Statement by Judge Jessica Cooper prior to sentencing Jack Kevorkian following his conviction for the murder of Thomas Youk (1999)

This is a court of law and you said you invited yourself here to take a final stand. But this trial was not an opportunity for a referendum. The law prohibiting euthanasia was specifically reviewed and clarified by the Michigan Supreme Court several years ago in a decision involving your very own cases, sir.

So the charge here should come as no surprise to you. You invited yourself to the wrong forum.

Well, we are a nation of laws, and we are a nation that toler­ ates differences of opinion because we have a civilized and a nonviolent way of resolving our conflicts that weighs the law and adheres to the law.  We have the means and the methods to protest the laws with which we disagree. You can criticize the law, you can write or lecture about the law, you can speak to the media or petition the voters. But you must always stay within the limits provided by the law. You may not break the law. You may not take the law into your own hands ...

No one is unmindful of the controversy and emotion that exists over end-of-life issues and pain control. And I assume that the debate will continue in a calm and reasoned forum long after this trial and your activities have faded from public memory. But this trial is not about that controversy. The trial was about you, sir. It was about you and the legal system. And you have ignored and challenged the Legislature and the Supreme Court. And moreover, you've defied your own profession, the medical profession.You stood before this jury and you spoke of your duty as a physician. You repeatedly speak of treating patients to relieve their pain and suffering. You don't have a license to practice medicine. The state of Michigan told you eight years ago you may not practice medicine. You may not treat patients. You may not possess - let alone inject - drugs into another human being ...

Now, another consideration and perhaps even a stronger fac tor in sentencing is deterrence. This trial was not about the political or moral correctness of euthanasia. It was all about you, sir. It was about lawlessness. It was about disrespect for a society that exists and flourishes because of the strength of the legal system.

No one, sir, is above the law. No one ... You were on bond to another judge when you committed this offence, you were not licensed to practice medicine when you committed this offence and you hadn't been licensed for eight years. And you had the audacity to go on national television, show the world what you did and dare the legal system to stop you.

Well, sir, consider yourself stopped.