PORTLAND — The Oregon Supreme Court has ruled that refusing to pose for a mug shot does not amount to obstruction of the law.

The court reversed the Oregon Court of Appeals and a trial judge who had ruled that Artissa Gaines had violated a law that prohibits “physical interference or obstruction” of “governmental or judicial administration.”

In January 2004, Gaines was being booked on a felony charge. A corrections officer discovered that her file lacked a frontal photograph of her face, but she refused three times to pose for the mug shot.

The officer decided she would resist future efforts to obtain a photograph and charged her with obstruction.

But the Supreme Court ruled Thursday that simple refusal and passive resistance was not enough to be charged or convicted.