Lawmakers Want To Regulate Crime Photos On Facebook

Diane J. Savino

Two years after an EMT responder posted a photo of a murdered Staten Island woman on Facebook, state lawmakers are pushing to beef up the penalties for such acts.

A group of Staten Island legislators, including members of the Independent Democratic Conference, is introducing bills in the Senate and Assembly that would make it a class E felony for a public servant, in the course of his or her duties, to take and publish a picture or video of a crime scene. Under current New York law, the maximum punishment for doing so is a misdemeanor.

“Caroline’s Law,” as it’s known, refers to 26-year-old Caroline Wimmer, who was found strangled with a hair-dryer cord around her neck in her apartment on March 30, 2009. Mark Musarella, an EMT responding to the scene, snapped a photo of the scene with his photo and uploaded it to Facebook.

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