From Politico:
The federal government is under no obligation to release mugshots of accused criminals under the Freedom of Information Act, even though many states and localities routinely make such booking photos public, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit’s decision, issued by a unanimous three-judge panel, rejected a request by the Tulsa World for the booking photos of six individuals who were indicted by grand juries and processed by the U.S. Marshals Service. The ruling was a victory for the Obama administration, which has pledged to be more open than any previous one, but has staunchly defended the federal government’s longstanding non-disclosure policy for mugshots.