The Background Investigator

Volume 12 Numbe12 December 2012

All Because of ‘Arnold’ California Marijuana Decriminalization Drops Youth Crime Rate To Record Low Between 2010 and 2011, California experienced a drastic 20 percent decrease in juvenile crime--bringing the underage crime rate to the lowest level since the state started keeping records in 1954.

According to a recently released study, much of that improvement can be credited to the decriminalization of marijuana.

The research not only found juvenile crime to be at its lowest level ever but, in the wake of then-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signing a bill reducing the punishment for possessing a small amount of marijuana from a misdemeanor to simply an infraction, the drop in rates was particularity significant.

This story continues on Page 7

Chicago, IL Courthouse Photograph by Steven Brownstein

PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID PERMIT NO. 164

MORTONGROVE, IL

Read Who’s To Blame Page 7

D.C. Federal Court Has Smallest Average Criminal Caseload, Survey Finds

court had the smallest average criminal caseload of any federal court nationwide during that time.

The Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, or TRAC, released the results of a new analysis of sentencing data from the Between October 2006 federal courts. TRAC, and July of this year, judges which is based at Syracuse in the U.S. District Court University, measured crimfor the District of Columbia inal caseloads by the numon average sentenced 147 ber of defendants sentenced defendants in criminal cas- per judge; TRAC Coes. According to a new Director Susan Long said study, the city's federal they thought sentencings

would be a useful measuring tool because most crim- "In other courts, most of inal cases in the federal those cases are one-hour courts end in a guilty plea guilty pleas. If that's the or conviction. case, compared to Roger Clemens or large cases we But U.S. District Chief have here that go on for Judge Royce Lamberth of weeks, I don't think it's the D.C.-based court said helpful for understanding he didn't think the study the process," he said, referwas a helpful way to gauge ring to the years-long procriminal caseloads and ju- ceedings against Clemens, dicial workloads, since it the former professional put all criminal cases on an baseball player who was even playing field, regard- ultimately acquitted of less of their complexity or charges of lying to Conhow long they took to regress. solve.

Courthouses in states along the U.S.-Mexico border had the largest average caseloads, according to the TRAC study. In the Las Cruces, N.M., courthouse, the one active judge studied there handled 7,020 sentencings alone, the most of any other court's average caseload. According to TRAC, sentencings have been higher in the Southwest because of the federal government's increased efforts to prosecute immigration-related matters.

different courts.

Lamberth noted that the study didn't include the large number of cases the D.C. court has handled related to detainees at the Guantanamo Bay detention center. Those cases, which are mostly habeas petitions filed by detainees, aren't considered criminal cases, he said, but they had "swamped" the court.

Besides comparing caseloads at different courts, the TRAC study explored the differences in caseloads among judges serving in the same court. Although caseloads varied widely among judges in some courts, including the Los Angeles courthouse of the Central District of California and the Beaumont, Texas courthouse of the Eastern District of Texas, caseloads in the Washington federal courthouse were fairly consistent.

Long said that while different cases might have different lengths, the length of the study period – more than five years – was enough to take into account the varying lengths of cases and provide an accurate sense of the criminal caseload in any given court. She said that a previous study looking at the total number of defendants yielded similar results as far as showing varying caseloads between Meet Steven Brownstein On LinkedIn PUBLISHER Steven Brownstein

CONTRIBUTORS: Mike Sankey, Les Rosen, Dennis Brownstein, Derek Hinton

COVER PHOTOGRAPH:

Chicago, Illinois USA Court

COVER PHOTOGRAPHER: Steven Brownstein

PURPOSE: “Dedicated to pre-employment screenings everywhere” The Background Investigator is published by Steven Brownstein, LLC, PMB 1007, Box 10001, Saipan, MP 96950. Phone: 670-256-7000. Copyright 2012 by Steven Brownstein. Some material in this publication must not be reproduced by any method without the written permission of the copyright holder.

Even The Feds Make Money Off Criminal Records The federal government has collected millions from the online Public Access to Court Electronic Records system, or PACER – nearly five times what it cost to run the system.

