Is a newspaper crossing personal boundaries/rights if it publishes arrest records on its website without any regard as to whether the person was found guilty?
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Is a newspaper crossing personal boundaries/rights if it publishes arrest records on its website without any regard as to whether the person was found guilty?
After searching my name on Google, I realized that in the first 10 results displayed was a publication in which both of my previous arrests were being displayed for anyone who searched my name to see. Not only did they make the arrests available to the public but they offer no information as to the outcome of the arrests- whether the person was found guilty or not, and only vague details of the police report. Couldn’t this make it easy for prospective employers to discriminate against someone if they see this?
Asked on July 14, 2012 under Personal Injury, Ohio
Answers:
Leigh Anne Timiney / Timiney Law Firm
Answered 11 years ago | Contributor
Arrest records are public information. They are available to anyone who wants to obtain them. So a newspaper is not crossing any line or invading your privacy by publishing your arrest record. If they are publishing something that is not true, then they would be liable or in most states records for minors are not public record, so they could be held liable for publishing the record of a minor. Other than that, the newspaper is well within their rights to publish arrests made in the community.
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