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This summer, I had dinner with friends, and we talked about everything: how we’re keeping up with the rising cost of living, what’s going on in local politics and how it’s been working in our various careers.
I’m a reporter, so I’m naturally nosy. I keep my eyes and ears open for information related to our local criminal justice systems. When a friend who worked for a law enforcement agency in Mississippi was venting about something happening in DeSoto County, my interest was piqued. I wanted to know more.
My friend opened Facebook and navigated to the DeSoto County District Attorney’s Office page. He scrolled for a second. The posts were typical — until they weren’t. My jaw dropped when I saw the image and read the caption.
The image: A Black woman wearing a pink prison uniform while looking at a tray of inedible food, with the main dish being ‘40 YEARS’ spelled out in an animated mush of foodstuff. The caption: MEMPHIS WOMAN, 35, SENTENCED TO 40 YEARS FOR ATTEMPTED MURDER. This is one of many images on the DA’s Facebook page, where his office repeatedly posts memes that make fun of people being sentenced to prison.
“I don’t like this,” my friend told me. Posts like this make it more difficult for him to do his job because the public believes all law enforcement officers “think like this,” he said.
There are other AI-generated memes, too. One image looks like the cover of the popular video game, Grand Theft Auto, with DeSoto County District Attorney Matthew Barton and police portrayed as heroes and Black people portrayed as criminals.
Another graphic depicts a white man on the lock screen of a smartphone with push notifications describing his prison sentence. “Free World Life Disabled. Try again in 21,038,400 minutes,” the text reads.
There’s an image of a Black man at the center of a school-like progress report, surrounded by bright, colorful letters and stars. The text on the illustration reads, “Good job! Shooting star! Sentenced to 40 years.”
These posts are among the most popular on the DA’s Facebook page. The memes have thousands of shares, likes and comments, but the feedback is mixed.
Some people are disgusted: “This is pathetic. AI SLOP,” one person commented. “This post is very sloppy, pathetic, and biased. Y’all should really consider making an apology for how this looks,” another person wrote.
Others are amused: “The DA got jokes for days,” a man commented. “It’s about time y’all start cracking down on these predators,” a woman commented.
I reached out to Barton’s office several times by phone and email to ask about how the office uses AI-generated memes on social media to post sentencing outcomes and other messaging; they did not respond.
What really stuck with me is how my friend said this sort of social media engagement misrepresents the nature of law enforcement — especially for people like him who work in the field, not in an office or a courtroom.
In this era of extreme political polarization and misinformation, do we need another elected official using social media to make fun of people who will be incarcerated for decades, while also making light of victims’ experiences?
I’m no expert in AI, legal ethics or social media, so I did one of my favorite things: I researched.
The American Bar Association — a national organization for attorneys and law students — maintains the Model Rules of Professional Conduct. One of the rules focuses on “the special responsibilities of a prosecutor,” like DA Barton and other prosecutors on his staff.
The rule says prosecutors should make statements “that are necessary to inform the public…and that serve a legitimate law enforcement purpose.” The rule also says statements should “exercise reasonable care” to law enforcement and should prevent “heightening public condemnation of the accused.”
I also contacted Anqi Shao, an AI and communications researcher and professor at the University of Mississippi. She said it’s unclear if uploading case-related information to generative AI systems is legal. There are other ethical concerns, she said, including the lack of transparency around what tools or settings were used or whether the information will be used to train newer AI models.
“The legal landscape is unsettled on this,” Shao said.
Shao said one benefit of posting memes is that the content is “more attention-grabbing and sharable,” and it may drive up engagement “for those who never read a formal press release.” However, she said, it can also “oversimplify complicated cases” and turn “a serious judicial process into entertainment.”
“Because the message comes from a district attorney’s office, rather than an ordinary meme or troll account, the framing carries institutional authority and may have a stronger influence on how the public perceives a suspect or a case,” said Shao.
Brittany Brown is the public safety reporter for MLK50: Justice Through Journalism. Email her at brittany.brown@mlk50.com
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