The questions of sharing photos for the wrong reasons has been a frequent conversation amongst people that actively use social media for branding purposes. Over the past few years, the ultimate extreme revenge porn problem has taken a drastic hit after laws were put into place, resulting in prison time for some. Though mugshots are not as extreme, they can be humiliating for some that had a moment of bad judgment. This is the case for heavily shared Facebook account and website in Rockford.

While I understand mugshots and legal information are readily available to the public, but using mugshots to get clicks, mock, or humiliate, is simply out-of-line. Taking joy from another person's misfortune is disgusting. "Don't break the law and you won't have to worry about it." is an accurate statement however the person saying that has probably broken the law a few times but just hasn't been caught. These mugshot websites don't know the circumstances surrounding the arrest. Don't mistake what I'm saying, I'm not condoning to breaking the law or crime in general. What I am saying is I'm satisfied with websites that can cause harm to be controlled or removed.

Rockford Mugshots took a huge blow this week after Winnebago County Sheriff's Office announced they will copyright all future mugshots. This means no websites will be able to post the Sheriff's Office images for fun or as a hobby. As far as accredited media websites, there are rights set in place and approved by local, state, and federal government offices. (Yes, this includes the website you're looking at right now and the affiliated.)

Oh, if you or a loved one has a past mugshot on RockfordMugshots.com get ready to jump through hoops to have it removed.


JB Love is ½ of  Q98.5's Lil Zim & JB In The Morning, weekday mornings from 5:00 a.m. to 10 a.m. Follow him on TwitterInstagram, and Facebook.

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