FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (CN) — A South Florida man filed the first lawsuit in the state aimed at enforcing a new law that prohibits mug shot publishers from charging fees for removing unflattering arrest photos from their websites.
B.H., a chiropractor, claims Mugshots.com is sullying his reputation by refusing to remove his arrest photo from its webpage. He sued its purported operator, Openbare Dienst Internationale LLC, and another website, Jailbase.com, on Aug. 1 in Broward County Court.
Florida this year enacted a law that requires mug shot publishers to remove a person's arrest photo from their websites, at no charge, within 10 days of receiving a formal request for removal. The measure passed with wide bipartisan support and Gov. Rick Scott signed it into law in June.
B.H. seeks damages for unfair trade and an injunction forcing Mugshots.com to take down his arrest photo.
Under the new law, if a Florida court issues a mug-shot-removal injunction and a publisher does not comply, the court can authorize a $1,000-a-day fine.
The law is to take effect in July 2018. It seems to directly target Mugshots.com’s business model: publishing arrest photos en masse and refusing to remove them unless its “unpublishing” service is paid a large fee, several hundred dollars per photo or more.
Mugshots.com’s booking photos often show up highly ranked in web searches. The site has been accused of having little regard for whether an arrestee is found not guilty or if charges are dropped before trial.
Visitors to the site have said that unlike other sites, Mugshots.com does not readily remove mug shots for free even if arrestees are cleared of charges.
The site has defended itself by saying booking photos are public records, and that the site includes a disclaimer that arrestees are presumed innocent until proven guilty. It adds that it is a legitimate source of public information, akin to a news outlet.
Site operators say they are protected under the First Amendment and run a “legitimate, reputable website that takes responsible publishing to new heights.” They say they have no obligation to update their database to include the outcomes of criminal cases.
Mugshots.com has faced a barrage of legal claims, including an Illinois class action that claims it unfairly profits from mug shots, ruining reputations and causing “job loss, broken families and homelessness.”
In that lawsuit, lead plaintiff Peter Fabiola claims that Mugshots.com concealed that the arrest-photo-removal service advertised on its page, which charges hundreds of dollars to remove an arrest photo, is run by the same people behind Mugshots.com itself.
In his case, B.H. claims the owners of mug-shot companies make “massive profits” from the fees they collect from “unpublishing.” The sites are often based offshore, in “small island countries where it is difficult to hold these entities and website operators accountable,” the complaint states.