Should Every Arrest Be Made Public On Twitter?
In Denton, Texas, an art student started a twitter feed that posts every arrest as it happens. The idea here was to explore the possibilities of social platforms like Twitter to share public information. The question in this case is if it’s morally right to embarrass these people for just an arrest? An arrest meaning that the person has not been tried in court and convicted of the crime. That person was merely accused of the crime.
There are two issues with this question. First is that the district attorneys shouldn’t pursue a shaming policy until they have a conviction, and second, the idea behind this project is that arrest records are public, and the creator of this project, Brian Baugh, a student at the University of North Texas, is only trying to make public information truly public.
One idea that can be used here to make this work is to include strong disclaimers that accounts posted are accusations and that nobody has been convicted, however, exactly what should be done about this is still not sure. If you have any ideas or suggestions, leave us a comment telling us what you think should be done.
(Via CriminalJustice.Change)
