MARICOPA COUNTY, Ariz. — Maricopa County's protocol of routinely posting the mugshots and names of individuals booked into its jail is not constitutionally permissible, according to a panel of federal judges.
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Thursday that the county could be unfairly punishing individuals who have not yet been convicted of a crime by publishing their name, date of birth, height, weight and hair color on the county's website.
The sheriff's "Mugshot Lookup" website contains an ongoing list of people who have been booked into jail within the last couple of days. Each post contains a person's booking number, personal info and the type of charges they been accused of.
In the court's opinion, the judges determined the county's intention of promoting transparency was not a sufficient reason for releasing such granular details about a person's identity.
"Even if transparency is a legitimate government interest, no rational relationship exists between that goal and the County’s gratuitous inclusion of at least some of (the plaintiff's) personal information in its public 'Mugshot Lookup' post," the opinion states.
The judges issued their opinion in response to a complaint filed by a man who was arrested by Phoenix police in 2022 on an assault charge that was later dropped. A district court dismissed the complaint and the plaintiff filed an appeal, seeking a review of the due process claims.
The 9th Circuit judges reversed the prior dismissal after finding that the plaintiff had "plausibly pleaded a substantive due process claim against the County based on pretrial punishment."
In response to the court ruling, the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office has suspended its protocol of posting inmate mugshots until the 9th Circuit opinion can be reviewed by the county's attorneys.
Dan Kloberdanz, an attorney for the plaintiff, said his client was arrested in 2022 and never charged with a crime and claims MCSO's posting of his mug shot negatively impacted his life.
"That information is now available on other other places throughout the internet, and we believe that it has substantially damaged his his personal and business reputation as a result of the mug shot being published by the sheriff's office, Kloberdanz said.
Kloberdanz said he thinks what causes harm is the presumption of guilt when someone sees a mug shot.
"Whether you're looking for a job or employment or looking to date or it's a family matters, these can be horrific damage to somebody with the reputation," Kloberdanz said. "Once it's put on the internet, it doesn't come down."
The Cochise County Sheriff's Office in southern Arizona announced it also would no longer be posting mugshots or inmate lists on the agency's webpage.
Pima County also shared that "effective immediately, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department will cease the release of booking photos in any format. This policy update also includes the removal of the inmate-booking tab on our website."
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