Anyways on to Hot Topic
One of the things I do while I'm at work is surf the Internet (duh!) and catch up on some news. As I was doing that Monday morning I came across a horrifying story on Newsweek.com
The story was of the Catsouras family of Orange County, California suffering through what I think no family should go through.
For what seemed like from the outside to be a 'perfect' family there was angst amongst 18 year old Nicole 'Nikki' Catsouras and her parents. Diagnosed at young age with a brain tumor, Nikki was thought to be some what of a loose cannon because of the disease and treatment. People around her described her as being a free spirit and somewhat easygoing.
(Nikki Catsouras)
Anyways one afternoon after arguing with her parents the week before and taking cocaine the night before, Nikki grabbed the keys to her father's Porsche and peeled out of her cul-de-sac. Immediately her mother called Nikki's father and he called 911 and reported what had just happened. He then raced around trying to find until he saw two police officers flying by, sirens blaring when he asked what happened. He asked if there was an accident and the officer responded that "Yes, at the toll road, a black Porsche."
(The crash)
Unfortunately when speeding down the highway at more than 100mph, Nikki tried to pass a Honda Civic but clipped it and lost control of the car. She went over the median and smashed into the cement barrier of the toll road.
She died instantly.
When her father arrived, a crane was lifting the car from the wreckage. Nikki's injuries were soo bad that coroner would not even let her parents identify her body.
After a few weeks of grieving their daughter's death, Nikki's uncle was contacted asking if he had seen the photos. Apparently, there was photos of the accident and of a nearly decapitated Nikki still strapped in and slouched over the driver's side window circulating around the Internet.
Not wanting their other daughter's or family to see Nikki in this state. the Catsouras family filed a complaint and later a lawsuit (which is ongoing) against the California Highway Patrol. The sent a letter of apology but stated that the pictures were of routine protocol of a fatal accident response. Unfortunately two of CHP dispatchers leaked and emailed them to family to warn them of the dangers of driving.
The Catsouras family has been fighting a long legal battle that is seemingly unsuccessful.
As we all know there are very little laws covering many things Internet related and courts have dismissed their other cases saying that they were sorry but no law was broken and that "No duty exists between the surviving family and defendant," because the dead do not have any privacy rights and that "this is America, and there's a freedom of information.".
But one prosecutor believes otherwise and says that many states offer privacy rights to families of deceased individuals, he even " cites a 2004 case involving death-scene photos of former deputy White House counsel Vincent Foster, who died in 1993 of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. In that case, the Supreme Court ruled that the government could deny Freedom of Information Act requests for the photos based on a family's right to survivor privacy. "I'm totally perplexed at how the [California] court concludes there was no duty to preserve this family's privacy," he says.".
I personally think that the family should be given rights to their daughter and her image (esp. of her death). Could you imagine if this is your child or family member and there were pictures of her dead body circulating the Internet and having to read nasty comments about her even after her passing.
What do you think?
Do you think families of the deceased should be granted privacy rights?!?
Do you think their should be more policing on the Internet for material such as this??
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Do you think the Internet is fair game?
All comments and thoughts are welcomed as long as their in a respectful manner and if want to read the whole Newsweek story go here!
13 comments:
wow. i just saw the horrible pictures from her accident! i definitely think the family should have rights to these photos and they should not be available through the internet! if this was one of my family members those images would haunt me for life. what a horrible situation!
I had heard of this story awhile ago and remember thinking some of those same questions. I still don't understand why others would WANT to see those photos or use them in any way. I completely believe that the photos of their daughter in death should remain private and for the family only. It was tragic, and the wreckage alone should serve as a good warning photo to drivers.
Oh man, what a horrible story, that poor family. I don't think anyone should see the pictures, if you are going to use it for education purposes then you need permission from the family first. What happen to respecting the family and the people that were killed. There are some sick people out there that surf the internet for graphic pictures. Yes we live in a free world but I am sorry we need better laws to protect families and the victims.
