From the Police Precinct to Your Neighbor's Coffee Table: Limiting Public Dissemination of Mug Shots During an Ongoing Criminal Proceeding Under the Freedom of Information Act

• Author: Whitney T. Martin
• Position: J.D. Candidate, The University of Iowa College of Law
• Pages: 1431-1459

From the Police Precinct to Your Neighbor’s Coffee Table: Limiting Public Dissemination of Mug Shots During an Ongoing Criminal Proceeding Under the Freedom of Information Act Whitney T. Martin  ABSTRACT: The Freedom of Information Act provides public access to government agency records. Agencies have discretion, however, to withhold any information that falls under one of the Act’s exemptions, including, in some instances, private individual records. While the Supreme Court has recognized that criminal detainees have a privacy interest in restricted dissemination of their criminal records, it has yet to rule on whether the same privacy interest exists for mug shots. Currently, there is a circuit split over this issue. This Note analyzes the split in light of the purpose and history of the Freedom of Information Act and argues that future courts that entertain the issue should adopt the reasoning employed by the Tenth Circuit—namely, recognizing a privacy right in detainees’ mug shots in ongoing criminal proceedings. The Supreme Court has already recognized the detrimental and lasting stigma on the not-yet convicted detainee. In holding that such a privacy interest exists, the Court will maintain consistency in its tendency toward increased privacy protection under the Act, minimize negative stigma, and still adhere to the Act’s purpose. I. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................... 1433 II. THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT ................................................. 1434 A. P URPOSE AND H ISTORICAL B ACKGROUND ........................................ 1434 1. Legislative History ................................................................ 1435 a. The “Groundwork” Phase ................................................. 1436 b. Reform ............................................................................. 1437 c. Enactment ........................................................................ 1437  J.D. Candidate, The University of Iowa College of Law, 2014; B.B.A., Emory University, 2010. Thank you to the student writers and editors of Volumes 98 and 99 of the Iowa Law Review for their hard work and to my family for their continued support. 1432 IOWA LAW REVIEW [Vol. 99:1431 2. The Effect of FOIA’s Enactment ......................................... 1438 B. R ESTRICTED D ISSEMINATION U NDER FOIA ...................................... 1438 1. The 1974 Amendments ....................................................... 1440 2. The 1996 Amendments ....................................................... 1440 3. FOIA’s Nine Exemptions ..................................................... 1441 a. The Exemptions Outlined .................................................. 1441 b. Exemption 7(C) ................................................................ 1442 C. W HEN P RIVACY I NTERESTS O UTWEIGH P UBLIC I NTERESTS U NDER FOIA ............................................................................................. 1443 D. P RIVACY I NTERESTS IN M UG S HOTS ................................................. 1444 III. THE CURRENT SPLIT ............................................................................ 1445 A. T HE C OURT -C REATED P RIVACY I NVASION T EST U NDER E XEMPTION 7(C) .............................................................................................. 1446 B. T HE S IXTH C IRCUIT ....................................................................... 1448 C. T HE E LEVENTH C IRCUIT ................................................................. 1449 D. T HE T ENTH C IRCUIT ...................................................................... 1450 IV. CRIMINAL DETAINEES HAVE A PRIVACY RIGHT IN MUG SHOTS THAT OUTWEIGHS PUBLIC INTEREST DURING ONGOING CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS ....................................................................................... 1452 A. S IGNIFICANT P RIVACY I NTERESTS IN M UG S HOTS ............................. 1453 1. “[P]resumption of innocence is a legal requirement, not a social norm” ....................................................................... 1453 2. The Supreme Court Trend Towards Increased Privacy Protection ............................................................................. 1456 B. P RIVACY I NTERESTS O UTWEIGH P UBLIC I NTERESTS U NDER THE B ALANCING T EST ........................................................................... 1457 V. CONCLUSION ....................................................................................... 1459 2014] LIMITING PUBLIC DISSEMINATION OF MUG SHOTS 1433 I. INTRODUCTION With the aid of modern technology, mug shots of the latest arrested celebrities are easily accessible through a simple online search. 