George Exoo, who fashioned his own form of “suicide tourism,” is a free man today. Irish authorities wanted to arrest and try Exoo on charges related to his role in the death of Rosemary Toole. NDY has been following Exoo’s case for quite awhile, as evidenced by this 2002 press release. It’s been a long watch, since Exoo wasn’t actually arrested until this summer, with an extradition hearing held in August. Those wanting more details on Exoo can also read our prior post from August, which describes the way in which he used his “compassionate” activities to finance his travels.
Because we’ve spoken out on the case, the Associated Press contacted us for the story it published today. The judge is quoted in one part of the story:
“While Mr. Exoo’s conduct may be viewed as wrong, and very highly improper by most if not all of us, it is generally not recognized as criminal here in the United States.”
That specific quote elicited the following from me:
Steven (sic) Drake, a spokesman for Not Dead Yet, a national group that opposes assisted suicide and euthanasia, said VanDervort’s comment on assisted suicide laws in the United States was overreaching.
“That’s awfully broad. There is certainly enough instances of people being prosecuted in various states,” Drake said.
“I think there are people in Ireland who would have wanted to see this played out in court,” he said. “But, on the other hand, it looks like the government gave it its best case.”
OK, they forgot to mention we’re a disability rights group, but the reporter I talked to wasn’t the one at that bureau who was familiar with us. My quotes are accurate.
I’m not a lawyer and don’t pretend to be anything close to an expert on laws governing extradition treaties. I do know that the government went to great lengths to document the number of states that criminalize suicide assistance through statute and common law. While that may not have been sufficient in terms of the extradition treaty (again, not a lawyer), it surely was enough to render the judge’s quote a rather incredible overstatement of where suicide “assistance” stands in regard to the law.
And, as I told the reporter, we’re disappointed here, but it looks like the court handled this seriously and thoroughly. And we respect the judicial process here – to a point. NDY is based in Illinois, which had an alarming number of innocent people on death row after the judicial system here dotted all its i’s and crossed all its t’s. So our respect is tempered by our sense of reality.
In the meantime, we’re wondering if Exoo will pick up with his old “Compassionate Chaplaincy” and European travel plan. We’ve got just the poster for him:
The image above is a poster with the title “Join Reverend Exoo and the Compassionate Chaplaincy.” Below that is a drawn caricature of Exoo. Underneath the caricature are the words: “travel to exotic, distant lands; meet exciting, unusual people and help them kill themselves – all travel, lodging and recreational expenses reimbursed – cash up front.”
That’s all for now. More soon. –Stephen Drake
