Journalists Want Law Repealed

Five journalism advocacy organizations are asking a Florida state appeals court to declare unconstitutional a law limiting access to autopsy photos.

The Florida state legislature passed the law in March, weeks after the death of NASCAR’s Dale Earnhardt in a final-lap crash in the season-opening Daytona 500.

The groups’ brief, filed with the Fifth District Court of Appeal in Daytona Beach on Monday, supports the University of Florida student newspaper’s attempt to have the law struck down.

Represented in the brief are the Society for Professional Journalists, the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors, the First Amendment Foundation, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and the Student Press Law Center.

Pro Basketball

A.C. Green will be named vice president of basketball operations for the Southern California Surf, a new minor league basketball team scheduled to play its home games at the Anaheim Convention Center starting Dec. 26.

Green, 38, played nine of 15 seasons with the Lakers, and he extended his NBA record for consecutive games played to 1,192 last season, as a member of the Miami Heat. No team signed him this season.

The Surf plans to play in the ABA, which struggled to draw fans and chopped the last few weeks from its schedule. Steve Chase, the owner and president of the Surf, was vice president of business operations for the ABA’s now-defunct Los Angeles Stars.