Department of law and ethics

In Florida, Dr. Peter Rosier was acquitted of first degree murder in the death of his wife. She was terminally ill with cancer and had tried unsuccessfully to kill herself. Dr. Rosier gave her morphine with the intention of its killing her, but it failed. Her stepfather wound up smothering her with his hand. Aside from the bizarre and unfortunate manner of Mrs. Rosier's death, two things are noteworthy about this case: (a) the prosecution of someone for killing a terminally ill patient despite having that patient's consent and (b) the state attorney's telling the jury “to ignore philosophical and moral arguments and adhere to the law.” This is legal positivism (the view that law and morality are separate entities) with a vengeance (1)

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