Log in to WRAL.com with one click using your favorite social network:
OR
Log in using your WRAL.com account:



Wrong email/password combination.

Forgot password?

Register with WRAL.com using your favorite social network:
OR
Register for a WRAL.com account using our web form.

5:12 p.m. • 5-23-13

Weather Forecast for Raleigh

  • Fri: Partly Cloudy.
    • Hi: 74° F
  • Sat: Clear.
    • Hi: 72° F
  • Sun: Partly Cloudy.
    • Hi: 75° F

Other Locations

> 7 Day Forecast

Doppler Image

Alert

Published: 2008-07-22 18:58:00
Updated: 2008-07-22 23:49:56

Get arrested and you could wind up in 'The Slammer'


The Slammer
The Slammer
print friendly

If you are arrested in Wake County, you might just end up in "The Slammer."

It's a weekly newspaper in Wake and Mecklenburg counties that randomly selects mug shots to publish, along with articles about unsolved crimes, missing persons and profiles of most-wanted criminals.

"Someone may see someone in there that – they were the victim of a crime and may see someone in that publication that actually perpetrated it," Sam Pennica, director of the City-County Bureau of Identification, the agency that processes mug shots and fingerprints when people are arrested by a law enforcement agency in Wake County.

CCBI processes about 35,000 mug shots each year.

The newspaper did not return calls from WRAL News Tuesday seeking comment but on its Web site, admits it is also part entertainment. Mug shots, for example, are singled out for things like hair style, age and personal injury.

"It is a public record," Pennica said of the mug shots. "Everyone has the right to it."

Photos are randomly chosen with a reminder that all people featured are innocent until proven guilty.

But local defense attorney Karl Knudsen says that might not be the impression it's leaving with readers.

"To be in the general media, it should be noteworthy – not just because you're charged with something," Knudsen said. "There are many people who are going to equate the fact that if your picture is in there, you've done something wrong."

Duke University legal ethics professor Dr. Kathy Bradley also questions how the public records are being used.

"It's one of those things, just because you can do something doesn't mean you should," she said. "There's no context for what's the other side of this story. What else do we know? There's no balance here, and I think that distinguishes it from a high-profile case."

Some people might not mind, however. Pennica says a few people have asked if their mug shot will end up in "The Slammer."


53 Comments


WRAL.com welcomes your comments on this story. All comments are moderated prior to publication based on our posting guidelines. Please review them prior to posting and if your message is not approved.

View Comments VIEW ALL 53 COMMENTS

This story is closed for comments.

Latest Comments
"Its free speech. If you don't like it, don't read it."

Actually it's defamation if someone is published in this rag without a conviction. The Anti Defamation League will have a field day with this when the first lawsuit comes down.

I bet you won’t find any of the government officials and officers in this paper. My God do you remember how embarrassing it was for North Carolina with the duke lacrosse team?

McDriver - "What is the percentage of folks whose photos are published and are innocent of the crime? I'll bet it isn't even 1%."

I would wonder if you would feel the same way if you were part of that 1% and your boss or a relative saw your face plastered on the front page. Would you still believe that if something bad happens to only 1% of the people then it is OK for that to happen?

That being said, I firmly believe in free speech and therefore legally see no issue here. However, morally I am sick.

sounds liek what happened to me. 2x by same woman. Charges dismissed BEFORE my arrest! Ulcer.

"Just because someone is arrested does not mean they are guilty. I know someone who was arrested, but never convicted for the crime, because it turned out there never really was a crime, the person who had them arrested had a personal problem with them and made the whole 'crime' up! Therefore this person was taken to jail and had a 'mugshot' taken, but the charges were thrown out. This also happens when someone presses charges against someone for domestic violence, assault, etc., and the accusing party does not show up to follow through with the charges. How could it be right that their picture be in this magazine, when they really shouldn't have been in jail? Think of how YOU would feel if you were falsely accused of a crime, taken to jail, then had all charges dropped only to find out that your picture is in this magazine, listed with a crime you did not commit and were found innocent of."

I've seen it!

I know that more and more it's becoming an accomplishment to be in the slammer...

View Comments VIEW ALL 53 COMMENTS