Deaths, Law Professors, Law Schools, Suicide

The Mystery Of A Popular Professor's Death, Solved

Her husband wonders: how was a person who recently admitted herself to the hospital for psychiatric treatment able to buy a gun so easily?

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Last week, we noted the passing of Cheryl Hanna, a prominent professor at Vermont Law School who was an inspiration to her students and a regular legal-affairs commentator in the media. Her death was something of a mystery at the time; she was just 48 years old, and no cause of death was given.

The state medical examiner’s office has completed its investigation. We now have additional information about Professor Hanna’s passing — but that information raises a new question.

The state medical examiner concluded that Professor Hanna died by suicide using a handgun. The new question comes from her husband, who wants to know why she was able to procure a firearm so easily:

Paul Henninge, Hanna’s husband, said in a phone interview that his late wife had twice been hospitalized for treatment for depression in the nine days before her July 27 suicide.

“She bought the gun the day before,” he said. “It is shocking that somebody who had voluntarily admitted herself to the hospital” for psychiatric treatment was able to easily buy a gun, he added.

Additional details about Cheryl Hanna’s struggle with depression appear in the Valley News. Depression is an all-too-common affliction among lawyers. If you suffer from depression, there are many places you can turn to for help. Lawyers With Depression, a site that seeks to help lawyers struggling with this illness, helpfully collects some resources here.

We send our sympathies and condolences to Professor Hanna’s family and friends at this time. Her family has requested that, in lieu of flowers, memorial contributions be made in her memory to Women Helping Battered Women, P.O. Box 1535, Burlington, VT 05402.

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Professor’s Death Ruled Suicide [Valley News]
Law professor Hanna’s death ruled a suicide [Burlington Free Press]
Funeral for law professor Hanna set [Burlington Free Press]
Vermont Law School professor Hanna dies at 48 [Burlington Free Press]

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