Tennessee House Minority Leader William Lamberth (R-Portland) filed a bill for the upcoming special session of the General Assembly which would make the autopsies of “victims of violent crime who are minors” confidential.
Today I filed the Child Victims' Privacy Act, HB7007. This bill protects sensitive county medical examiner and autopsy reports of minor children who are victims of violent crime. This information should never be used to further victimize and traumatize these families.… pic.twitter.com/kgMGrcflfy
— William Lamberth (@WilliamLamberth) August 14, 2023
Under the current law, county medical examiners, toxicological reports, and autopsy reports are generally considered public documents, however, a court has the authority to order parts of those reports to remain confidential if the release of such information may “seriously impede or impair the investigation of a homicide or felony.”
Lamberth’s bill, HB7007, would change the current law by designating the reports of county medical examiners and autopsy reports of victims of violent crime who are minors as confidential. Lamberth (pictured above) named his bill the Child Victims’ Privacy Act.
Under the bill, records may only be released under two possible circumstances:
- The minor’s parent or legal guardian is not a suspect in the circumstances of the minor’s death and the parent or legal guardian consents to the release; or
- A court orders the release of the report upon a showing of good cause.
“This is an important step we can take to preserve the dignity of a murdered child and protect the privacy of parents and siblings who are suffering an imaginable loss,” Lamberth said in a statement. “Sensitive information obtained in a medical examiner’s report or autopsy should never be used to further victimize and traumatize these families.”
Lamberth filed the bill on Monday, along with two others, as previously reported by The Tennessee Star.
Lamberth also filed HB7002, which would direct school districts to plan how students should evacuate a school should a fire alarm sound outside of a normal fire drill as well as HB7003, which would allow victims of aggravated stalking and especially aggravated stalking to file lifetime protection orders against the perpetrators of those crimes.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
Background Photo “Tennessee State House Chamber” by Antony-22. CC BY-SA 4.0.
I strongly disagree with this bill. There are already provisions to keep this information confidential.
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