Transparency Laws Let Criminal Records Become Commodities
Every three seconds, a person is arrested in the United States, mostly for low-level incidents like drug possession or disorderly conduct. After that person is booked, they may or may not be charged with a crime by prosecutors, and even if they are charged, the case can end in a dismissal. This should be the end of the story.
When the state funnels police and court data into the private sector, it is participating in a form of surveillance capitalism by turning criminal records into data commodities. This is rooted in two uniquely American contexts. The first is mass incarceration in the United States. One in three Americans have some sort of criminal record, which by extension means there is personal data garnered through arrest and court records for a full third of the US population. The second factor is American transparency law, which, unlike transparency law in other countries, classifies criminal records as public record and thus allows data companies to benefit.
States need to stop participating in the data brokerage industry. Profit-seeking big-data profiling is not a legitimate use of public records policy. In fact, we could use more transparency in this context: to see exactly how much states profit from the sale of personal information about prisoners and criminal defendants, to know where that money comes from, and to show how data brokers use the court records they’ve obtained.
Plus if you read the 1965 Voting Rights Act that was signed by President Lyndon Johnson there are no exclusionary clauses to bar or disenfranchise convicted felons from voting. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-79/pdf/STATUTE-79-Pg437.pdf#page=1
Yes, there are countless websites and so-called background checking sites with information on current and past arrest. I believe many are used for entertainment purposes. I remember I was at work years ago and one of my colleagues was at the local sheriff’s office to get a work-related fingerprint. He brought back a publication he found at the front counter that was printed weekly. It contained of all the arrests and mugshots in the county and surrounding areas. Since it was local many of the employees saw people in the community they knew from high school or just customers or piople they knew or met. I remember how nobody questioned if they were innocent. They made comments and all assumed the worst. An arrest is a decision an officer makes that more than 1/2 of the time is thrown out or not prosecuted by the State Attorney’s office for many reasons. Shaming people and making their lives harder is not a joke and this needs to stop. Sites like mugshots.org highlight celebrities and make fun of their situations. Some even have a place for you to make comments about mugshots. Arrest.org has actual captions like most popular arrests highlighting individuals who have the most hits on their arrest profiles. They even have a map below so you can see where they live. So yes, it has become out of control and destructive because these mugshots can be decades old and possibly never were convictions but whoever sees them will believe the worst. I believe mugshots, criminal records, and offender records should be for police eyes only and only used as a tool in investigations and not as an entertainment site to make fun of people or shame them.
Well, As It Can Be Said and Justified; Verified, and Validated…
Crime Is Commerce…..
In So Many Ways, Shapes, Sizes; Numerically Codified Per Statutory Obligated Law!
SeasonED Greetings to All!
Is it doxing if its the government that’s doing it, especially if it’s under a guise that has been proven to be inaccurate? What if the government doxes an entire segment of the population with the result of causing or attempting to cause, or would be reasonably expected to cause substantial emotional distress to a person?
What if this doxing caused or was proven to cause any person to be in reasonable fear of death or of serious bodily injury?
What if the government knew this doxing would be questioned so this same government proclaims this action to be a civil regulatory scheme “not unlike that of renewing ones driver’s license”?
What if the general population upon discovering the identity of said segment of the population not only approved but strongly supported this civil regulatory scheme?
What we allow the government to do to one, we demand the government do to us.
Thank you for your time
Excellent article
This needs to sent to every politician in the country . Maybe it will reach the hearts of any honest individuals , if there are any.
This country is doing the same thing it’s accusing China of doing , and bringing sanctions against for. What hypocrisy.
Thats why there needs to be an Amendment to the 1964 Civil Rights Act to make all Directly Impacted Individuals/Convicted Felons/Returning Citizens From Incarceration a Protected Class Under Legislation. Until then those of us with Criminal Records will Continue to be Expendable Financial Commodities and not Redeemable Human Beings.
Joseph,
Excellent Summary of the Real Facts and the Real Impact!
You Hit the ‘Nail’ on the ‘Head’
A Very Professional and Respected Statement!
Thank You
SeasonED Greetings to All
Joseph…
Also, can Be Classified as A ‘Class’ of ‘Disenfranchised’ Under The Aforementioned Statutory Law
So, Once Again, Thank You for Your Efforts Highlighting Other Passage Ways From Hell!