Feb 22 (Reuters) - The government does not have to hand over criminal mug shots to members of the public under the Freedom of Information Act, a federal appeals court ruled on Wednesday.

World Publishing Company, which publishes the Tulsa World newspaper, sued the Department of Justice in 2009 to force the U.S. Marshals Service to release the mug shots of six inmates who were indicted but not yet tried. The purpose of the suit was to establish the mug shots were accessible under FOIA.

But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit held that requiring law enforcement to turn over the shots under FOIA would violate the privacy rights of the individuals in the photographs.

"There is little to suggest that releasing booking photos would significantly assist the public in detecting or deterring any underlying government misconduct," Judge Paul Kelly wrote for the three-judge panel.

The U.S. Marshals Service refused to release the photographs under a FOIA exception that allows the government to withhold law enforcement records in order to prevent an invasion of personal privacy.

The Oklahoma newspaper argued that the public has an interest in knowing the right people were arrested and in seeing if they were mistreated or abused by police. One of the six inmates, Larry Barnes, indicted on drug charges, was later released after a corruption probe into the Tulsa Police Department.

In ruling against the paper, the 10th Circuit noted that the stigma and humiliation from a mug shot can last well beyond the criminal proceedings.

"A mug shot preserves, in its unique and visually powerful way, the subject's brush with law for posterity," Kelly wrote, citing a Louisiana federal court's decision in Times Picayune Publishing Corp v. U.S. Department of Justice.

The 10th Circuit's decision, which affirmed a lower court ruling, adds to a division between the circuits over public access to mug shots. In 1996, the 6th Circuit ruled that the government had to hand over mug shots to the Detroit Free Press. The court found no privacy interest in booking photos where the inmates' names already had been released and the defendants had appeared in court.

Last year, the 11th Circuit reached the opposite conclusion when a freelance journalist sought the mug shot of Luis Giro, the head of an investment firm who pleaded guilty to securities fraud in 2009. The court found mug shots carried a "clear implication of criminal activity" that could lead to an invasion of privacy.

Schaad Titus, a lawyer for World Publishing, said the media company was reviewing its options and considering asking for review by the full 10th Circuit or the Supreme Court.

The Department of Justice declined to comment on the litigation.

The case is World Publishing Company v. U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit, No. 11-5063.

For World Publishing Company: Schaad Titus of Titus, Hillis, Reynolds, Love, Dickman & McCalmon.

For the government: Steve Frank of the Justice Department.

(Reporting by Terry Baynes)

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