Examining the foreseeable: Assisted suicide as a herald of changing moralities

After her intense battle for the decriminalization of assisted suicide in t he Supreme Court of Canada, Sue Rodriguez committed suicide with medical as sistance in 1994. Following her suicide, government and law representatives remained silent and no criminal charges were ever brought against the pers on(s) who presumably assisted Ms Rodriguez in her death. This apparent non- intervention of criminal law is examined in view of the useful role that th e Rodriguez event may have played in a possible shift in the dominant moral ity. It is argued that the Rodriguez assisted suicide may have been a usefu l 'crime' (in the Durkheimian sense) in that it brought to the fore the pos sibility that social conditions - which made the 'crime' possible - may no longer be in harmony with conventional morality. Similarly to Socrates' cri me, the Rodriguez case can be seen as an anticipation of a new morality. It can be analysed as a prelude to alterations, as directly preparing the way for changes in the dominant morality. The role of criminal law as a prefer red mode of moral regulation is also examined in relation to the moral dema nds and expectations that arose during as well as after the judicial saga.