Amanda Martin Quoted on Proposed Prohibition on Release of Mugshots

The Greensboro News & Record reports on Senate Bill 493, a 35-page bill making changes to various regulations in the state. Among those changes is a proposal to make mugshot photos confidential and exempt from disclosure as a public record.

The paper quotes SMVT partner and attorney for the North Carolina Press Association Amanda Martin.

“It’s changing the public records law,” said Amanda Martin, attorney for the N.C. Press Association.

She said although the N.C. Legislature has the ability to include or exclude anything it wants to into the public records law, Martin thinks the public is smart enough to view the mugshots through a filter.

“Readers and viewers can understand that person hasn’t been convicted,” she said. “A change in the law like this will affect everyone.”

There are already mugshots circulating in the public of people who have been charged, as well as public officials.

“This is an incomplete solution to the perceived problem,” Martin said.

The complete article can be read here.