide attempts in 2002, making it the third leading cause of death for those aged 15 to 24.

Teen Suicide. The first thing that normally comes to your mind when you hear or read about something like this would be, "Why?" And then you'd probably call them stupid, but something people have to realize is that everyone is not the same. Everyone is not treated the same. Everyone doesn't feel the same. Everyone doesn't go through the same things you might go to or handle it the same for that matter. So for you to call or say that something is stupid is closed-minded and unfair. You have to understand the circumstances that those people go through. Most causes of teen suicide are: disharmony in the family, unhealthy or abusive relationship or break-up, alcohol or drug abuse, feelings of anger and guilt, physical or mental disorders, poor academic performance, sibling rivalry, history of suicide within close circle, experience of a personal loss, peer pressure, and the inability to handle hardships due to low energy and depression.

People think that depression and suicidal thoughts can be cured by using "happy pills" and/or counseling, which is not always or necessarily the case because you can’t cure it unless you get over or solve your reasons of being depressed, not covering it up with pills and counseling.

I can’t believe attempted suicide used to result in a felony. I believe in natural rights, which should include that you belong to yourself, your body and mind. I believe it’s not right for the government to make laws that restrict you from doing what you want with your life. So I’m glad that most states didn’t enforce it. And I agree with Nadine Strossen.

In my opinion, the rate of suicide has been increasing because of several factors. Have you turned on the T.V? Listened to the radio? Heard the gossip going around school, going around anywhere? Have you surfed the internet? Society today, I think, is just pressure on teens. Pressure but in a way people don’t sometimes see. For example, I know you guys have seen this before, another student in your school isn’t “up to date” on the latest fashion or he/she can’t afford it, or that student isn’t really skinny, or that student wears glasses, and he/her classmates are talking about them, verbally abusing them(calling them names among other things), and just brutally “bashing” them. How do you think he/she feels? Do you ever stop them from continuing? Or do you just laugh and watch from the side lines? I know your probably saying, “No, I tell them to stop.” Or “I wouldn’t do that.” But be serious. Though you may be saying that, you know you have. And this person being “bashed” just feels horrible. I know because I used to be that person. And because of that I now have low self-esteem and confidence, and I used to be suicidal. It’s just the pressure of wanting to fit in, to be cool, or whatever. It’s like it’s somehow programmed into others brain that tells them that you have to be this way or that way to be pretty or beautiful or handsome and when you don’t fit in to that, people tend to notice whether it be in a good way or not. Teen suicide is the result to that. And I really dislike for people to say something is stupid because they don’t understand it and they don’t take the time to actually understand it.