This article describes the legality of suicide & attempted suicide in several nations prior to 1959. The treatment of suicide as a crime is discussed in the context of cultural stigma, inaccurate reporting, & the verdict of suicide by the coroner. There is a discussion of individuals voluntarily being detained in a hospital in order to avoid being charged with attempted suicide. Prosecutors utilizing involuntary hospitalization as a means of avoiding initiating legal proceedings against people who have attempted suicide are also discussed. (8 refs) (SC)