Des Moines, Iowa (RI)– Legislators are considering restrictions on the release of booking photos taken when someone is taken into custody and charged with a crime.
Bills in both the House and Senate would make most booking photos confidential records that could only be released if the person in the photo is a fugitive, an imminent threat to the public or has been convicted of certain felonies. Representative Bill Gustoff says occasionally someone gets arrested, charged, and booked into jail — then the charges are dismissed.
Gustoff says under America’s criminal justice system someone is to be considered innocent until proven guilty — but having a booking photo published in the media or posted on the internet sends a different message…