I reacted with disgust over the recent story about two Albuquerque convenience store clerks who were shot at close range, one in the leg, the other in the stomach, during a $50 robbery by two alleged assailants, one of whom police said had just been released from jail early for "good behavior."

Somehow our criminal justice system has confused the notion of good behavior with prison crowding. So I thought to myself, what could cause the public to be outraged enough to demand an end to stupid, misguided policies like decreasing incarceration time if you follow the house rules?

Perhaps if we could view the graphic, grisly photographs of crime scenes, instead of reading innocuous descriptions of heinous acts in the newspaper, our attitude toward criminal sentencing would change and so would the policy.

"The closer you get to the crime scene, the tougher you are on the criminal. Cops see the graphic and unforgiving nature of violent crimes. I can't say whether or not it's a good idea to show graphic pictures of these crime scenes to the public," says Darren White, Bernalillo County Sheriff.

I can say it, and I will. You might think living in a perfect, ignorant world without grisly, disturbing images is blissful. But I think it is wrong for an educated electorate to be denied the opportunity to view in all of its gory detail the results of controversial government policies and the actions by individuals who are a serious threat to a community.

Show me a close-up of the bullet's entry and exit wound, then let me voice my opinion about the time-off-for-good-behavior clause. Show me a graphic, detailed close-up of the face of a sheriff's deputy after a recently paroled felon has just blown it off, and then let's talk about our criminal justice system. Show me military caskets, at least: "Eleven killed, 14 wounded," doesn't do it for me anymore. These fallow words are without dignity and serve no one justice.

This isn't a matter of government censorship. This is corporate censorship by a privately owned press, which, not so incidentally, is experiencing an end-run by the Internet. I want an adults-only, pay-to-view section on the Web sites of newspapers for those of us who have the conviction to try to understand for ourselves, without bias or editing, the depth and meaning of the world we live in.

I'm not advocating for unfettered access to images of gratuitous violence. I'm calling for an end to the arbitrary censorship and manipulation by a press that suppresses images that effectively and accurately portray real life.

History can be altered through photographs; policies toward world hunger can be revised, attitudes toward DWI offenders can be modernized and public safety issues can be addressed for the better.

Is this type of censorship ethical journalism? I say let the people decide.

Bullington is a senior policy adviser for the Brownstein, Hyatt and Farber law firm. He welcomes comments at jdbullington@gmail.com