Criminal Records Online

[Jazzy]

Criminal records for millions of Americans are available online and can be viewed by anyone.



Do you think a persons criminal history (no matter what the offense) should be public record for anyone to see? Why or why not?

 

[Temerit]

Are they already public, just not online?



This is actually a pretty good question, I'm not quite sure where I stand..

 

[DrLeftover]

Here's a link to one of the records of criminal activity.



http://www.gpoaccess.gov/crecord/index.html





Many major city newspapers have a crime and courts type section online, and many are searchable.



Other official bodies have online databases.



Such as this one for wanted persons http://pubsrv.deljis.delaware.gov/WantedPublic/



There are others where active court cases are listed, and so on.



But a Big Brother searchable database of every traffic ticket you've ever had? I don't think that exists, and I'm not sure I'd want it to.

 

[Jazzy]

But a Big Brother searchable database of every traffic ticket you've ever had? I don't think that exists, and I'm not sure I'd want it to.

Ah, but it does exist. Whether or not you wish to see it is up to you..https://www.instantcheckmate.com

 

[Evil Eye]

Do you think a persons criminal history (no matter what the offense) should be public record for anyone to see? Why or why not?

No, at least, not as long as you keep that no matter the offence. People have a right to know what sort of threat someone may pose, but they shouldn't be able to see every single traffic ticket. That's just stalking.

 

[Evil Eye]

That's true of course, but you can't predict the future.

 

[Cranos]

I think it's wrong that they're public for everyone. People make mistakes, it happens... but it shouldn't follow them around for the rest of their lives. Honestly, the only people whose records should be viewable are people who shouldn't be outside prison in the first place.

 

[Sinon]

I think it's a good idea. I believe there's a similar website for the UK, or they were talking about it at least, for searching out paedophiles that live in your area. I think that you should be allowed to know what sort of a threat is posed to you/your family. Maybe a level of offence system would come in handy, splitting crimes into how severe they are. The low-level stuff like traffic tickets don't get shown, but things like GBH, assault etc should be.

 

[vodka-wow.com]

No that's private information. Only the law should have it.