 Are mug shot sites really legal?
I am upset with a growing web trend which hurt my Atlanta DUI and other clients immensely: mug shot sites which publish the public record mug shot along with the person’s name, place of arrest, and charges. To add insult to injury, they post this information for everyone booked, regardless of the case's outcome. Not content to merely post this damaging information, the sites charge a large fee for taking the information down. I am scandalized. How is this any different than blackmail? What assurance do we have that if someone pays a fee, the information won’t be sold to another site (likely operated by the same shyster) or re-posted?
This scheme won’t work in all states: for instance, Massachusetts doesn’t consider mug shots to be part of the public record. Georgia does, and yes, Georgia-based mug shot sites do exist.
Federal courts are still figuring out what to do about online mug shots. Earlier this year the 11th Circuit ruled in the case of Tucson shooter Jared Loughner that his mug shot was not a public record, a decision that conflicts with a 6th Circuit opinion from 1996. This is good news because this probably means the issue could end up before the Supreme Court. I hope it is soon.
Related articles
Should you pay to have your mugshot taken down?
http://www.politico.com/blogs/joshgerstein/0311/Appeals_court_rules_mugshots_not_public_under_FOIA.html
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/08/mugshots/
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