How do removed detrimental info from XXXX.com

[ramzubio]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida

I have an arrest record in the State of Florida back in 2008. I was wronfully arrested and I was never charge in court for anything and charges were dropped. I even have the arrest expunge. I have no criminal record anywhere. XXX.com (a/k/s - Florida Mugshots have my arrest records published on their website. I have email them as well as the sheriff department in Florida, they still have not remove my records. Do I have any legal recourse? I was fired from one job and denied employment from 3 other jobs based on this information. This website don't even have an physical address to write to just an email. Attached is the email that was sent by the Sheriff department in regard to this matters


TO: Whom it May Concern at XXX.com (a/k/s - Florida Mugshots)

The Leon County Sheriff's Office received the below e-mail on April 29, 2011. Since the Sheriff's Office never provided you with the information you have posted on your web-site regarding XXXXXXX, we can only assume you accessed it from the Leon County Jail web-site. It also appears that you posted this information on February 29, 2008. Please be advised that an Order To Expunge Pursuant To Section 943.0585, Florida Statutes, and Florida Rule Of Criminal Procedure 3.692, was signed by a Judge in the Circuit Court of the Second Judicial Circuit, In and For Leon County, Florida, on November 6, 2009, in the case of State of Florida v. XXXXXXXX, Case Number 08-CF-XXXX. The Leon County Sheriff's Office complied with the Order. It appears the information contained on your web-site is the information for which the Order pertains.

This is being provided so that XXX.org (a/k/a - Florida Mushots) may also comply with the Order.

Major Alan Griner
Leon County Sheriff's Office
(5/4/11 @ 5:07 PMWhat is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

 

[quincy]

It appears you have a good start at getting the arrest information removed from the Florida arrest site, with the email sent to the arrest site from the sheriff. I would follow the sheriff's email up with an email of your own, cc'ed to your Attorney General, advising the Florida arrest site that they need to remove the material about you from the site or legal action may be pursued against them.

You may want to read two other threads about this Florida arrest site that were posted recently in this section of the forum - one was started by KTTNMD on April 9 and is titled "Any chance I can get florida.arrest.org to take down a mugshot of me?" and one I posted on April 16 and addressed to two other posters who were concerned about their arrest information and mug shots appearing online, titled "To spookychief and GingerA."

Then you might wish to consult with an attorney in your area of Florida, to see if a legal action against FloridaArrests.com would be feasible.

Good luck.

 

[ramzubio]

The part that anger me is that I did not commit the crime, I was not prosecuted, I event went thru the headache to have that arrest record expunge. I don't even have a parking ticket for crying out loud. This people have my picture, my name and my full birthday posted all over the web, for anyone to see. I lost my Federal Govt job because of this, it got to the point that I even have to move from Florida to Texas (the whole town were talking about this crap), because it don't matter what I said, I'm guilty before proven inocent. I loss my house during this ordeal. Enough is enough. I just want to get on with whatever is left of my life, but I'm being treated like I was a felon.

 

[quincy]

ramzubio, I can understand your anger and frustration, but arrest records and mug shots are considered, by most states that have been asked to rule on the matter, public records. The publication online of public records is not (generally) considered illegal.

One Florida court judge has ruled differently than other judges on this issue, though, and herein may lie your best hope of fighting the matter, should the arrest site not delete the information about you upon your request.

There will be no defamation action you can pursue because you were, in fact, arrested (wrongfully or not) and defamation requires that a publication be false. In addition, if the arrest information was posted to the arrest site in 2008 or 2009, the statute of limitations period may have passed for bringing suit (Florida has a two year statute of limitations for defamation).

There is the possibility of an invasion of privacy action (publication of private facts). You must be able to show that your booking photograph and arrest information is of no legitimate public interest or concern and the publication of this information has caused demonstrable harm. Again, you may run up against the statute of limitations period having already passed.

Your best bet may be to consult with an attorney in your area who can review the facts of your situation and make a better determination as to whether you have any suit against anyone that could be successful. You may wish to wait until you see if the sheriff's letter and your email have the desired effect.

It is generally left to the person who has been arrested or who appears on any arrest site to explain to prospective employers the arrest and their appearance on an arrest site. I am sort of surprised that the federal government did not investigate the facts of your arrest more thoroughly, however, before terminating your position.

Good luck.

 

[Tex78704]

...It is generally left to the person who has been arrested or who appears on any arrest site to explain to prospective employers the arrest and their appearance on an arrest site. I am sort of surprised that the federal government did not investigate the facts of your arrest more thoroughly, however, before terminating your position...

It is more likely that OP was terminated for failing to disclose his arrest on his employment application, rather than the federal gov't arbitrarily terminating him without good cause. And if this is the case, it would explain his difficulty in securing employment after being fired.

