Brain Death

What does Brain Death mean in American Law?

The definition of Brain Death in the law of the United States, as defined by the lexicographer Arthur Leff in his legal dictionary is:

With the growing capability of modern medicine to use machines to take over the performance of human life functions, thus to keep moribund people from “death” in the old sense of cessation of breathing, heartbeat and circulation, (see alive), there has come to be a felt need for some other legally sufficient definition of death, usable, e.g., to decide when the parahuman machines may properly be shut off. An increasing number of jurisdictions, by statute or decision, have adopted for this purpose the concept of brain death, i.e., the total cessation of brain function, evidenced by the absence for twenty-four consecutive hours of (a) reaction to external stimulii, (b) reflex or voluntary movements (including breathing), and (c) any electroencephalographic brain waves.

Brain death in Law Enforcement

Main Entry: Law Enforcement in the Legal Dictionary. This section provides, in the context of Law Enforcement, a partial definition of brain death.

Resources

See Also

• Law Enforcement Officer
• Police Officer
• Law Enforcement Agency

Further Reading

• brain death in A Dictionary of Law Enforcement (Oxford University Press)
• brain death in the Encyclopedia of Law Enforcement
• A Treatise on the Police of the Metropolis