University of California, Hastings College of the Law UC Hastings Scholarship Repository Faculty Scholarship 2018 Monetizing Shame: Mugshots, Privacy, and the Right to Access Eumi K. Lee UC Hastings College of the Law,
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.uchastings.edu/faculty_scholarship Recommended Citation Eumi K. Lee, Monetizing Shame: Mugshots, Privacy, and the Right to Access, 70 Rutgers U. L. Rev. 557 (2018). Available at: https://repository.uchastings.edu/faculty_scholarship/1669 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by UC Hastings Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Scholarship by an authorized administrator of UC Hastings Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. RUTGERS UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW VOLUME 70 SPRING 2018 ISSUE 3 MONETIZING SHAME: MUGSHOTS, PRIVACY, AND THE RIGHT TO ACCESS Eumi K Lee* ABSTRACT Created for the purpose of criminal identification and investigation, mugshots have become a commodity in the digital era, exploited for financial gain. Although much public attention has been focused on commercial mugshot websites and their practice of charging fees for the removal of these images, the problem is far more widespread. Law enforcement agencies, news outlets, and tabloids have created modern-day "rogues'galleries" online, indiscriminately publishing mugshots of individuals, many of whom were never prosecuted or convicted. The mass publicationof mugshots online permanently stigmatizes millions of Americans with the mark of criminality and undermines two basic principles of our criminal justice system-presumed innocence and redemption. This Article explores the commodification and commercialization of mugshots and the constitutional and statutory laws that govern their availability.