Do the dead have rights?
July 16th 2008 22:10
It seems like a pretty easy question to answer, but it can be very complicated.
When someone dies, privacy becomes moot. All of our dirty little secrets come out as people go through our stuff. Uncle Bob was Gay?! Grandmom had an affair?! I wouldn't have guessed that Henry was really into porn...
But the question I'm concerned with is one a bit more complicated.
It came to mind because a friend of the family witnessed a deadly accident this past weekend. She lives right around the corner and ran as soon as she heard the noise and saw the smoke. She called 911 and sat with people who were near death, hugged a wife whose husband had died, comforted a man who lost his nephew. While she was attending to the people, cars began to back up on the road. People started stepping out of their doors to find out why the road was blocked. Cell phone users took out their cameras. They snapped photos of a grieving wife, of a stunned uncle watching over his dead nephew, of a mangled body, twisted metal, a couple in critical condition. What did they do with these pictures? What any insensitive hack would do- posted them on the internet.
From my understanding of this particular situation, the pictures were removed by the police as they were unauthorized photos of a crime scene.
For someone who preaches freedom of speech and property rights, this is a situation I have to wonder about on more than one level.
In some situations, someone's 1st and 4th amendment rights could very well intefere with someone else's 14th amendment rights.
If you take a picture of me in the shower through my window and post it on a website called "fatty moms are hot," I could sue you for infringing on my privacy rights guaranteed by the 14th amendment. In essence, you have no rights to the pictures. My image never really belonged to you because you stole them from a private place. (Of course, if you think I'm hot after 3 kids...well I guess I'de be flattered).
If you take a picture of me sitting on a bench at the neighborhood park with my ass hanging out of my pants and post it on the internet, I could no longer sue you. I've given up my privacy rights by choosing to go into a public venue. My image no longer exclusively belongs to me, as I have decided to grace the world with it.
Following this logic, If someone dies in their house and you take pictures through the window, it would violate the privacy rights of those who the belongings fall to, as their house would belong to the next of kin. If they die in a public place, I would then assume that pictures would be legal.
In most states, photos of the deceased are not considered to violate the property rights of the next of kin. A case where the defense is arguing just that point is ongoing in California now.
In the not so long ago past, dead bodies were displayed by the family for public viewing. I'm not talking about criminals who were hung, but of everyday people who died of natural or other causes. The image of the three killed at the OK Corral has haunted me since I visited Tombstone years ago. It is a creepy thing and seems so inappropriate by today's standards. In reality, haven't we just substituted one type of show for another? Instead of displaying bodies for the townspeople to see and grieve with respect, people now display them for the world to see without respect or permission of the family.
From a perfectly constitutional standpoint, it does not appear that photographs like these are illegal. This is a case for me similar to drugs. Just because something is or should be legal, doesn't mean we should or have to do it.
photo compliments legends of america
When someone dies, privacy becomes moot. All of our dirty little secrets come out as people go through our stuff. Uncle Bob was Gay?! Grandmom had an affair?! I wouldn't have guessed that Henry was really into porn...
It came to mind because a friend of the family witnessed a deadly accident this past weekend. She lives right around the corner and ran as soon as she heard the noise and saw the smoke. She called 911 and sat with people who were near death, hugged a wife whose husband had died, comforted a man who lost his nephew. While she was attending to the people, cars began to back up on the road. People started stepping out of their doors to find out why the road was blocked. Cell phone users took out their cameras. They snapped photos of a grieving wife, of a stunned uncle watching over his dead nephew, of a mangled body, twisted metal, a couple in critical condition. What did they do with these pictures? What any insensitive hack would do- posted them on the internet.
From my understanding of this particular situation, the pictures were removed by the police as they were unauthorized photos of a crime scene.
For someone who preaches freedom of speech and property rights, this is a situation I have to wonder about on more than one level.
In some situations, someone's 1st and 4th amendment rights could very well intefere with someone else's 14th amendment rights.
If you take a picture of me in the shower through my window and post it on a website called "fatty moms are hot," I could sue you for infringing on my privacy rights guaranteed by the 14th amendment. In essence, you have no rights to the pictures. My image never really belonged to you because you stole them from a private place. (Of course, if you think I'm hot after 3 kids...well I guess I'de be flattered).
If you take a picture of me sitting on a bench at the neighborhood park with my ass hanging out of my pants and post it on the internet, I could no longer sue you. I've given up my privacy rights by choosing to go into a public venue. My image no longer exclusively belongs to me, as I have decided to grace the world with it.
Following this logic, If someone dies in their house and you take pictures through the window, it would violate the privacy rights of those who the belongings fall to, as their house would belong to the next of kin. If they die in a public place, I would then assume that pictures would be legal.
In most states, photos of the deceased are not considered to violate the property rights of the next of kin. A case where the defense is arguing just that point is ongoing in California now.
In the not so long ago past, dead bodies were displayed by the family for public viewing. I'm not talking about criminals who were hung, but of everyday people who died of natural or other causes. The image of the three killed at the OK Corral has haunted me since I visited Tombstone years ago. It is a creepy thing and seems so inappropriate by today's standards. In reality, haven't we just substituted one type of show for another? Instead of displaying bodies for the townspeople to see and grieve with respect, people now display them for the world to see without respect or permission of the family.
From a perfectly constitutional standpoint, it does not appear that photographs like these are illegal. This is a case for me similar to drugs. Just because something is or should be legal, doesn't mean we should or have to do it.
photo compliments legends of america
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Comment by Anonymous
If you're a member of a Town Meeting, going to a ballgame or participating in any public outing, that's different. But an idividual has a right to some privacy while sitting even in a public park bench.
If a woman sat down at a public bench, wearing a provocatively sexy outfit, skinny bikini or sat in a way so as to invite attention and a person took a shot at her, then her claims to privacy certainly take a drop.
I learned this from my reporting days. Those magic words "May I" will save everybody a lot of grief and money.
Comment by Josie
Waxing Political
Unique Parent
Thanks!