Narrowly Restricting "Clearly Established" Civil Liberties: The Constitutional Ramifications of a Family Member's [Under] Protected Federal Privacy Rights in the Dissemination of Postmortem Images in Marsh v. County of San Diego
Author(s)
Siddiqui, MahiraKeywords
United StatesMarsh v. County of San Diego
prosecutorial misconduct
right of privacy
public prosecutors
photographs
child death
Constitutional Law
Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility
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http://digitalcommons.law.ggu.edu/ggulrev/vol44/iss1/9http://digitalcommons.law.ggu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2114&context=ggulrev
Abstract
In Marsh, the Ninth Circuit held that a prosecutor who photocopied and kept a child's autopsy photograph (and after retirement gave the copy to the press) was entitled to qualified immunity. The court reasoned that there was no "clearly established" law to inform the prosecutor that his earlier conduct in making and keeping the photocopy was unlawful. In so holding, the Ninth Circuit relied on American Manufacturers Mutual Insurance Co. v. Sullivan, which held that a plaintiff must prove that he or she was "deprived of a right secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States."' Moreover, a plaintiff must show that the federal right was "clearly established" at the time of the violation; otherwise government officials are entitled to qualified immunity. The Ninth Circuit should have adopted a broader approach in finding a "clearly established" right to control a family member's death images when addressing the prosecutorial misconduct at issue.Date
2014-06-09Type
textIdentifier
oai:digitalcommons.law.ggu.edu:ggulrev-2114http://digitalcommons.law.ggu.edu/ggulrev/vol44/iss1/9
http://digitalcommons.law.ggu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2114&context=ggulrev