1 In fact, mug shots have arguably become a source of entertainment; there are even websites dedicated to creating your own mug shot. 2 However, easily accessible mug shots are not limited to celebrities—average citizens’ mug shots are accessible as well. 3 News sources providing such easy access to mug shots obtain the photographs through the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA” or “the Act”), which grants the public the right to agency disclosure and dissemination of government documents. 4 There are several exemptions to this right to access, including individual privacy exemptions. 5 However, the Supreme Court has not yet ruled on the issue of public access to mug shots, nor has Congress enacted any additional legislation clarifying the privacy exemption. The circuits are split over whether mug shots should receive 1. See, e.g. , Celebrity Mug Shots Gallery , N.Y. DAILY NEWS, http://www.nydailynews.com/ entertainment/gossip/celebrity-mug-shots-gallery-1.14221 (last visited Jan. 8, 2014) (providing a description of each celebrity’s arrest along with the accompanying slideshow photograph); Mug Shot of the Day: Grill-Less Flavor Flav Arrested for Alleged Assault With a Deadly Weapon , E! NEWS, http://www.eonline.com/news/354831/mug-shot-of-the-day-grill-less-flavor-flav-arrested-for-alleged-assault-with-a-deadly-weapon (last visited Jan. 8, 2014) (reporting Flavor Flav’s recent arrest for alleged assault with a deadly weapon, including a copy of his mug shot); Mug Shots , SMOKING GUN, http://www.thesmokinggun.com/mugshots (last visited Jan. 8, 2014) (categorizing mug shots into celebrity groups, such as “B-List” or “Gangsters”). 2. See, e.g. , Inside Mugshot Yourself for BBC America’s New Show Copper, SocialBomb, blog.socialbomb.com/post/30871488755/mugshot-yourself (last visited Jan. 8, 2014) (explaining an application that allows site visitors to upload a photo replacing the faces of notorious seventeenth century criminals); Mugshot Maker , MOBILEFISH, http://www. mobilefish.com/services/mugshot/mugshot.php (last visited Jan. 8, 2014) (allowing site visitors to enter their name, height, and other information in addition to uploading a photograph to immediately produce a fake mug shot); Mary Stewart, How to Make Your Own Mugshot Sign , EHOW, http://www.ehow.com/how_8097756_make-own-mugshot-sign.html (last updated Dec. 17, 2013) (detailing how to create a do-it-yourself mug shot on a card). 3. See, e.g. , Mug Shots , supra note 1 (posting civilian mug shots side-by-side with celebrity mug shots); Polk County Mug Shots , DESMOINESREGISTER.COM, http://data.desmoinesregister. com/dmr/iowa-mugshots/ (last visited Dec. 25, 2013) (allowing site users to search mug shots by name, gender, age, height, weight, or date of booking); David Segal, Mugged by a Mug Shot Online , N.Y. TIMES (Oct. 5, 2013), http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/06/business/muggedby-a-mug-shot-online.html? r=0 (detailing the numerous websites that “monetize humiliation” and will only take down civilian mug shots in exchange for a fee, sometimes as high as $400); World’s Most Hilarious Mug Shots , N.Y. DAILY NEWS, http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world-hilarious-mug-shots-gallery-1.14220 (last visited Jan. 8, 2014) (including pictures of embarrassing civilian mug shots). 4. See James R. Peacock III, Comment, Developments Under the Freedom of Information Act— 1980 , 1981 DUKE L.J. 338, 338 (“Congress enacted the Freedom of Information Act . . . to provide the public with . . . agency records.” (footnote omitted)). 5. See 5 U.S.C. § 552(b) (2012); id. § 552(b)(6)–(7) (the privacy exemptions); see also infra Part II.B.3. 1434 IOWA LAW REVIEW [Vol. 99:1431 protection under the Act’s exemptions, allowing agencies to properly withhold the photographs from the public. This Note argues that the Supreme Court should adopt the holding of the Tenth Circuit, which recognizes that criminal detainees 6 have a privacy interest in their mug shots during an ongoing criminal proceeding. Part II of this Note describes the purpose and the legislative history of the Freedom of Information Act, the purpose of mug shots, and how courts balance individual privacy interests against the public’s interest in disclosure. Part III examines the current circuit split between the Sixth, Tenth, and Eleventh Circuit Courts of Appeal over whether a criminal detainees’ privacy right in his or her mug shots outweighs public interest in dissemination. Part IV argues criminal detainees have a privacy interest in their mug shots that outweighs public interest in dissemination, and future courts should accordingly adopt the Tenth Circuit’s reasoning in withholding mug shots from public dissemination during an ongoing criminal proceeding for three reasons: (1) prevent the stigma inevitably attached to a mug shot’s release regardless of the case’s outcome; (2) maintain consistency with Congress’s original intent in passing the Act; and (3) logically follow from Supreme Court precedent in continually broadening privacy rights. Finally, Part V briefly concludes and offers a solution for future courts addressing this issue. II. THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT This Part examines the Freedom of...