 

[ramzubio]

Actually I was already working for the Federal Government; I did so for about 17 yrs. I was let go because there is a little provision under federal law that you can be suspended without pay for having a felony charge pending. It was my boss who brought up the charges. Eventually I was fired because “I brought disgrace to the U.S Government". Meanwhile the evidence was proven to be completely made up and my ex-boss was fired, which led to my charges been dropped. At this point I could not even collect unemployment, because "it was my fault" that I got fired” , so the inevitable happen I lost my house and went to live on a small apartment. Even that the state drop the charges and it was prove that the evidence was fabricated, I still have an arrest record, so I immediately move in to have that arrest record "expunge" and that they did.

I used to live in a small town so every time that I applied for measly little jobs, the record on this website comes up and that was it. I was the talk of the town and I have to walk with my head down, so I decided to move as far away as I could, so I moved to Texas, I applied for a job with a reputable company in Florida and the records in this website came in. I applied for another job in Nebraska and the record on this website came to light again. I answer all the questions on my applications appropriately. I requested to see the information on HIRERIGHT and it show nothing about my past, I check the information with the State of Florida and the information was taken down (by court order) I even pull my criminal records with the State of Florida and it show no arrest and of course no criminal record.

At this point I'm living on a small veteran disability compensation, below the poverty level, I even stopped applying for jobs, because is fruitless and not to say embarrassing. I don't want any compensation from anyone I just simply want the record off this website. I took Quincy advise and last night I filed a complaint with the State Attorney’s office in Florida and I sent my case to the ACLU using the following case that Quincy provided on one of his previous post. That read as follows:

A Florida U.S. District Court Judge in the 11th Circuit, Judge Paul C. Huck, went against these prior decisions and ruled in December of 2009 that personal privacy is more important than a public's interest in viewing booking photographs. This Court's decision was upheld on appeal.

Huck said, "A booking photograph is a vivid symbol of criminal accusation, which, when released to the public, intimates, and is often equated with, guilt," and Huck also said, "[A] booking photograph does more than suggest guilty; it raises a unique privacy interest because it captures an embarrassing moment that is not normally exposed to the public eye" (see Kazantzakis v U.S. Department of Justice, 38 Media L. Rep. 1240, S.D.Fla. 2009).

At this point my friends my life is in ruins, I may as well committed an actual felony and have the same results. All I’m asking the State of Florida is to assist me in removing the information on this website. They made the information available to this people and the least they can do is to help take the information down. I’m not asking for pie in the sky, but it’s not fair that a wrongful arrest record, that was expunge, have the same weight as being an actual felon.

 

[quincy]

The ACLU may be interested, ramzubio, so you were smart to forward your information on to this organization.

I have provided for you a link to the U.S. Appeals Court opinion in Karantsalis, which affirmed U.S. District Court Judge Paul Huck's decision. The 11th Circuit addressed and then rejected the 6th Circuit holding in Detroit Free Press v Department of Justice.

You can access the 11th Circuit Appeals Court opinion at http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-11th-circuit/1559304.html.

You may also wish to check out, 5 U.S.C. §552(b)(7)(c), the Freedom of Information Act's exemption to release of material based on privacy grounds. This is the exemption under the FOIA that the U.S. Marshals Service uses when denying an individual's request for booking photographs.

Another case that may help support the removal of your arrest information from the arrest site is Times Picayune Publishing Corp v Department of Justice, 1999. Although this particular case was never appealed in the 5th Circuit, the federal District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana held that there was a privacy interest in booking photographs.

Two other cases from the 11th Circuit that you may wish to review are U.S. v Hines, 955 F.2d 1449, 1455 (1992): "...mug shots carry a clear implication of criminal activity," and O'Kane v U.S. Customs Service, 169 F.3d 1308, 1310 (1999): "...individuals have substantial privacy interest in their criminal histories.." These cases had to do with the introduction of mug shots into evidence in court, which could have an unfair and prejudicial effect on the defendant. See also Barnes v United States, 1966, and United States v Reed, 1967. If seen as prejudicial in court, it would not be unreasonable to assert that the publication of mug shots can be prejudicial to a subject outside of court.

As a note: the U.S. Marshals Service requested of the 9th Circuit that the booking photographs of Jared Lee Loughner (the Arizona shooter) be enjoined from release on FOIA (7)(c) grounds, however the 9th Circuit Federal District Court held it did not have the authority to overrule the 6th Circuit U.S. Appeals Court decision in Detroit Free Press. Loughner's mug shots were released.

 

[ramzubio]

Great News!!!

I finally got arrest.org to remove my information from their website. Here what work for me:

I sent a complaint to the ACLU of Florida, Florida State Attorney and Florida Department of Consumer Affairs (DAC) and the Federal Trade Commission.

