A seemingly well-meaning provision in the state Senate’s budget bill could have a chilling effect on the use of jail mug shots, which we contend are public record.
First, we’ve long been against such provisions in budget bills, provisions that should be considered separately. Especially this one.
Supporters of the provision say it would create restrictions for online jail mug shots and ban companies from charging people to take them down. Sen. Thom Goolsby of New Hanover County told The Associated Press that he heard about the mug shot websites from the N.C. Justice Center, an advocacy group for the poor. He said the intent is to prevent extortion and protect citizens who have been charged with a crime, then cleared. It isn’t being done to restrict newspapers, he said.
But John Bussian, an attorney with the N.C. Press Association, rightly noted that “The consequences of passing something like this would easily be felt in other areas because that idea could be transported from one kind of record to the next to the next to the next.”
The AP reported that “The bill would require a publisher of a print publication or website operator to remove any mug shots and any other personal or criminal record information within 15 days when requested to do so, if the person's charges were dismissed or they were acquitted. If the website or paper refuses, they would be fined $100 per week. After 45 days, there would be a ‘presumption of defamation of character.’”
Goolsby said he’s open to possible revision of the language. But Rep. Leo Daughtry of Johnston County, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and a budget writer on criminal justice matters, got it right when he told the AP that the provision shouldn't be in the budget. "It should go to the Judiciary Committee. Then you can amend it and fix it and decide whether it's good public policy," he said.
