The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press has filed a friend-of-the-court brief contesting the U.S. marshals Service’s policy of releasing suspect’s mug shot according to a requestor’s home base.
“These rules are inane to the point of ridiculous,” said Reporters Committee Executive Director Lucy A. Dalglish. “In addition to creating an inexcusable geographic bias for release — if you live here you can get it, if you live there you cannot — all this rule does is create unnecessary hurdles for journalists and the public seeking the information. If you ask someone who lives in one of those states to make the request on your behalf, no problem; if someone from that area already has requested the information, it is generally released. This makes no sense.” -db
From a press release from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, May 2, 2011.