High Court Permits Foster Photos Withheld

NY Post ^ | March 30, 2004 | GINA HOLLAND

[LurkedLongEnough]

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the government does not have to release 11-year-old photographs from the suicide of Clinton administration White House lawyer Vincent Foster.

The unanimous decision makes it more difficult to use a public records law to access law enforcement records. Justices said the privacy rights of survivors outweigh the benefits of releasing some photographs.

[dirtboy]

The Vince Foster cover-up is now sealed and completed. FWIW, I don't think the Clintons had him killed - but it's hard to understand how a man can drive to the park without car keys, walk down a dirt trail without getting the soles of his shoes dirty, and shoot himself without getting blowback on his hand. But who am I to second-guess our omniscient government?

[First_Salute]

Bump.

[HarryCaul]

Wrong decision here. I believe in a right to privacy, but it doesn't apply here at all, not to 'family members'.

[thoughtomator]

The "right not to be offended" and its continuing implications...

[mrsmith]

"Favish, known as a Clinton antagonist"
Gina, Gina, Gina... does your husband write all your stories?

I believe (without reading it) that it's a reasonable decision but also that Favish was right to bring the case. At least some more people have seen the pictures.

[StriperSniper]

'family members'.

That's the new meme, it expands 'victim status' to an exponential number of people.

[longshadow]

- but it's hard to understand how a man can drive to the park without car keys, walk down a dirt trail without getting the soles of his shoes dirty, and shoot himself without getting blowback on his hand.

You left out being dead before his car arrived, and firing the gun without getting fingerprints on it.

[SteveH]

Next, JFK investigation completed-- he actually committed suicide...

[OXENinFLA]

Can will still find out why HILLARY had Vince's office cleared out and re-carpeted immediate after his death?

[Nateman]

" Justices said the privacy rights of survivors outweigh the benefits of releasing some photographs."

The real reason: Some things so shocking to the prestige of the nation that it should be covered up, such as evidence that may one day prove a first lady commited murder.

[weegee]

Justices said the privacy rights of survivors outweigh the benefits of releasing some photographs.

There is no "survivor" in the suicide. The only affected party is deceased. His friends, family, relatives, and co-workers really have no place in this discussion.

[StriperSniper]

I would think it would be worth seeing if Allan Favish has already done some research into that. I don't know enough about the inner workings to know where to start with FOIA requests to reveal the scheduling of the work that was done. With the way they wiggle out of everything, the amount of documentation to make anything stick would be huge.

[weegee]

...and pictures of unidentified remains from the Sept. 11 attacks

Virtually NO photos of dead bodies from 9.11 have surfaced in print (I did see a French magazine that had a photo of a corpse sealed in a bodybag on 9.11). Do Holocaust survivors have a right/desire to supress images of the horrors endured or do such materials make it undeniably clear that a wrong was perpetrated?

[weegee]

How is the release of the Vince Foster photos ANY different than the release of JFK's morgue photos? If the President of the United States is not shielded from such an "invasion of privacy", then certainly another public official like Vince Foster should be treated equally in life and in death.

If he had died after working in the private sector this could be treated as a different matter (although plenty of photos of dead civilians are released without consent from the families and relatives).

[bmwcyle]

Truth is all bottled up in DC.

[weegee]

Kennedy said that means child molesters and murders cannot use the law to get 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.

Stats and facts. NOW! Mr. Kennedy, just how many convicted killers have requested photos of their victims under the FOIA?

[Mo1]

Foster may have shot himself .. but IMO .. he didn't do it in that park

[Iscool]

The Bush administration maintained that a victory for Favish, known as a Clinton antagonist, could lead to the release of other sensitive information

Now Bush don't have a dog in this fight, or does he...They surely stick together, don't they???