But several news organizations throughout the United States have decided not to publish mug shots prior to convictions. The Louisiana Press Association opposed the bill, according to the Louisiana Illuminator. The Senate amended the bill to add exceptions for people accused of certain crimes, including sex offenses, human trafficking or cruelty to animals.Ĭritics of the legislation assert that all mug shots should be accessible under public record laws. The original Louisiana measure would have stopped law enforcement from releasing photos prior to conviction with only narrow exceptions for someone deemed a fugitive or a danger to the public. The practice of media publicizing booking photos “tends to harm communities of color more than anybody else,” Bynum said in an interview with Stateline. That was part of the motivation behind a similar bill that was enacted last year in Oregon, according to its sponsor state Rep. Post-arrest photos can perpetuate racial stereotypes. “Yet their booking photos, published online or in print, follow them around for years, like a modern-day scarlet letter of criminality.”

Royce Duplessis, in an op-ed in The Advocate explaining why he introduced the bill.

“Millions are arrested every year, only to later have their charges dropped or cases dismissed, or be found not guilty,” said state Democratic Rep. John Bel Edwards announced Tuesday he signed a law that bars law enforcement agencies from releasing most booking photos before a person is convicted of a crime. Louisiana has joined several other states in limiting when mug shots can be made public.ĭemocratic Gov.

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