10th Circuit: Feds Can Withhold Prisoner Mugshots

10th Circuit: Feds Can Withhold Prisoner Mugshots

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

The ruling Wednesday puts the court in line with the Atlanta-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit. Only the Cincinnati-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has determined that prisoners’ booking photos must be turned over under the Freedom of Information Act.

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

The 10th Circuit, in a unanimous opinion written by Judge Paul J. Kelly Jr., ruled that disclosing the photos didn’t align with the intent of the Freedom of Information Act — namely, to inform citizens of a government agency’s adequate performance of its function.

“When the public interest is balanced against the privacy interest in a booking photo, Tulsa World’s request would not further the purpose of the FOIA,” Kelly wrote. Senior Judge Bobby R. Baldock and Judge Timothy M. Tymkovich joined him.

A lawyer for the World did not immediately respond to a request for comment. If the newspaper appealed, it’s anyone’s guess whether the Supreme Court would take the case.

Josh Gerstein at Politico, who has a report on Wednesday’s ruling here, noted that the high court declined last month to consider a Florida case raising the same issue.

10th Circuit: Feds Can Withhold Prisoner Mugshots
Joe Palazzolo
Wed, 22 Feb 2012 20:04:43 GMT