When I was a local editor of Monroe Patch people often called begging me to take down stories on their DUI arrests.
“I’m a good person,” some argued. I had no reason to believe otherwise, but the policy was to run names with all arrests.
A DUI arrest can happen as a result of an error in judgement, rather than an intent to put others on the road in danger, but could lead to difficulty gaining employment or getting into a college when the person’s name is online.
I’m considering only running names when an arrest includes a serious crash or involves a public official who should set a positive example (and who the public will know about anyway).
In the event of a DUI where there is no accident and the driver has no priors, I’m considering running the gender, age, street name without the number, town and charges.
What is your opinion? Is this something you would agree with? Please participate in The Sun poll. The results will be taken into consideration.
