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Florida has some of the most permissive laws about mugshots and criminal info. The reason for the "Florida Man" meme is not that people in Florida are more wei

Florida has some of the most permissive laws about mugshots and criminal info. The reason for the "Florida Man" meme is not that people in Florida are more weird than anywhere else, just that it's easier to find the mugshots online.

Jestar342 6y ago
I always thought this was for precisely the oppposite - i.e. that news headlines (edit: I mean whole articles) were more often "A Florida Man has been arrested" because they were not allowed/didn't have the names.
- henryfjordan 6y ago
  I think using the term "Florida Man" is a meme now and probably carries more weight than using the accused's actual name. From the wikipedia article: > Miami New Times claimed that freedom of information laws in Florida make it easier for journalists to obtain information about arrests from the police than in other states and that this is responsible for the large number of news articles https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_Man https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_Man
  - Jestar342 6y ago
    I understand now, the headline reads "Florida Man arrested" and then the article will have "Bob Bobbinson was arrested today for ..."
- J5892 6y ago
  How many headlines about non-public figures have you seen that include someone's name? "Tim Jones has been arrested" isn't exactly an informative headline.
  - kgwxd 6y ago
    I Googled the name hoping to prove that wrong, I wish I hadn't.
  - Jestar342 6y ago
    Well that's just taking things too literally. I meant the whole article would use "Florida man" instead of a name.
- kube-system 6y ago
  The headline is usually "A Florida Man has been arrested" because news stations all around the country dig through Florida public records to fill space when their local news is slow. It says "Florida" because it is not local to the outlet that is publishing it. Local news usually says "local man" or specifies a locality.
ipsin 6y ago
The story below the linked one is how a man rammed his way into a gated community, beat two people to death with a baseball bath, and then the police found the suspect unconscious after he drank some bleach. That seems more weird than my local news, by a bit.
- jdmichal 6y ago
  Maybe it's weirder than your local news, because your local news never finds out about those weird police calls like they do in Florida?
  - perl4ever 6y ago
    It's my opinion that Florida is weirder, because driving around, the weird signs of weird people (roadside, or on their vehicles for instance) are weirder and more common than up north. Not an airtight proof, but an independent datum not biased for the same reasons as the news.
- bdamm 6y ago
  This is a demonstration of selection bias.
- ogre_codes 6y ago
  > That seems more weird than my local news, by a bit. Come to Oregon and we can talk weird.
- rriepe 6y ago
  That's still downstream of Florida's sunshine laws. If that happens in your state, there's a chance the media doesn't hear about it, or hears about it too late. In Florida, the media hears about anything that involves an arrest because it's all published for public inspection. It's not just mugshots but other records too. The smallest community newspapers in Florida will have a section about who got arrested.
js2 6y ago
I grew up in Florida. It's not just easier to find mug shots online. It's a weird place. Alligators: https://nypost.com/2020/06/11/florida-man-fights-off-alligator-that-attacked-his-dog/ https://nypost.com/2020/06/11/florida-man-fights-off-alligat... https://nypost.com/2018/07/30/florida-man-brings-gator-into-a-convenience-store/ https://nypost.com/2018/07/30/florida-man-brings-gator-into-... https://www.wfla.com/news/florida/8-foot-gator-wrestled-from-florida-swimming-pool/ https://www.wfla.com/news/florida/8-foot-gator-wrestled-from... Pythons: https://www.naplesnews.com/story/news/local/2019/08/12/6-foot-long-burmese-python-caught-while-swimming-naples-bay-florida/1968691001/ https://www.naplesnews.com/story/news/local/2019/08/12/6-foo... https://www.foxnews.com/science/alligator-fights-python-on-florida-golf-course https://www.foxnews.com/science/alligator-fights-python-on-f... Driving dogs: https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/22/us/florida-dog-drives-circles-trnd/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/22/us/florida-dog-drives-circles... Kangaroos: https://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/fort-lauderdale/fl-ne-kangaroo-jack-fort-lauderdale-20200720-qc5xt4fwm5d4fdzxxafxnbgmee-story.html https://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/fort-lauderdale/f... Speed-trap towns that had to decommission their police: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kELze26IXpk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kELze26IXpk https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldo,_Florida https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldo,_Florida
- pchristensen 6y ago
  Seconded, grew up in Tampa. Florida is weird, just not quite as weird as "Florida Man" makes it look.
- wahern 6y ago
  Those aren't particularly weird. People chopping off their limbs in copy-cat insurance scams is weird: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vernon,_Florida https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vernon,_Florida For over a hundred years kooks and scammers from the Northeast and Midwest have made their way down to Florida. It's a weird place because weird and disreputable people move there. (Source: I grew up in the panhandle, and also inherited some "beach front" property in the middle of the woods that an uncle bought in the 1960s from a Chicago developer front running a classic Florida real estate racket. Also, see "Oh, Florida!: How America's Weirdest State Influences the Rest of the Country".)
ABoldGambit 6y ago
If anyone's interested in an in depth dive into the "Florida Man" meme, the podcast Citations Needed did a great (imo) episode on it: https://soundcloud.com/citationsneeded/episode-75-florida-man https://soundcloud.com/citationsneeded/episode-75-florida-ma...
- ethagnawl 6y ago
  The _Florida Man_ documentary is also equally fascinating and depressing. https://vimeo.com/118532076 https://vimeo.com/118532076

