Daniel J. Solove of Concurring Opinions recounts the legal difficulties surrounding “the tragic story about a family being harassed by the spread of death-scene images of their daughter, who was killed in an automobile accident. The photos of Nikki Catsouras were particularly gruesome — Nikki was decapitated in the crash. According to the article, soon after the crash, photos taken by the California Highway Patrol started circulating on the Internet”.
When the family brought suit against the California Highway Patrol, the trial court threw out their claim. Solove disagrees with the reasoning and turns to National Archives and Records Admin. v. Favish, 541 U.S. 157 (2004), a Freedom of Information Act case, to make the case that families do indeed have a “privacy interest in death-scene photos of deceased relatives.”
Sadly, in the age of the internet, establishing a firm legal precedent for this kind of horrific scenario is more urgent than ever.
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