Marcia Coyle reports:
The Detroit Free Press is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse a court decision that restricts public access to the mug shots of federal criminal defendants.
Booking photos provide an “important window” into the government’s exercise of its police powers, the media outlet said in its petition in Detroit Free Press v. U.S. Department of Justice.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in July ruled that Congress intended to exempt mug shots from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act because of “possible embarrassment and the existence of the internet.”
Read more on National Law Journal.