« Ind. Courts - Bail bond article from Evansville Courier & Press | Main | Ind. Decisions - "Senator Slams Judge's Immigration Law Ruling" »

Monday, July 04, 2011

Ind. Law - "Criminals get second chance with new law" [Updated]

This long June 26, 2011 ILB entry collected together much information on, and raises issues about, HEA 1211, which allows for expungement of or restricted access to Indiana arrest and conviction records in certain cases. So does this June 28th entry.

And earlier, on June 3, 2011, this ILB entry commented:

In the age of the internet, can this new law really have the intended effect? Or is it too late for such efforts; is this pretty much a futile exercise?

For instance, a petition to expunge records is itself not secret. Nor should it be. I expect the petition will be listed on JTAC and/or Doxpop. So filing a petition may simply bring attention to the old conviction.

Furthermore, most of this information is already online in unofficial databases over which the government has no control. Newspapers print arrest reports and stories about convictions. Private companies compile all the records for their for-profit databases. Newspaper stories are stored by Google. Anything that goes up the ladder to the COA is available everywhere.

What about Jeffrey Brunner himself? If he is eligible under the new law, he may file a petition. If granted, it will not erase last week's court decision, or newspaper reports about it.

For more, see this Nov. 1, 2009 ILB entry. A sample: "There's no such thing as privacy of criminal records anymore."

As if to make this point, Quinn Minor filed a request last Friday asking that his records be sealed. We know this because it was done with much fanfare, a press release, and at least one TV story, this one from Adrienne Broaddus of WISH TV, accompanied by video. Some quotes:
Quinn Minor dresses for success, but snagging work has been tough for the father of three.

As a teenager, Minor got in trouble.

Copies of his criminal records show he purchased stolen jewelry and was convicted of theft in 1997. Every time he fills out a job application he’s asked, “Have you ever been convicted of a felony?”

“You just have to check yes,” Minor said.

But soon that will change for the 35-year-old. A change in state law will allow non-violent offenders like Quinn to request their criminal records be sealed. * * *

[O]nly certain people are eligible for a second chance, including people convicted of misdemeanors or Class D felonies. People with such charges as possession of marijuana or narcotic drugs under 2 grams can petition, but crimes like sex offenses don’t apply.

Hoosiers who think they are eligible should first seek legal advice. From there, they can file a petition with the their county clerk’s office. Processing the information could take up to 30 days. (The WISH TV story also links to some examples of offenses covered and not covered by the new law.)

The inevitable result? Amplification of the old information ... Again, a must read is this Nov. 1, 2009 ILB entry on the "Streisand effect."

See also this long, thoughtful June 5, 2011 story by Nate Carlisle in the Salt Lake Tribune. A snippet:

Some of Utah’s reformed criminals are discovering expungements are not the clean slate they were expecting. The problem can be traced to the Digital Age and the proliferation of private companies offering background checks.

The private firms use data downloaded from courts and the prison system. But whereas court-ordered expungements are effective at sealing government records of someone’s conviction from the general public, private record-holders are under no obligation to eliminate such information.

And it is just not commercial databases. At a minimum, the press release, the TV story, and this blog entry are now out there on the web.

Also useful is this June 26, 2011 article in the Charlotte Observer, by Mandy Locke and David Raynor.

[Updated 7/5/11] Heather Gillers now also has a story, in this morning's Indianapolis Star, about Quinn Minor and the new law, headed "Records law offers ex-offenders a second chance."

Posted by Marcia Oddi on July 4, 2011 08:48 AM
Posted to Indiana Law