June 01, 2026
A split Third Circuit panel has ruled that a Philadelphia police officer can't be sued for photographing and sharing a picture of a dead man who jumped from a bridge, holding that while the conduct was "deplorable," the Constitution did not clearly establish that families have a right to control images of their loved ones' deaths.
February 04, 2026
The Third Circuit on Wednesday pondered whether the mother of a man who jumped from a bridge to his death was entitled to privacy after a Philadelphia police officer shared a photo of the man's death scene, focusing its questioning on whether there was a reasonable expectation of privacy concerning a public death.
January 30, 2026
Issues involving privacy feature prominently on the Third Circuit's February oral argument schedule, with panels set to hear a dispute regarding an optometry business's duty to protect private data belonging to third-party customers, and a case over whether the city of Philadelphia can be sued by a mother after a police officer shared images of her son's death from the scene where he committed suicide.