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Florida Court Won't Consider
Earnhardt Case: The Flordia 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.(ThatsRacin.com/AP),
past news on the autopsy photos and laws, see my
Dale Earnhardt
Tribute - Reactions page.(7-2-2003) |