The Eternal Criminal Record / James B. Jacobs.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Jacobs, James B., Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Criminal records--United States.

Criminal records.

Criminal records--Access control--United States.

Criminal records--Expungement--United States.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (413 p.)

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press, [2015]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

For over sixty million Americans, possessing a criminal record overshadows everything else about their public identity. A rap sheet, or even a court appearance or background report that reveals a run-in with the law, can have fateful consequences for a person’s interactions with just about everyone else. The Eternal Criminal Record makes transparent a pervasive system of police databases and identity screening that has become a routine feature of American life. The United States is unique in making criminal information easy to obtain by employers, landlords, neighbors, even cyberstalkers. Its nationally integrated rap-sheet system is second to none as an effective law enforcement tool, but it has also facilitated the transfer of ever more sensitive information into the public domain. While there are good reasons for a person’s criminal past to be public knowledge, records of arrests that fail to result in convictions are of questionable benefit. Simply by placing someone under arrest, a police officer has the power to tag a person with a legal history that effectively incriminates him or her for life. In James Jacobs’s view, law-abiding citizens have a right to know when individuals in their community or workplace represent a potential threat. But convicted persons have rights, too. Jacobs closely examines the problems created by erroneous record keeping, critiques the way the records of individuals who go years without a new conviction are expunged, and proposes strategies for eliminating discrimination based on criminal history, such as certifying the records of those who have demonstrated their rehabilitation.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Preface

1. Introduction

PART I: The Production and Dissemination of Criminal Records

2. Intelligence and Investigative Databases

3. Linking Bodies to Criminal Histories

4. Court Records

5. Privatizing Criminal Records

6. Whether to Create a Criminal Record

7. Sealing, Purging, and Amending Conviction Rec ords

8. Erroneous Records Problems

9. Transparency of Criminal Convictions

10. Public Access to Arrestee Information

11. Publicly Accessible Criminal Records and Punishment Theory

PART IV: Direct and Collateral Consequences of a Criminal Record

12. Criminal Justice Consequences of a Criminal Record

13. Second- Class Citizens by Law

14. Employment Discrimination Based on a Criminal Record

15. Conclusion

Appendix: Supreme Court Cases Dealing with Criminal Records

Notes

Index

Notes:

Includes index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 23. Jun 2020)

ISBN:

9780674967168

067496716X

9780674735842

0674735846

OCLC:

897599762