I quoted the opinion of the Florida Judge that Quincy provided me. I threatened the state with a lawsuit and bingo. That did the job. All my information was completely removed from their website.

I don't want any compensation, but I will like for them to be held responsible and actualize their records so other individual can not be affected as I did.

 

[quincy]

That is good news, ramzubio!

It may be important to note that you had several factors in your favor from the start - one is that you committed no crime, and one is that your wrongful arrest had previously been expunged from your records, and one is that the arrest records were held in Florida, home of Judge Huck's decision. I am not sure everyone everywhere can expect to share your success in having their records deleted from an arrest website, but your methods for removal are certainly ones they would want to try.

Again, thanks for reporting back on the positive results of your efforts, ramzubio. I am happy to hear the news.

 

[aceon9]

Great News!!!

I finally got arrest.org to remove my information from their website. Here what work for me:

I sent a complaint to the ACLU of Florida, Florida State Attorney and Florida Department of Consumer Affairs (DAC) and the Federal Trade Commission.

I quoted the opinion of the Florida Judge that Quincy provided me. I threatened the state with a lawsuit and bingo. That did the job. All my information was completely removed from their website.

I don't want any compensation, but I will like for them to be held responsible and actualize their records so other individual can not be affected as I did.

Hello. What is the florida judge or judgement you quoted. I was convicted of a DUI on trumped up charges but when officer was booking me he also mistakenly charged me with having a person under 18 years of age in the car with me. The problem was I was the only person in the car at the time. when I went before the judge the charge was taken off but it still shows this on my arrest record. Will your stated judgment work with mine as well? Thank you.

 

[quincy]

The information on the Florida judge can be found in Posts 6 and 7 of this thread, aceon9. The case in question discusses the privacy interests in mug shots.

Is your arrest and conviction information and your mug shot published on the Florida arrest website?

To get erroneous information removed from police or court records, you need to go to the reporting agency where the information originated (in your case, the police department). They will correct any errors that appear and update their databases.

As for getting information deleted from the arrest website, if your conviction appears, it may prove difficult for you to have it removed. It is considered a public record. Read the threads mentioned in Post 2 for possible actions you can take.

 

[BHeus]

Quite frankly, I was arrested and adjudicated guilty. That was more than 10 years ago. Since ending my probation, my information and picture was removed from the Department of Corrections Offenders Database (dc.state.fl.us). The only show of my criminal record is a records search in the county and state online records, neither of which has my picture.

Normally, I do a search on myself through Google and Yahoo. Sometimes, through other search engines. My last check was 3 months ago. Did a search today and florida.arrests.org was the top flagged result. Of course, like everyone else, I was furious, scared, ridiculed, and degraded. I spent more than 10 years putting up with endless job refusals because of my record. I have gotten my life back in order. And now my past is back to haunt me.

I looked for ways to get the record off the site. Just as someone else has commented, the site gives no contact address or other information other than an email. Google searching lead me to this and other sites. As well as sites that offer to remove my 'mug shot' from this site for $300+. Sounded like a scam. Seems a lot have been duped. Check Federal and Florida laws on Public Records. Check on Libel and Defamation in the FL Statutes for possible civil remedies. That's when I scored something**************.

Florida.arrests.org, created by a computer-savvy ex-felon, per se, developed and runs the site along with his family. Unproven/unconfirmed reports say the removal sites are also associated with them.

Florida.arrests.org provides a type of entertainment value, allowing visitors to 'tag' records that displaying the persons full name, dob, arrest date, charges (and subsequently, the mug shot photo), and, in some instances, addresses with derogatory/offensive tags. Visitors can also leave comments, which can be offensive, threatening, abusive, derogatory, etc.

Again, as others have pointed out, the site gives you no contact physical information to the company. Florida.arrests.org guilty misdemeanor of the first degree, as I understand it, under FL Statutes Title XLVI Crimes Chapter 836.11, Statutes & Constitution :View Statutes : Online Sunshine

836.11 Publications which tend to expose persons to hatred, contempt, or ridicule prohibited.—
(1) It shall be unlawful to print, publish, distribute or cause to be printed, published or distributed by any means, or in any manner whatsoever, any publication, handbill, dodger, circular, booklet, pamphlet, leaflet, card, sticker, periodical, literature, paper or other printed material which tends to expose any individual or any religious group to hatred, contempt, ridicule or obloquy unless the following is clearly printed or written thereon:
(a) The true name and post office address of the person, firm, partnership, corporation or organization causing the same to be printed, published or distributed; and,
(b) If such name is that of a firm, corporation or organization, the name and post office address of the individual acting in its behalf in causing such printing, publication or distribution.
(2) Any person, firm or corporation violating any of the sections of this statute shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.
History.—ss. 1, 2, ch. 22744, 1945; s. 996, ch. 71-136.

