Arizona sheriff hosts 'mugshot of the day' web vote

[kraznyi_oktjabr]

I don't start arguing on whether this is legal or not as I don't know Arizona laws. I say just this.

I understood from info given in article that Mr. Tough Sheriff has put mugshots of everyone they have arrested, suspected or court have found guilty freely available. Okay. Fine. That's not problem if you are found guilty and convicted but what if you are found not guilty? Police makes errors and sometimes new evidence surfaces.

Problem here is that unlike being suspected on or convicted on crime likely exceeds news treshold. Finding someone not guilty usually does not sell in media... So how are you going to get rid of idea that you are suspect or criminal? That people connect your face to robberies or violence crimes for example? Is Mr. Tough Sheriff's office going to buy frontpage advertisement declaring they were wrong and suspect was actually not guilty? I doubt.

[mookiemookie]

Originally Posted by kraznyi_oktjabr

I don't start arguing on whether this is legal or not as I don't know Arizona laws. I say just this.

I understood from info given in article that Mr. Tough Sheriff has put mugshots of everyone they have arrested, suspected or court have found guilty freely available. Okay. Fine. That's not problem if you are found guilty and convicted but what if you are found not guilty? Police makes errors and sometimes new evidence surfaces.

Problem here is that unlike being suspected on or convicted on crime likely exceeds news treshold. Finding someone not guilty usually does not sell in media... So how are you going to get rid of idea that you are suspect or criminal? That people connect your face to robberies or violence crimes for example? Is Mr. Tough Sheriff's office going to buy frontpage advertisement declaring they were wrong and suspect was actually not guilty? I doubt.

This is a good point given that Scumbag Sheriff has made a circus sideshow out of "law enforcement as entertainment." There's no good reason to do what he's doing because not everyone the police arrests is guilty. I'm seeing a lot of the childish idea that "oh well gee the police would never arrest someone who wasn't guilty."

Saying it's the same thing as looking up mugshots because they're public record is a false analogy. Your home telephone number, address, and members of your household can all be found through public records. It doesn't mean it's a good idea to post them on a website for entertainment.