Mug Shots Not Public Records, State Rules

The Massachusetts Secretary of State's Office has done an about face and decided that police mug shots do not have to be provided to the public under the state's public records law. Last year, the office ruled that mug shots are public records in most cases.

The most recent ruling came in an appeal filed by the Daily Hampshire Gazette in Northampton. The newspaper had asked the Northampton Police Department to release the arrest booking photo of W. Michael Ryan, a former Northampton District Court judge who was arrested and then acquitted of charges of assault and battery on a police officer and disorderly conduct.

The Secretary of State's Office ruled that the police department has discretion to withhold the mug shots under the Criminal Offender Records Information Law.

The Republican Opposes CORI Changes

An editorial today in The Republican, Changes in CORI Would Be a Crime, says that Gov. Deval Patrick's proposed changes to the Criminal Offender Record Information law, or CORI, would restrict the public's right to know about criminal convictions in a job applicant's past. The bill -- available here -- proposes various changes to the composition of the criminal history systems board and creates a criminal justice information services department. From the perspective of public and news media access, the significant provisions of the bill are those that reduce the time periods after which offenders can request sealing of their records:

• Records of misdemeanors could be sealed after five years, instead of the current 10 years.
• Records of felonies could be sealed after 10 years, instead of the current 15.
• The requirement of 10 years without a conviction prior to sealing would be changed to five for misdemeanors.
  

Those changes are contrary to the public interest, says The Republican:

"This law was passed as a public safety measure. Parents in Massachusetts, for example, can be reasonably certain that the bus driver who transports their children to school every day does not have a history of drunken driving convictions. That's the CORI at work -- and, although it has its flaws, it does not need to be disassembled."