This is a really awful story, and I don't think the family should be forced to confront an issue like this in the midst of a larger tragedy. They should absolutely have the rights to the photos!
how terrible! I don't understand why anyone would want to see such horrible pictures, the family should DEFINITELY have the rights to the pictures.
Oh my lord, this is horrifying. I don't even want to click through to see the pictures... those absolutely should NOT be made public! Freedom of information does not overrule sensitivity to a family's mourning, especially when there is nothing to be gained from it. This makes me sick.
You know, I read a very similar article to this but I believe it was last week sometime.
Being the curious person I am, I looked up the images to see what all the fuss was about. Let me just say that I was horrified by what I saw.
But being only 21 years old I'm not that far out of my teens and I remember what it was like racing down the highway at 120+ mph feeling invincible. Granted, I was never on drugs or had a life altering condition (her brain tumor) which made her have a psychotic reaction to cocaine.
This is a very hard discussion for me. I believe that those pictures were taken by the police and as such do belong to them (NOT ON THE INTERNET!) but the photo is of the Catsouras' daughter, which would seem as if they would have the rights or at least partial rights.
I mean, people aren't aloud to go around just snapping pictures of anyone or taking videos because ,why?, it violates our privacy! There is a very thin line that is walked in these cases. And while I do not think the family should be awarded 20 million dollars, because no amount of money will bring your daughter back, or erase those images from their memory, something shoudl be done, whether it be they can sue the individuals for the damage they have caused, or someone should step in and delete those pictures from the web. I also believe the persons who emailed those graphic pictures to the family and who harassed them with text messages should be fined and even given jail time. I mean what is wrong with people? The Catsouras family should not be forced to remove the computers from their house for fear of seeing pictures of their daughter, or have to homeschool their younger child because someone may bring pictures to school. In my opinion, thanks to Hollywood, people have become numb to such images and stories. I mean you can see similar graphic images while watching cable (CSI, The Sopranos, Nip/Tuck, etc.) and the newest horror flick. People are just getting too out of touch with reality. Not to mention humanity.
Being a mother myself, the story really touches my heart, I could not imagine being in that family's shoes. No one should ever be put in that situation.
I told my husband about this story and shared with him the photos to get his reaction. We both agree that if just one person seeing those pictures realizes what risks they're taking while speeding, and decide to slow down. Maybe a life will be saved in the midst of it all.
On one hand I want to save these images and show them to my son when he is older (much older) so he realizes just what the consequences may include from reckless acts, while on the other hand I don't want him to ever witness such tragedy and horric images.
Like I said before.. it's a very thin line...
oh my gosh!! and she was so pretty!
i felt this way when i read about the first swine flu death today in texas. Isn't it sad that my husbee asked "was she pretty?" as if it mattered!
But it's true of what your other commentators said.... if people SAW the pics. They'd have a better effect on sending out the message.
That's a definite private matter that should have never leaked. I couldn't imagine being in that family's position and having to constantly battle it out over the tragic death of a loved one. That just makes me sick to my stomach.
Before I had a child, I think I would have thought that maybe the photos would stop another accident. Now I think the family's right to privacy is absolutely crucial for their mental health and human rights.
Wow this story makes my stomach turn.
This is so sad. I would be crushed if pictures of a family member were circulating the internet like this. I can't blame the family for taking legal action, I would do the same thing.
i saw this story a while back on 20/20 or dateline.. something like that.
i think it's awful. i couldn't imagine pictures of my family member on the internet like that for anyone and everyone to gawk at like it's the scene of a movie. i think that family members should definitely have rights to the photos. the internet is ruthless.. there are so many things out there that should be private, but once the wrong person gets their hands on it, forget it.
i do understand wanting to share the story to discourage other teenagers of the dangers of driving recklessly or intoxicated, but pictures of the decapitated victim are not necessary... in my opinion.
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