King Von Autopsy Photo Explained: Answers to the Most Common Questions Surrounding the Leak
By James H. Sterling
The King Von leak brought renewed attention to a persistent legal dilemma: the dead have almost no federal constitutional right to privacy in the United States. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) shields protected health information, but its provisions apply strictly to covered healthcare entities, clearinghouses, and healthcare providers. Crucially, standalone funeral homes and mortuaries do not qualify as covered entities under standard HIPAA enforcement rules.
State laws govern post-mortem dignity through a fragmented patchwork. In Georgia, as in many jurisdictions, existing statutes focused primarily on physical desecration of a corpse or grave robbery. Snapping and distributing a digital photo did not neatly fit traditional criminal definitions of corpse abuse, leaving prosecutors with few statutory avenues to bring criminal charges against the leaker.
Instead, the legal burden falls almost entirely on civil litigation. Families in these circumstances must pursue remedies under common-law tort doctrines, most notably:
- Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress (IIED): Establishing that the defendant’s conduct was extreme, outrageous, and executed with reckless disregard for the family's grief.
- Breach of Fiduciary Duty: Demonstrating that the funeral home contracted an implied duty of confidentiality and care, which was shattered by employee negligence.
- Interference with the Right of Sepulcher: Invoking the historic legal right of next-of-kin to custody of the body in the same condition as when death occurred, free from commercial exploitation.
Following high-profile incidents like the Bennett leak and the unauthorized distribution of photos from the 2020 crash that killed Kobe and Gianna Bryant, several states introduced targeted legislation. California passed the "Invasion of Privacy: First Responders" statute, making it a misdemeanor for first responders to photograph deceased individuals for non-law enforcement purposes. However, extending similar criminal penalties to private mortuary employees remains an ongoing legislative challenge across most American states.
James Sterling reports on renewable energy developments, climate policy, ecological conservation, and green tech innovations around the globe.
