# Should The Gov't Release Autopsy photos? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 5, 2001, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-govt-release-autopsy-photos/56836 "2001-03-05T17:42:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![IzzyR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/2acd7d/32.png) [@IzzyR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IzzyR)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2001, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-govt-release-autopsy-photos/56836/1 "2001-03-05T17:42:17Z")
From CNN.com > [@](#): > > LAS VEGAS, Nevada (CNN) – The wife of Dale Earnhardt appealed to U.S. racing fans Sunday to pressure Florida lawmakers into not allowing the release of photographs taken during the autopsy of the former NASCAR race driver. > > In her first public comments since the crash, Teresa Earnhardt decried attempts by members of the news media and others to gain access to autopsy photographs taken following Dale Earnhardt’s fatal accident at the Daytona 500 on February 18. > > In a prepared statement, Teresa Earnhardt urged that the photographs “remain where they belong: in the medical examiner’s confidential records.” Earnhardt has gone to court to prevent release of the photos. > > Earnhardt criticized the laws in states such as Florida that grant public access to autopsy photographs if they are not part of an active criminal investigation. > [@](#): > > Last week, The Associated Press reported that an Orlando Sentinel reporter had submitted a public records request asking for “any and all photographs” of the late driver. I’m frankly unsure if this article represents the full story, and if there might be background information that is being overlooked. But I find the idea that the public is entitled to autopsy photos to be outrageous. Not everything that the government does must be a part of the public record. Just as no one would expect their IRS files and other records to be made available to the media on request, so too should a person have the right to expect that gruesome pictures of their body being dissected after their death will remain private. ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2001, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-govt-release-autopsy-photos/56836/2 "2001-03-05T17:52:06Z")
That is interesting… is it really that there is a law discussing the release of such photos or merely a lack of a law forbidding it? I can’t see that public access to autopsy records is a “should be” case. I’m sure there’s enough morticians to take their own pictures and sell them to [rotten.com](http://rotten.com) without having forced public access. Can anyone think of a reason to allow public access to these photographs??? ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2001, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-govt-release-autopsy-photos/56836/3 "2001-03-05T18:08:00Z")
I’ve just read the [CNN story](http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/03/04/earnhardt.autopsy/index.html), and I am horrified at the actions of the Orlando Sentinel. > [@](#): > > Last week, Sentinel attorney David Bralow said the photos are important because they might reveal what caused Earnhardt’s death. He added that the newspaper has no intention of publishing the photos. > > “We are not seeking the photos for some macabre curiosity,” he told the newspaper. “We have a very significant news reason to look at these, and we want to do this in a timely manner.” I’ve got problems with this for two reasons. First, although the Sentinel might not publish the photos, they would still be part of the paper’s files. What’s to keep an unscrupulous employee from making copies and selling them to [rotten.com](http://rotten.com) or a similar outlet, or even make multiple copies and selling them to morbid collectors? Granted, this might also happen through the coroner’s office, but at least there, are legal remedies due to privacy laws. Second, I fail to see what legitimate interest a news outlet has in investigating a death that was clearly accidental. The crash was televised nationally, and it was clear from the resulting autopsy and investigation that it was accidental. There is not a lot of cause for speculation that there was foul play, and even if there is, it’s not the job of the Orlando Sentinel to prove it. Robin ---
**Author:** ![IzzyR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/2acd7d/32.png) [@IzzyR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IzzyR)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2001, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-govt-release-autopsy-photos/56836/4 "2001-03-06T16:15:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by msrobyn \* > First, although the Sentinel might not publish the photos, they would still be part of the paper’s files. What’s to keep an unscrupulous employee from making copies and selling them to [rotten.com](http://rotten.com) or a similar outlet, or even make multiple copies and selling them to morbid collectors? Granted, this might also happen through the coroner’s office, but at least there, are legal remedies due to privacy laws. I’d have a problem even if this scenario never came to pass. Why does a person have to allow employees of the Sentinal to view his autopsy photos? Privacy should preclude them as well, even if they never spread them to anyone else. I must admit that I myself once viewed autopsy photos of Tupac Shakur on the web. But the website that published them put in some language about how the public is entitled to see them, which got me to thinking about it (and regretting it). ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2001, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-govt-release-autopsy-photos/56836/5 "2001-03-06T20:24:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by msrobyn \* > \*\*I’ve just read the [CNN story](http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/03/04/earnhardt.autopsy/index.html), and I am horrified at the actions of the Orlando Sentinel. > > > [@](#): > > > > Last week, Sentinel attorney David Bralow said the photos are important because they might reveal what caused Earnhardt’s death. He added that the newspaper has no intention of publishing the photos. > > > > “We are not seeking the photos for some macabre curiosity,” he told the newspaper. “We have a very significant news reason to look at these, and we want to do this in a timely manner.” > > \*\* What makes the Orlando Sentinel think that they are better than the medical examiner at dertiming the cause of death? However there has been many prblems concerning the death of JFK from the fact that the photos were witheld from the public and only drawings of the wounds were permited. However since no-one even thinks that there was a second gunman in the death of Ernhart I think we should respect the widows wishes. ---
**Author:** ![Darqangelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecccb3/32.png) [@Darqangelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darqangelle)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2001, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-govt-release-autopsy-photos/56836/6 "2001-03-07T00:22:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by msrobyn \* > \*\*[CNN story](http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/03/04/earnhardt.autopsy/index.html) > > > [@](#): > > > > Last week, Sentinel attorney David Bralow said the photos are important because they might reveal what caused Earnhardt’s death. > > \*\* …uhh. Could it have something to do with that widely-seen car wreck? :rolleyes: In answer to the Title question (not unlike many of he answers so far), “Why”? ---
**Author:** ![IzzyR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/2acd7d/32.png) [@IzzyR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IzzyR)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2001, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-govt-release-autopsy-photos/56836/7 "2001-03-08T15:12:04Z")
[more](http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/08/sports/08DALE.html)