New Oregon laws regulating police officer behavior, mugshots go into effect - Yahoo News

A law limiting Oregon law enforcement agencies' ability to release booking photos to the public went into effect this year.

Under the measure, booking photos won't be released to the public — except in a few specific circumstances — to protect the identity of individuals who haven't been convicted of a crime in Oregon.

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A booking photo, also known as a mugshot, is a photograph of a person taken by a law enforcement agency for identification purposes when the person is taken into custody.

The new law will also require publish-for-pay publications to remove and destroy booking photos upon request within 30 days and bans the publication from charging more than $50 for their removal.

House Bill 3273 — sponsored by representatives Janelle Bynum, D-Clackamas, and Brad Witt, D-Clatskanie — came in part as a response to concerns from people who were negatively affected by doxxing — publicly disclosing an individual's personal information like an address or phone number, making them a target of harassment — during protests over the summer of 2020.

Some of the instances of doxxing, Bynum said, resulted from mugshots.

Bynum simultaneously sponsored House Bill 3047, a measure allowing individuals to take civil action in instances of doxxing. That law went into effect June 15.

"It’s time for our society to move past them," Bynum said of booking photos during testimony on the legislation. "The day someone gets arrested can quite frankly be one the worst days of their lives. Those mugshots are sometimes of people in a mental health crisis. Those photos that are published can ruin a person’s life who has not yet been found guilty of any crime. They can linger on and impact people’s lives for years to come. We can do better for them and for others."

For many law enforcement agencies, including Marion and Polk counties sheriff's offices, this will mean removing mugshots from their jail rosters. Polk County has already removed them from its site.

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source: https://news.yahoo.com/oregon-laws-regulating-police-officer-191314552.html

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