Contact: Darren
Johnson, Director of Communications
(631) 421-2244, ext. 383,
djohnson@tourolaw.edu
October 15, 2005
The Right
to Kill the Terminally Ill: Touro Law Center Hosts Symposium
Huntington, N.Y. – Touro Law Center and its Institute of Jewish
Law will host a very special symposium, “The Right to Die and
the License to Kill the Terminally Ill: A Medical, and a Jewish
and American Legal Perspective,” on Thursday, November 17, at 7
p.m. in the Faculty Conference Room. The event is free, but
reservations are required. Call 631-421-2244 ext. 355.
The panelists are the Hon. Martin E. Ritholtz, Justice of the
Supreme Court, 12th Judicial District, Queens County, who
recently rejected a daughter’s request to remove a feeding tube
from her 86-year-old mother who suffered from Alzheimer’s
Disease, in a decision that was based in part on Jewish law; Dr.
Allen J. Bennett, MD FACP, Chairman of the Medical Ethics
Committee of the State Medical Society; and Touro Law Center
Professor Barbara Swartz, an expert on law, medical ethics and
living wills. The moderator is Professor Chaim Povarsky,
Director of the Institute of Jewish Law.
Not soon after the worldwide furor over the Terry Schiavo case
died down, the first case argued before the Supreme Court and
new chief justice John G. Roberts Jr., was Gonzales v. Oregon,
the Bush administration's challenge to an Oregon statute that
allows physicians to prescribe lethal doses of medication to
terminally ill patients.
The symposium will discuss these and other recent cases from the
perspectives of Jewish and American law and the medical ethics.
Participant Bios:
Dr. Chaim Povarsky, a Professor of Law at Touro Law
Center and Director of its renowned Institute of Jewish Law. He
earned his J.S.D. and LL.M. with highest honors at Tel-Aviv
University School of Law and his bachelor's degree at Hebrew
University Law School in Jerusalem. He has published extensively
and lectured internationally on Jewish legal and philosophical
issues.
Hon. Martin E. Ritholtz, Justice of the Supreme Court, 12th
Judicial District, Queens County. He received his B.A. from
Columbia College and L.L.B. from Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Law School, L.L.B. He also served as Judge of the Civil Court of
the City of New York from 1996-2000. He is an expert on American
and Jewish law.
Dr. Allen J. Bennett, MD FACP, President of the Board of
Governors of the Association of Orthodox Jewish Scientists. He
is on the faculties of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine
and the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and specializes in
internal medicine, hematology, geriatrics and medical ethics.
Touro Law Center Prof. Barbara Swartz is not only an
expert in the law but also how it applies to medical ethics and
living wills. She is the Bruce K. Gould Distinguished Professor
of Law at Touro Law Center. She has a J.D. from New York
University Law School, an M.P.H. from Columbia University and an
M.A. in Political Science from the University of Michigan. She
is an occasional commentator on Court TV. She teaches
Alternative Dispute Resolution at Touro. She is also a
professional mediator and has handled numerous workplace and
family disputes. She has trained over 70 mediators.
###
|
