An ethical question

[walkitout]

There's some variability by jurisdiction regarding whether divorce decrees are public records or not. None of that variability has any impact on me. There are also some ethical issues associated with publishing genealogical material that involves living people. It is looking increasingly likely that I will be able to get one to three divorce decrees for a dead, fairly close ancestor, and one to two divorce decrees for another dead, almost as close ancestor. Assuming I do get copies of these decrees, and assuming I redact any mentions contained within the decrees of people who are still alive, what ethical concerns might remain about publishing these decrees publicly on an ancestry.com family tree and/or in a blog or elsewhere on the web?

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Do they show cause/fault? Since the redacted names can probably be inferred by some, any cause (from the days/states where it was required) should also be redacted, IMO. Like cause of death, it is not necessarily reliable anyway....

What's the rationale?

[walkitout]

I know the rationale on living people is privacy related, but it doesn't seem like privacy can be a concern for the dead in the way it is for the living -- if it were, genealogy itself would be a Taboo activity.

I recognize it might not be reliable; most of the records we work with are manifestly not 100% reliable. However, if I get a copy of the decree from a trustworthy source (Superior Court Clerk, government archive via a reputable researcher), I can trust that the record is what it purports to be, even if it is not accurate.

So why would I redact anything beyond privacy issues? The records are all old enough to _definitely_ be pre-No Fault so there _will_ be cause, and you'd have to be very young, very sheltered, or very innocent to take anything in a divorce proceeding at face value. The parties are dead. Our morals have changed. Property is no longer a sensitive issue for anyone (I'm not posting recent decrees where you could pull a VIN off it and do something shady).

I'm hoping to get case files, which would show a _ton_ of stuff, and constitute really the ultimate in "story genealogy" material.

It's hard to believe that publishing a public record could become slander or libel, but maybe I misunderstood something.

Re: What's the rationale?

[walkitout]

I wondered about posthumous privacy. This has some coverage of US issues:

http://people.howstuffworks.com/lose-right-to-privacy-when-you-die1.htm

One of the divorce decrees I am hoping to get would come from Canada, and involve a Canadian citizen. Possibly I should look into their privacy laws.

I suppose if any medical information shows up in the decree, I should consider redacting that, as well, and the medical argument would go towards not publishing cause of death from a death record. And while I'm on the topic of Canadian divorces and privacy violations:

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/1132153--minister-s-tawdry-divorce-details-published-to-protest-bill