Content Removal

(Last Updated: Wedesday, August 3, 2022)

The hallmark of the firm's work is removing from the Internet negative content (articles, photos, and videos) about our clients. In most cases, the content we remove are Florida arrest booking photographs and criminal probable cause affidavits that mugshot publishers post to their websites. After having engaged in this type of work and built a multitude of relationships with the editors of these websites for years now, we can assure new clients that we typically accomplish this work within a matter of one business day. On most occasions, we are successful within one hour.

In the State of Florida, criminal justice records become available almost immediately after they are filed by sheriff's offices, judicial assistants, and Clerks of the Court.

Fla. Stat. § 119.07 allows for anyone in the Sunshine State to view, copy, and inspect all manner of public records. And this freedom survives in perpetuity regardless of the outcome of any criminal justice proceedings in which an arrestee may be exonorated completely either by a jury trial or a State Attorney's decision not to pursue any charges.

So it is a near certainty that a record of your arrest will be posted online within a matter of minutes or even hours after you have been detained anywhere in Florida. The display of mugshots in newspapers and magazines is nothing new, as its history in the United States dates to the mid‑1800s.

Year‑after‑year, state legislatures continue to affirm the public's right to see mugshots, while at the same time, publishers continue to recognize the public's overwhelming interest in viewing these images. In the modern era, the most famous booking photographs, such as the one of former NFL running back O.J. Simpson following his arrest in connection with the murders of his ex‑ wife and her boyfriend, have been responsible for a massive spike in readership of both tabloid and traditional hard‑news magazines such as Time and Newsweek, both of which placed Simpson's mugshot on their covers in late‑June, 1994.

The impetus for private individuals and entities to publish criminal justice records, including mugshots, varies. Some publications do it to generate advertising revenue. Others do it explicitly to collect removal fees. Still others do it simply to hurt someone who has wronged them.

There is a good chance our firm can assist you if your booking photograph or arrest report have been posted to a mugshot website. On the other hand, if a former spouse from whom you had a nasty split, for one example, has posted the image to her Facebook page or to her Twitter feed, there likely is little chance any persuasion from us will convince her to remove it.

Whether your mugshot has been posted on the website of a well‑respected publication like the Miami Herald or Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel or Tampa Tribune, or whether it has been posted to the personal blog of an individual, the right to publish the photograph is protected by both state and federal law.

Our firm will give you an honest, up‑front assessment as to whether we believe we can assist you with removal of negative content on the Internet. If we believe we can help you, we will ask you to sign an agreement that clearly details the terms and scope of our work ‑‑ along with payment in full. If we achieve success on your behalf, we will keep your payment. If not, we immediately will refund your payment in full.

Remember that even if you are granted an expungement by the court in which your criminal charges were filed, the right of private entities to publish the details of your arrest, including the mugshot, is unaffected. The language governing expungements in Florida can be found in Fla. Stat. § 943.0585 and relates solely to criminal justice agencies.