LAW OF THE LAND

High court won't release Vince Foster photos

Justices say action would cause his family pain, intrude on their privacy

Posted: March 30, 2004
3:00 pm Eastern

© 2010 WorldNetDaily.com

The Supreme Court ruled today the federal government does not have to release four photos of former White House lawyer Vince Foster's dead body because it would cause pain to his family and intrude on their privacy.

The decision, which was unanimous, was the result of a request by attorney Allan Favish under the Freedom of Information Act for the release of autopsy and death-scene photos. Favish's request was part of his investigation into Foster's 1993 death, which has been officially ruled a suicide. Foster was a personal friend of Bill and Hillary Clinton and was working on several legal matters for them at the time of his death. His body was found in Fort Marcy Park, the victim of a gunshot wound.

"Family members have a personal stake in honoring and mourning their dead and objecting to unwarranted public exploitation that, by intruding upon their own grief, tends to degrade the rites and respect they seek to accord to the deceased person who was once their own," Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote in the decision.

According to an Associated Press report, the widow of racecar driver Dale Earnhardt had filed papers with the Supreme Court opposing the release of the photos of Foster's body. The Earnhardt family had worked in Florida courts to prevent public release of autopsy photographs of Earnhardt, who died in 2001 during the Daytona 500.

As WorldNetDaily reported, in 2002 Favish lost an attempt to have photos released when a federal appeals court ruled six of 10 Polaroids of the death scene would not be released. Its decision OK'ing the release of the other four photos was overturned by today's ruling.

Favish filed his original request for the photographs in a bid to learn whether Foster was truly a victim of suicide or whether he was murdered and dumped in the park, as some witnesses and independent researchers believe.

The Bush administration argued against the release of the photos, saying it could lead to the release of photos of dead servicemembers overseas or other sensitive information.

Kennedy argued a more open interpretation of the public-records law could allow child molesters and murderers access to photographs of deceased victims.

"We find it inconceivable that Congress could have intended a definition of 'personal privacy' so narrow that it would allow convicted felons to obtain these materials without limitations at the expense of surviving family members' personal privacy," he wrote.

The justice said there was no evidence the government covered up the facts surrounding Foster's death, so there was no reason to order release of the photos.

Over 100 photos related to the Foster matter have been made public.