- News>
- Motorsports
Supreme Court rules in favour of Earnhardt`s family
Tallahassee, July 03: The state Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to consider whether the law restricting access to autopsy photos is constitutional, letting stand a decision stemming from Dale Earnhardt`s death.
Tallahassee, July 03: The state Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to consider whether the law restricting access to autopsy photos is constitutional, letting stand a decision stemming from Dale Earnhardt's death.
The publisher of the Independent Florida Alligator was seeking to have the law overturned, but the Supreme Court, in a 4-3 decision, declined to take up the case. The court did not comment on its decision. The law generally bars public access to autopsy materials.
Campus Communications asked the high court a year ago to review a decision by the Fifth District Court of Appeal in Daytona Beach. The appellate court had upheld the law and said the unauthorized viewing of autopsy photos is a violation of privacy.
The law was passed in 2001 following Earnhardt's death in the Daytona 500. Newspapers sought access to the photos as questions arose over how the star driver died in a crash and whether better safety equipment might have saved him.
Earnhardt's widow, Teresa, obtained an injunction barring medical examiners from making the photos public, then asked the Florida Legislature to pass a bill sealing autopsy photos, which it did in March 2001.
"It's good news for the people of Florida and for the Earnhardt family because the law that prohibits general distribution of gruesome autopsy photos has been upheld," said Teresa Earnhardt's lawyer, Jon Mills.
He said the law was also fair to the public because it allowed judges to determine case by case whether there's an overriding need to have photos released. News organizations had argued that inspecting the photos, but not publishing them, would not intrude on the privacy of the Earnhardt family.
The Orlando Sentinel, which also sought the photos, reached a mediated agreement that allowed an expert to review them, but it was prevented from publishing them. The paper was seeking the 33 autopsy photos to determine if better safety equipment would have saved Earnhardt's life.
Tom Julin, the lawyer for the Alligator, said in high profile cases where the deceased's family has a lot of public sympathy, judges won't rule in favor of releasing photos.
"That's no better illustrated than by what happened in this case," Julin said. "You had a great controversy, and many good reasons for the photos to be reviewed. Yet the court said 'No.' There's still a great question about whether there was a cover-up," on how safe Earnhardt's car was.
But Mills said autopsy photos aren't usually very useful in determining such things anyway, particularly when other autopsy records are available. Ultimately, the prospect of publication and the harm that might come to family members won out, he said. "Those photographs are disturbing," Mills said.
Bureau Report
The publisher of the Independent Florida Alligator was seeking to have the law overturned, but the Supreme Court, in a 4-3 decision, declined to take up the case. The court did not comment on its decision. The law generally bars public access to autopsy materials.
Campus Communications asked the high court a year ago to review a decision by the Fifth District Court of Appeal in Daytona Beach. The appellate court had upheld the law and said the unauthorized viewing of autopsy photos is a violation of privacy.
The law was passed in 2001 following Earnhardt's death in the Daytona 500. Newspapers sought access to the photos as questions arose over how the star driver died in a crash and whether better safety equipment might have saved him.
Earnhardt's widow, Teresa, obtained an injunction barring medical examiners from making the photos public, then asked the Florida Legislature to pass a bill sealing autopsy photos, which it did in March 2001.
"It's good news for the people of Florida and for the Earnhardt family because the law that prohibits general distribution of gruesome autopsy photos has been upheld," said Teresa Earnhardt's lawyer, Jon Mills.
He said the law was also fair to the public because it allowed judges to determine case by case whether there's an overriding need to have photos released. News organizations had argued that inspecting the photos, but not publishing them, would not intrude on the privacy of the Earnhardt family.
The Orlando Sentinel, which also sought the photos, reached a mediated agreement that allowed an expert to review them, but it was prevented from publishing them. The paper was seeking the 33 autopsy photos to determine if better safety equipment would have saved Earnhardt's life.
Tom Julin, the lawyer for the Alligator, said in high profile cases where the deceased's family has a lot of public sympathy, judges won't rule in favor of releasing photos.
"That's no better illustrated than by what happened in this case," Julin said. "You had a great controversy, and many good reasons for the photos to be reviewed. Yet the court said 'No.' There's still a great question about whether there was a cover-up," on how safe Earnhardt's car was.
But Mills said autopsy photos aren't usually very useful in determining such things anyway, particularly when other autopsy records are available. Ultimately, the prospect of publication and the harm that might come to family members won out, he said. "Those photographs are disturbing," Mills said.
Bureau Report