The Fine Line Between Privacy and Pornography

Investigators in the Sarasota County Sheriff's Department recently denied a public information request for the video of the shooting of a SCAT bus driver who was killed during a robbery last month, while off duty. It is the first invocation of a new law that is designed to protect the privacy of aggrieved families, but it also raises questions as to the broad potential of its application.

Earlier this year, the state expanded privacy laws, while making it a third-degree felony to violate the provisions of the exemption. Pictures and videos of a victim being killed are exempted from public records laws and only the victim's families can view them, or authorize their release. Supporters argue that there is no reason to make such horrific images public, and that the airing of such pictures and videos would have a devastating effect on the family members of the deceased, especially if they were to go viral on the web.

I don't think it's hard for any of us to imagine people who would view the images for a voyeuristic thrill. There's a market for such pornography, whether we care to admit it or not. The term snuff film is much older than the Internet. The success of various reality TV shows and the clamor to see images of Osama Bin Laden's corpse, demonstrate an appetite for such imagery that is undeniable.

I couldn't imagine having to endure my child or loved one's death only to be further traumatized by the thought of strangers getting their kicks by vicariously living through my tragedy. However, first amendment advocates are correctly concerned about the broad potential for application of the law and the historic examples of how it might have prevented justice from being served, had it been in place earlier.

It's conceivable that such video could have potentially kept the public from seeing the infamous surveillance video of a young teenager being beaten to death in a Florida boot camp that led to the state shutting down the controversial juvenile detention program.

Authorities have arrested a suspect in the Sarasota murder case who was identified by bank surveillance video that was released. The video in which the murder takes place was captured by a different security camera at a local library, just moments later. In this particular instance, it seems to have worked out, while also validating the ability of public video to help solve crimes.

It would take the wisdom of Solomon to know where exactly the fine line between justice, privacy and our constitutional rights falls – a quagmire that is becoming increasingly complicated by new technologies. However, it is undeniable that the real information age has only just begun and that attitudes and norms on privacy might not be currently aligned with what is pragmatic in our current culture. The society that has made a billion dollar industry out of vicarious reality at the admittedly willful expense of others, may no longer be able to successfully maintain the walls surrounding its own personal space. Welcome to the 21st Century.

Dennis Maley is a featured columnist and editor for The Bradenton Times. His column appears every Thursday and Sunday on our site and in our free Weekly Recap and Sunday Edition (click here to subscribe). An archive of Dennis' columns is available here. He can be reached at dennis.maley@thebradentontimes.com. You can also follow Dennis on Facebook and Twitter by clicking the badges below.