physics

Lantz v. Coleman

Lantz v. Coleman is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Lantz v. Coleman rather than just read about it. In short: Lantz v. Coleman is a Connecticut superior court case that addresses the constitutionality of forcibly feeding prison inmates on hunger strikes.

Key takeaways

Lantz v. Coleman belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Lantz v. Coleman to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Lantz v. Coleman from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Lantz v. Coleman is a Connecticut superior court case that addresses the constitutionality of forcibly feeding prison inmates on hunger strikes. The court ruled in favor of force feeding.

Case The defendant in the case, William B. Coleman, is a British national who was sentenced to eight years in state prison in 2005 for sexually assaulting his wife. She alleged Coleman raped her two days after he filed for custody of their children. He was convicted of sexual assault and unlawful imprisonment. He appealed, arguing that his wife had falsely accused him of rape in order to gain custody of their children. The conviction was affirmed on appeal in 2007. In September 2007, Coleman stopped eating solid foods. Some time later, he started to refuse all liquids and nutritional supplements, other than occasional milk, juice and water during the Christmas season, to spare his family from his death during the holidays. During this time, his weight dropped from 250 pounds (110 kg) to no more than 100 pounds (45 kg). The commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Correction, Theresa C. Lantz, sued for an injunction permitting the prison to force-feed Coleman. Coleman was assisted by the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut in presenting his case to Judge James Graham of the Connecticut Superior Court. On May 21, 2009, the court issued the injunction allowing the prison to force-feed Coleman. The decision stated that while mentally competent persons have a right to decline medical treatment, convicts lose some of their rights while imprisoned. The court also ruled allowing Coleman to starve himself to death would violate the prison's obligation to care for the health of convicts, and feeding was a medically harmless process when performed under sedation. Furthermore, Coleman's death from lack of nutrition would potentially cause unrest within the prison, and given his expected release from prison "his death would deprive his innocent, dependent children of his future financial support." In 2012, Coleman was paroled but soon arrested and imprisoned after refusing to register as a convicted sex offender. In 2014, he was deported to England.

Significance The Coleman case has pitted several of the nation's leading bioethicists and physicians against the Connecticut prison system. The University of Pennsylvania's Arthur Caplan, who testified for Coleman at the trial, wrote in the Hartford Courant: Prisoners do not have many rights while in jail. But, one right they do have is the right to protest including the decision not to eat or drink. As horrible as it is to watch someone starve when they need not do so, the state of Connecticut should accept that a competent prisoner may make that choice. I hope that Coleman decides that he has made his point and ends his hunger-strike. But it is not right to use medical treatment to force him not to do so.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Lantz v. Coleman

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Lantz v. Coleman claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Lantz v. Coleman before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Lantz v. Coleman ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Lantz v. Coleman

In research: Lantz v. Coleman appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Lantz v. Coleman in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Lantz v. Coleman is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2009 in Connecticut, 2009 in United States case law, Connecticut state case law, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Lantz v. Coleman outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Lantz v. Coleman in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Lantz v. Coleman means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Lantz v. Coleman out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Lantz v. Coleman in simple terms?

Lantz v. Coleman is a Connecticut superior court case that addresses the constitutionality of forcibly feeding prison inmates on hunger strikes.

Why does Lantz v. Coleman matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Lantz v. Coleman?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Lantz v. Coleman.