Dain Smoland, Attorney at Law PLLC
Criminal Defense in Utah
Dain Smoland, Attorney at Law PLLC
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← Utah’s “Drug Free” Zones
Tooele Highway Drug Stops →

Google Puts the Hammer Down on Mug-shot Web Sites

October 17, 2013 | Filed under: Expungement Law, Interesting Legal News and tagged with: Constitutional Rights, Expungements, Record Sealing

So there’s finally some good news out there for those people trying to deal with a long-ago mug-shot plaguing their current, law-abiding life–people who expunged their criminal records, or were arrested for a crime but never convicted of it, or who just grew up and moved on and tried to forget about that stupid mistake but couldn’t because of the prolific and obnoxious mug-shot websites out there which demand exorbitant amounts of money to remove a photo.

As I’ve written in other posts, state law-makers have been trying to make these sites go away, or play fair, for a while now, but they run into trouble with the First Amendment, which guarantees free speech and freedom of the press, and which these websites hide behind, pretending to be something akin to news outlets.  But while they may have a First Amendment right to publish your mugshot, Google has a first amendment right not to publish their website–or push them so far down the list that no-one will ever see them.  And it seems that’s exactly what it’s done, at least according to the New York Times.

After getting inquiries from the media, and, probably, a bunch of citizens, Google figured out that these mug shot web sites were violating its usage policies, and started punishing them appropriately. Apparently, some people whose mugshots were turning up at the top of a search for their name are now finding some good (or neutral) results instead.  Paypal, Visa, Discover, and Mastercard are also starting to put the hurt on.  It seems, with enough pressure, the private sector can step in to do “the right thing,” even when the government isn’t allowed to.  Good riddance.

 

 

 

 

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One Response to "Google Puts the Hammer Down on Mug-shot Web Sites"

  1. Eddy says:
    October 15, 2016 at 7:15 pm

    I agree, those mugshot sites are leeches. Really enjoy all the articles, it really shows that you’re a knowledgeable attorney.

    Reply

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Some Posts from My Blog

  • Utah Legislature Temporarily Suspends Expungement Filing Fees!
  • Parolees Become Eligible for 402 Reductions in Utah
  • Utah’s “Clean Slate” Law, and Automatic Expungements
  • Utah Legalizes Medical Marijuana! Kinda! Sort Of!
  • Utah Eases Expungement Eligibility, Especially for Prior Drug Convictions!

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I am licensed to practice criminal law anywhere in Utah, but my office is in Salt Lake City so I focus my defense practice on Salt Lake County and the surrounding counties: Weber, Davis, Utah, Summit, Wasatch, Tooele.

That includes any of the state, city, or federal courts located in Salt Lake City, West Jordan, South Jordan, West Valley, Heber, Park City, Provo, Ogden, Farmington, Bountiful, Holladay, Cottonwood Heights, Murray, Millcreek, South Salt Lake, Grantsville, Tooele, Orem, American Fork, Sandy, Draper, Centerville, Layton, Kaysville, and anywhere else within an hour's drive of Salt Lake. I'll also go down to Carbon County (Price and Helper), because I like that drive!

For locations in Utah outside that area, just contact me and we'll talk about it.

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