PENNSYLVANIA (WTAJ) -- A Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling will now change how mugshots are handled when it comes to local news outlets, including access to them.

In a ruling from April, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court handed down the decision in Mezzacappa v. Northampton County after a right-to-know (RTK) request was submitted over four years ago in Northampton County.

In December 2020, the request was submitted for various records, including a request for "all mug shots taken of all inmates" from October 2020 through December 2020.

The County delivered everything except the mug shots in February 2021, advising that the mug shots were exempt from disclosure under the right-to-know law because they constituted "confidential criminal history record information," according to the lawsuit.

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