sealing records
like many weary travelers, i mostly encounter usa today when it mysteriously washes up outside my hotel room door. today's edition features a timely op-ed on the merits of sealing certain types of criminal records. the authors are stephen salzburg and margy love -- co-chairs of the american bar association's commission on effective criminal sanctions. the usa today editorial staff offers a prebuttal, arguing against sealing and expungement.
posted by christopher uggen @ 2:54 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
i think there are many good reasons for sealing off access to some crimes and charges, especially when someone has been arrested and not charged, which could be used against someone later (especially when in the uk in the 1980s you had people arrested for refusing to be searched under the sus laws who hadn't done anything). people usually tend to be seen as guilty of stuff they're accussed of today whether its true or not.
I certainly think there is a case for heavy restriction of access here though after a certain time has elapsed.
btw wondering what you think of this post
http://leftwingcriminologist.blogspot.com/2007/08/new-prison-for-north-wales.html
was also thinking of blogging about your piece on public criminology too
i tend to think of prison construction as a distinctively american national pastime. thanks for the dispatch from north wales, lwc.
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