According to this story in the Arizona Republic, the defense attorney for Jared Loughner has blocked release of his mug shot because federal law prohibits it due to the bias it communicates to the potential jury pool of the defendant's guilt through association of guilt with being arrested and visually shown this way. I'm glad for this law and this decision. We gain nothing from seeing such an additional photo of the man, and we want to be sure in all criminal cases that we do everything to preserve both the presumption of innocence and the actual ability to have a fair, unbiased jury pool which renders a verdict on the basis of the evidence alone rather than their expectation of the guilt of the defendant from whatever sources, including a mug shot.
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