Jestar342 6y ago

I always thought this was for precisely the oppposite - i.e. that news headlines (edit: I mean whole articles) were more often "A Florida Man has been arrested" because they were not allowed/didn't have the names.

henryfjordan 6y ago
I think using the term "Florida Man" is a meme now and probably carries more weight than using the accused's actual name. From the wikipedia article: > Miami New Times claimed that freedom of information laws in Florida make it easier for journalists to obtain information about arrests from the police than in other states and that this is responsible for the large number of news articles https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_Man https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_Man
- Jestar342 6y ago
  I understand now, the headline reads "Florida Man arrested" and then the article will have "Bob Bobbinson was arrested today for ..."
J5892 6y ago
How many headlines about non-public figures have you seen that include someone's name? "Tim Jones has been arrested" isn't exactly an informative headline.
- kgwxd 6y ago
  I Googled the name hoping to prove that wrong, I wish I hadn't.
- Jestar342 6y ago
  Well that's just taking things too literally. I meant the whole article would use "Florida man" instead of a name.
kube-system 6y ago
The headline is usually "A Florida Man has been arrested" because news stations all around the country dig through Florida public records to fill space when their local news is slow. It says "Florida" because it is not local to the outlet that is publishing it. Local news usually says "local man" or specifies a locality.

ipsin 6y ago

The story below the linked one is how a man rammed his way into a gated community, beat two people to death with a baseball bath, and then the police found the suspect unconscious after he drank some bleach. That seems more weird than my local news, by a bit.

jdmichal 6y ago
Maybe it's weirder than your local news, because your local news never finds out about those weird police calls like they do in Florida?
- perl4ever 6y ago
  It's my opinion that Florida is weirder, because driving around, the weird signs of weird people (roadside, or on their vehicles for instance) are weirder and more common than up north. Not an airtight proof, but an independent datum not biased for the same reasons as the news.
bdamm 6y ago
This is a demonstration of selection bias.
ogre_codes 6y ago
> That seems more weird than my local news, by a bit. Come to Oregon and we can talk weird.
rriepe 6y ago
That's still downstream of Florida's sunshine laws. If that happens in your state, there's a chance the media doesn't hear about it, or hears about it too late. In Florida, the media hears about anything that involves an arrest because it's all published for public inspection. It's not just mugshots but other records too. The smallest community newspapers in Florida will have a section about who got arrested.

js2 6y ago

I grew up in Florida. It's not just easier to find mug shots online. It's a weird place. Alligators: https://nypost.com/2020/06/11/florida-man-fights-off-alligator-that-attacked-his-dog/ https://nypost.com/2020/06/11/florida-man-fights-off-alligat... https://nypost.com/2018/07/30/florida-man-brings-gator-into-a-convenience-store/ https://nypost.com/2018/07/30/florida-man-brings-gator-into-... https://www.wfla.com/news/florida/8-foot-gator-wrestled-from-florida-swimming-pool/ https://www.wfla.com/news/florida/8-foot-gator-wrestled-from... Pythons: https://www.naplesnews.com/story/news/local/2019/08/12/6-foot-long-burmese-python-caught-while-swimming-naples-bay-florida/1968691001/ https://www.naplesnews.com/story/news/local/2019/08/12/6-foo... https://www.foxnews.com/science/alligator-fights-python-on-florida-golf-course https://www.foxnews.com/science/alligator-fights-python-on-f... Driving dogs: https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/22/us/florida-dog-drives-circles-trnd/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/22/us/florida-dog-drives-circles... Kangaroos: https://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/fort-lauderdale/fl-ne-kangaroo-jack-fort-lauderdale-20200720-qc5xt4fwm5d4fdzxxafxnbgmee-story.html https://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/fort-lauderdale/f... Speed-trap towns that had to decommission their police: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kELze26IXpk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kELze26IXpk https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldo,_Florida https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldo,_Florida

pchristensen 6y ago
Seconded, grew up in Tampa. Florida is weird, just not quite as weird as "Florida Man" makes it look.
wahern 6y ago
Those aren't particularly weird. People chopping off their limbs in copy-cat insurance scams is weird: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vernon,_Florida https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vernon,_Florida For over a hundred years kooks and scammers from the Northeast and Midwest have made their way down to Florida. It's a weird place because weird and disreputable people move there. (Source: I grew up in the panhandle, and also inherited some "beach front" property in the middle of the woods that an uncle bought in the 1960s from a Chicago developer front running a classic Florida real estate racket. Also, see "Oh, Florida!: How America's Weirdest State Influences the Rest of the Country".)

ABoldGambit 6y ago

If anyone's interested in an in depth dive into the "Florida Man" meme, the podcast Citations Needed did a great (imo) episode on it: https://soundcloud.com/citationsneeded/episode-75-florida-man https://soundcloud.com/citationsneeded/episode-75-florida-ma...

ethagnawl 6y ago
The _Florida Man_ documentary is also equally fascinating and depressing. https://vimeo.com/118532076 https://vimeo.com/118532076