by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
Social activist and former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick is a remarkable human being who has spent the better part of his life exposing and fighting injustice.
Kaepernick, who is perhaps best remembered (and reviled by many) for "taking a knee" during the national anthem at a San Francisco 49er's preseason game in 2016, has been "blacklisted" by the National Football League and not given an opportunity to play since 2017, but that hasn't kept him out of the national spotlight.
The young former quarterback took a knee to protest the police killing of black people, crimes which had traditionally gone almost entirely unpunished. He has used his years of banishment from the NFL to promote charitable and social justice causes. One of those causes has been the establishment of "Know Your Rights Camps" to educate the public on their rights, particularly those rights which might seem to be curtailed in confrontations with police agencies.
Last week Kaepernick announced that his "Know Your Rights Camps" would begin sponsoring free second autopsies for individuals who died in police-related incidents. Kaepernick told the Associated Press:
"We know that the prison industrial complex, which includes police and policing, strives to protect and serve its interests at all costs. The Autopsy Initiative is one important step toward ensuring that family members have access to the cause of death of their loved one in their time of need."
The Autopsy Initiative will offer the completion of a second autopsy by a board-certified pathologist, disclosure of preliminary findings, and the issuance of an autopsy report. The second autopsies will be available for anyone whose death happened as a result of contact with law enforcement and may be requested by anyone who was close to the victim - family members, partners, lawyers, or simply friends.
Dr. Cyril Wecht, the pathology coordinator for the Autopsy Initiative, told the Associated Press:
"The opportunity to have unbiased second autopsies performed by independent, experienced forensic pathologists in police-related deaths will provide victims' families with knowledge that the true facts of any such case have been thoroughly analyzed and prepared for appropriate utilization whenever deemed necessary."
The knowledge that there may be a second autopsy may also serve to instill more care in the conducting of the initial autopsy.
Five board-certified pathologists have already signed up to perform the second autopsies.
And now, thanks to the efforts of Colin Kaepernick, even dead victims will have more rights and protections than they once had.
2 comments:
“Simply friends” can request the second autopsy through The Autopsy Initiative. That caught my attention as inadequate for a release of the body for a second autopsy.
I checked out the Know Your Rights Camp website. Although it will accept the request from a close friend, it also says, “Only the victim’s legal representative and/or other authorized individual can legally authorize the autopsy.” I suppose a close friend could be a legal representative or might assist the family in making the request. In either of those cases (and maybe more circumstances), it would be appropriate for the group to accept the “request to fund the autopsy” from a friend.
In Missouri, the legal representative is likely the Personal Representative of the decedent's estate, at least for independent administration of the estate.
Ranger Bob is right, the law just doesn't look kindly on the exhumation of corpses and subjecting those remains to an autopsy.
If the second autopsy differs significantly from the first autopsy, then the estate may be in a position to file a wrongful death action. An estate in Missouri may be reopened after it has been closed if additional assets are discovered. Finding facts that give rise to a wrongful death surely qualify as the discovery of additional assets.
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