10th Circuit: Feds Can Withhold Prisoner Mugshots

[WSJ Law Blog]

The Denver-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit has ruled that Justice Department may withhold mugshots of federal prisoners from the public.

The 10th Circuit case stems from a lawsuit filed in 2008 by the Tulsa World, challenging decisions by the U.S. Marshals Service and the Justice Department to withhold booking photos of six pretrial detainees. The World had argued that releasing the photos served the public interest in at least nine ways.

(1) determining the arrest of the correct detainee

(2) detecting favorable or unfavorable or abusive treatment

(3) detecting fair versus disparate treatment

(4) racial, sexual, or ethnic profiling in arrests

(5) the outward appearance of the detainee; whether they may be competent or incompetent or impaired

(6) a comparison in a detainee’s appearance at arrest and at the time of trial

(7) allowing witnesses to come forward and assist in other arrests and solving crimes

(8) capturing a fugitive

(9) to show whether the indictee took the charges seriously

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