An Iredell County legislator who represents Dale Earnhardt’s family in the N.C. House filed a bill last week to remove autopsy photographs as public records. But officials at the N.C. Press Association promise to oppose the legislation. Under the bill sponsored by Rep. Karen Ray, R-Iredell, court officials, investigators and family members of the deceased would have access to autopsy photos, videos and audiotapes. But others would have to ask a judge for a court order to release photos or tapes or allow copies. Ray said that the bill was prompted by the furor two years ago when newspapers and other media outlets asked for photos from the autopsy in Florida of NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt after his fatal wreck at the Daytona 500. Earnhardt’s widow, Teresa Earnhardt, was on the steering committee for Ray’s campaign last year in a Mooresville-based district that is heavily populated by NASCAR drivers, team members, crews and companies. Ray says that protection in the bill extends beyond NASCAR drivers. The bill would make it a felony to illegally provide a photo or recording from an autopsy to an unauthorized official. But Teri Saylor, the executive director of the N.C. Press Association, said that her group of newspaper publishers is likely to oppose Ray’s bill, just as it did a similar bill that died in the 2001 legislature. Saylor said that information such as autopsy photos can be critical to a newspaper’s watchdog role. Saylor said that many newspapers have strict guidelines about photos. Some newspapers provide links to autopsy reports on their Web sites, but not to autopsy photos, Saylor said. Florida’s legislature removed autopsy photos from the state’s public records after the flap over the Earnhardt photos. But John Bussian, a lobbyist for the press association, said that Florida voters passed a ballot proposal last year that requires a two-thirds vote in the legislature to remove items from the state’s public-records law.( Winston Salem Journal )(2-23-2003)
