nj-attorney-general-mortgage-fraud.JPG

Mugshots of New Jerseyans who have been arrested, such as these three who were indicted by state authorities last week, would be kept confidential until a conviction or guilty plea under a bill advanced today by an Assembly panel.

(N.J. Attorney General's Office)

TRENTON — Those arrested in New Jersey would be spared the embarrassing public release of their mugshot until they are convicted or plead guilty, under a bill advanced today by a state Assembly panel.

The measure (A3906), approved 9-0 with one abstention by the Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee, would amend the state's open public records act to make confidential the photographs of anyone arrested if they have not yet been convicted.

Sponsors of the legislation said it was intended to protect people's personal and professional reputations by preventing the release of the images, which are often posted to the Internet by the media or websites that gather and display mugshots.

Those images then live online in perpetuity, even if the charges against someone are dropped or if they are acquitted.

But Thomas Cafferty, general counsel for the New Jersey Press Association, told the panel it did not make sense to restrict mugshots from release when the law already requires myriad other details about someone who is arrested to be made public.

"If you took that logic to its ultimate conclusion, one would say that, well, we ought to start closing court records, we ought to start closing criminal trials until we have a determination of guilt or innocence in a criminal trial," Cafferty said.

He added that the photos often clarify for readers who has been arrested when people share the same name. He also said there is a longstanding legal expungement process for people to get rid of records when charges are dropped or they are acquitted.

Lawmakers on the panel, however, rejected the argument that a mugshot was critical to the public's understanding of an arrest.

"I think your testimony today was sensationalized and I don’t agree with it at all," the panel's chairman, Assemblyman Charles Mainor (D-Hudson), said.

Currently, there exists no statewide standard or directive instructing law enforcement agencies on how to handle mugshots. For example, some county prosecutors do not release them, while the state Attorney General's Office routinely does release them.

The bill would not prevent law enforcement from releasing mugshots or other photographs to the public for informational purposes, such as to warn people of a threat or to help authorities locate someone.

MORE POLITICS

FOLLOW STAR-LEDGER POLITICS: TWITTER • FACEBOOK • GOOGLE+