In today’s society many people treat criminals by the standard of “guilty until proven innocent.” Sadly, many Americans are forgetting that when someone is arrested they are actually “innocent until proven guilty.” This seriously comes into play when arrest records and mug shots are made available online. Very similar to the notorious Tampa Bay arrests website, GwinnettMugs.com, posts the mug shot, name, address, alleged crime, etc. to the internet, for free, for the entire world to see. While the website does mention that everyone listed is “innocent until proven guilty,” it is extremely subtle. Further, most people will ignore this disclaimer and make their own judgments on the people shown. As a result, making this information public is extremely careless and harmful. Once the mug shot and information make its way onto the Internet, it is out there forever. Additionally, if someone on the website is found innocent or the charges are dropped, their reputation, which should have been restored, is actually forever scarred. Do you think something should be done to stop this invasion of privacy and to protect these potentially innocent citizens?
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