Hearing set in force-feeding of inmate

The right to die is going to be an issue at a July 2 court hearing concerning a female North Las Vegas prison inmate who is being force fed under court order after apparently attempting to starve herself.

Senior Deputy Attorney General Bridget Branigan said Tuesday that doctors believe 40-year-old Terry Harger was within a day or two of death if medical steps were not taken. The inmate is at University Medical Center this week receiving intravenous nourishment to keep her alive until the hearing in District Judge Nancy Becker's courtroom.

Becker granted temporary permission Friday for prison officials to force feed Harger, a drunken driving convict who is suffering from Huntington's Chorea.

The July 2 hearing is the result of a lawsuit filed against Harger by the Corrections Corporation of America, which runs the women's prison for the state. Its outcome, Branigan indicated, could determine whether Harger lives or dies, although the woman's intent is not clear.

The lawsuit, filed through the attorney general's office because a state prisoner is involved, alleges that Harger may have chosen starvation as a way of manipulating the prison system into releasing her immediately.

The court action claims she made statements to that effect to prison officials, but added that Harger also has indicated "she wants to starve herself to death."

At the July 2 court hearing, Branigan said, Harger's brother or mother may be appointed as her guardian.

Branigan added that Becker will appoint an attorney for the defendant before the hearing, although the judge did not do so Tuesday.

Harger, whose weight has dropped from 112 pounds on May 6 to 94 pounds on June 18, is not eligible for parole until October 2000, the lawsuit stated.

"Prison health officials have seriously questioned the defendant's mental competency and have concluded she poses a danger to herself," the legal action stated. "Since her mental competency to make the decision to die is at issue, (the prison) is responsible for maintaining her life until her competency can be determined."

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