836.05 can be applied if it can be proven that the 'pay to remove mug shot' is also run by the same persons under disguise of dummy companies as an attempt to extort monies from those who have mug shots. This would bring felony charges.

Bingo! I plan to write a letter, along with hard copies of the websites content and contact page dated and notarized, to the State Attorney Generals' office, the State Attorney's office in Tallahassee (the city the ex-felon originally was released from and currently resides in), the Governor's office, and an attorney who will represent me in a civil action case to place a judge signed cease and desist order.

Of course, I will consult with a lawyer first to be sure my interpretations of the statutes are correct. But it does give hope to those of us trying to move on with our lives.

 

[quincy]

You may find removing your mug shot and arrest record more difficult, BHeus, because you were, in fact, convicted of a crime. This conviction is a public record and publishing public records is (generally) not illegal.

Those who have had the most success in removing their arrest records from these sites are those whose arrests did not result in charges or whose charges did not result in convictions or whose convictions were expunged. Others have paid to have their records and mug shots removed.

The Florida arrest site does provide contact information - but it certainly won't hurt to try to use 836.11 against the site. I would be interested to see if you have any success with it.

I agree that these arrest sites and the arrest-removal sites are becoming rather profitable businesses for many. The arrest records and mug shots are accessed through police and sheriff department websites and are reposted on arrest sites, often for their entertainment value. Advertising is what generates revenue for the arrest sites and often-exorbitant fees are what generates revenue for the arrest-removal sites. Whether these sites are working in tandem is a question that is currently being investigated in a few states.

I personally do not recommend that anyone pay to have their information removed, as there is no guarantee that this same information will not reappear on another site at another time. I would first try the other options suggested in this thread and in the other threads that have been started on this forum in the past (use the search feature at the top of the page and put "mug shots" in the key word box).

At any rate, I wish you luck on your quest, BHeus.

 

[BHeus]

Thank you, quincy. Where did you find the true name and physical postal address at on their site that is clearly printed thereon each page? I have searched all through it and only found an email address on the contact page. There is also the technical side, in which a web page can be a separate printed material that is distinguished from the web site.

I also found on their site, hidden but accessible to the public, payment options that they take directly. So if successful with 836.11, 836.05 can also be applied.

The sheriff's website which maintains an inmate search for the county does not show my arrest record. The city's police department does not have an online search for arrests, only for wanted persons and sexual offenders. DOC's offender search does not pull me up. FDLE criminal history search requires $24 payment per record. So nothing that is 'freely' available to scour that pulls up my arrest.

This is where florida.arrests.org differs from other 'mug shot' sites. Other sites pull from DOC Offender search and Sheriff inmate search, and police department arrest search. None of the other sites pull my information up. Only florida.arrests.org.

Another thing that really hadn't been answered is ramzubio's issue... How were they able to obtain expunged records? This puts it wide open to possible exploit of the systems and safe guards in place. This also leaves the State's Agencies responsible and liable for allowing sealed/expunged records to be publicly available and distributed.

I will be heading to Tallahassee to speak with a state attorney on filing a complaint based on these statutes. On civil matters, since defamation/libel is not an option in my case, I'm actually going to consult with a personal injury lawyer and see if I have an option there to get a cease and desist order on the site itself or the Google Indexing method being used by the site.

I will post what I am able to find out from the state attorney's office so other victims of that site may know what options are available or left for them.

 

[quincy]

Again I wish you luck, BHeus.

The Florida arrest site has private registration, so the contact information is through a registrant with an address in China. To obtain the true owner, you would need a court order. The email address that is provided on the site, however, along with the registrant's address in the Jiangsu Province of China, can be used for contacting the site.

Website registration is often made private, this to prevent website spam and to protect privacy (or occasionally for more nefarious reasons ).

Police and court records have been mined for years and these records stored in various databases. Many records are mined after an arrest but often before a final disposition, which is why these published records do not show dismissals of charges or expungements of convictions.

You may wish to check out an earlier forum post here that talks about expunged records and a court decision made in New Jersey this year that may, or may not, be parroted in future court decisions in other states. The court case is G.D. v Bernard Kenny and the Hudson County Democratic Organization and is discussed in the following thread: https://forum.freeadvice.com/libel-slander-defamation-88/spookychief-gingera-548079.html.

Essentially the Judge said that what has been done cannot be undone. An expungement "does not transmute a once-true fact into a falsehood."

I suggest that, when you head to Tallahassee, you go there armed with court cases that both support your right to privacy - as that is the issue that is most likely going to work for you in Florida - and with cases where courts have decided that privacy is not an issue and mug shots are public records available for public viewing. Review the previous threads (mentioned in one of the previous posts here) and look up all of the court cases mentioned. Knowledge of "both sides" can help you form your arguments.

Good luck.