PHOENIX (AZFamily)<\/b> \u2014 The Maricopa County Sheriff\u2019s Office has resumed posting online mugshots amid a court order that stopped the practice so what changed?<\/p>\n
In 2022, Brian Houston was accused of kicking someone\u2019s car in a Target parking lot. He was arrested, booked and had his mugshot taken.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t do it. Once the footage was reviewed within, about within a week or so, then all the charges were released and dropped,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
But his mugshot remained online because third-party websites posted it to thousands of followers. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re publicly humiliating them, shaming them, and it recurs over and over and over again,\u201d Houston said.<\/p>\n
It was hard for him to get clients at his consulting job so he filed a lawsuit. Last year, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals<\/a> ruled that posting mugshots violates rights to due process, which protects pretrial detainees from punishment.<\/p>\n MCSO stopped posting mugshots online. \u201cYou create this scenario where we\u2019re at now, where in the court of public opinion, you\u2019re embarrassed at a minimum,\u201d Houston said.<\/p>\n But last week, the mugshots returned to the MCSO website. Only this time, they don\u2019t include personal information with the photos like date of birth, height and weight. MCSO has also added the arresting agency.<\/p>\n MCSO said the new approach was carefully reviewed \u201cto meet the letter and spirit of the law.\u201d <\/p>\n MCSO has previously argued that mugshots are posted for public transparency but Houston disagrees.<\/p>\n \u201cTransparency is full and accurate documentation. It\u2019s not the creation of a website where people can go to for entertainment to mock others,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Other states allow mugshots to be posted online but the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals\u2019 opinion isn\u2019t the first of its kind.<\/p>\n As of Jan. 1, 2024, a California law took effect banning agencies from posting mugshots on social media. <\/p>\n Houston said his fight isn\u2019t over. He plans to continue with the lawsuit now that the mugshots are back online.<\/p>\n See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it<\/a>.<\/p>\n