Confidential Close-Ups: The Tenth Circuit in World Publishing Co. v. United States Department of Justice Properly Decided Federal Booking Photographs Contain Privacy Interests Under the Freedom of Information Act
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Authors
Dopheide, Makenna J.
Issue Date
2014
Volume
47
Issue
3
3
3
Type
Journal Article
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Abstract
FIRST PARAGRAPH(S)|It is no secret that the government in recent years compiled substantial information regarding citizens' lives. Under the Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA"), a government agency must disclose information in its possession when it receives a valid FOIA request. Government agencies can only withhold information if the information falls within nine express exemptions. Of the nine exemptions, Section 552(b)(7)(C) ("Exemption 7(C)") allows government officials to withhold documents that could reasonably constitute an invasion of one's privacy. FOIA requires courts to construe its disclosure provisions broadly and its exemptions narrowly. however, the term "privacy" in Exemption 7(C) stretches beyond the boundary of a single person. Most recently, the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit reasoned federal detainees' booking photographs contain such privacy rights. |In World Publishing Co. v. United States Department of Justice, the United States Marshals Service withheld requested mug shots under Exemption 7(C), reasoning disclosure of booking photographs established an unwarranted invasion of privacy. Currently, two circuits split on this topic: the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit favors nondisclosure, reasoning mug shots do not carry privacy interests. In its own analysis, the Tenth Circuit reasoned a mug shot carried some privacy rights as it created a clear implication of guilt. The court stated that the privacy interests in the booking photo outweighed the public interest in disclosure, which it deemed low since the asserted public interests did not further the purpose providing transparency of agency functions. Therefore the Unites States Marshal Service rightfully withheld federal booking photographs...
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Publisher
Creighton University School of Law