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One step closer Bill limiting access to autopsy photos advances
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- A Senate committee unanimously approved a bill written on behalf of Dale Earnhardt's widow that would keep autopsy photos sealed. The legislation is needed to keep autopsy photos of the NASCAR driver and others off of Web sites like the Gallery of the Grotesque, Death n Dementia, Celebrity Morgue, Faces of Death and the Dead Body Picture Page, said bill sponsor Sen. Jim King. "Twenty years ago there was no such thing as the Internet," said King, R-Jacksonville. "Today we live in a world where a picture taken from your own home can be transmitted almost galactically." The bill (CS SB 1356) approved by the Senate Governmental Oversight and Productivity Committee requires a person to get a judge's permission to inspect autopsy photos or videos. It also gives surviving spouses the first right of access to the materials, followed by the surviving parents and adult children. The full Senate is expected to take up the bill next week. A companion bill (HB 1083) was scheduled to be heard in the House on Thursday. Teresa Earnhardt asked King to file a bill after the Orlando Sentinel requested copies of her husband's autopsy photos. The newspaper said it did not plan to publish the photos, but wanted an independent expert to review them.
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