Bill Would Ban Release of Mug Shots in Florida

http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2014/02/bill_would_ban_release_of_mugs.php

When you're arrested in Florida your mug shots gets splashed across the internet in a matter of days. That's because Florida police agencies and sheriff's departments release the photos online in compliance with Florida's progressive public record laws. Though, in recent years several commercial websites have popped up that keep those mug shots up online in perpetuity unless the suspect agrees to pay a heavy fee to have them taken down.

Well, a new bill in the Florida House that originally made it a crime to profit off of mug shots and arrest records in such a way has now been rewritten to completely ban police and correctional facilities from releasing the photos in the first place.

(More at link)

Never understood the ethics of allowing this. Essentially it's extortion, given that the mere existence of the mugshots infers guilt even when there's been no adjudication of guilt.

Thankfully, I've personally never been arrested, and don't plan on being arrested. But this would be one of the things that would scare me the most, especially if it's a situation where I shouldn't have been arrested. Hope this bill passes.