Between fiscal years 2006 and 2010, the government collected an average of $77 million a year from PACER fees, according to the most recent federal figures available.

services.” But lawmakers on the House Appropriations Committee have allowed the courts to invest in a wider range of information technology projects using fees collected from Critics have derided PACPACER. Fees for online ER, saying the government access have risen from 7 has increased user fees over cents to 10 cents per page. the years without making the system easier to use.

“Given the lack of overThe fees, some say, act as a sight for what the fees are deterrent to public access. being used for, the incentive for the courts is to raise The Judiciary Appropriafees,” said Stephen tions Act of 1992 limited Schultze, associate director the use of PACER fees to of Princeton University’s “reimburse expenses inCenter for Information curred in providing these Technology Policy.

Wayne County Circuit Court Records Now Online

In recent years, U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and the American Association of Law Libraries, which represents 5,000 law librarians nationwide, have tried without success to persuade the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts and members of Congress to provide free Wayne County's 3rd Circuit access to PACER records. Court has had a technological breakthrough.

Court records, at least certain details about cases — mostly scheduling, charges, party information and pleadings — are now avail-

able via the Internet.

This is much easier than calling or visiting a kiosk downtown for basic information about a case.

Check it out: https:// cmspublic.3rdcc.org

Better Than The Police -/-/-/-/-/Straightline International’s Puerto Rico search will get you the hits the police and courts miss.

A majority of these rings are what the firm calls "Friends & Family" groups, not professional criminal organizations, the report concludes. The rings are There are 10,000 active most highly concentrated in identity theft crime rings Washington D.C.; Detroit; across the United States, Tampa, Fla.; Greenville, with the greatest concentraMiss., Macon, Georgia; and tion in a "ring of fraud" that Montgomery, Ala., the restretches across the Southport found. east from Virginia to Mississippi, according to a new While traditional orgareport by fraud-fighting nized crime and drug crime firm ID Analytics.

Thousands Of ID Scammers Reside In USA

rings also form ID fraud rings, the most surprising result of this research was the prevalence of what he called "Friends and Family" fraud rings. More than half of the rings include multiple family members.

"This is a strong indication that more than half are not what we’d think of as professional groups," says head researcher Stephen Coggeshall. "(It’s) a family or an innocuous neighbor committing fraud.”

Continuing he added, “"It appears that the children in these groups are (even) stealing their own parents’ identities."

POINT TO POINT SERVICE

XR2 Criminal Search PUERTO RICO The ‘XR2’ Puerto Rico search is your insurance that you are getting the best possible results.

It is proven that police searches in Puerto Rico can contain more than 50% more missed hits than the XR2.

The XR2 signifies a new plateau of search results never before heard of.

And no one else but Straightline offers the XR2. or anything similar.

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The Public Record Update A Service from BRB Publications, Inc.

Alabama Effective October 1, 2012, Chief Justice Chuck Malone entered an Order mandating that all attorneys must e-file their documents in civil, domestic relations, and child support cases. Per this Order and the Administrative Procedures, the Circuit Clerks' offices will eventually go completely paperless in civil cases.

See www.alacourt.gov/pdfppt/EfilingAdminOrder%209-6-12_001.pdf Colorado This month Eagle County is in the process of moving to a new software provider for searching recorded documents. The site has new options available, see http://acclaim.eaglecounty.us/.

California California counties continue to close court sites or cut back on operations. The Kings County Superior Court location in Lemoore was closed last month. Also all Kings County court location hours have been permanently cut back. All clerk's windows are now open 8AM-4PM Monday thru Thursday and 8AM-Noon on Friday. In addition the Court intends to close locations in Avenal and Corcoran and reduce hours and staff at Hanford over the Christmas week.

As many other CA counties have already done, effective November 5, 2012 the San Diego Superior Court will only provide court reporters in criminal felony, family, and juvenile matters during regular court hours. Official court reporters will not be available in probate or other civil matters. Also, effective December 28, 2012, official court reporters will only be available in family matters for Domestic Violence Restraining Order hearings, Contempt hearings, and Request for Order hearings of 40 minutes or less.

Oregon OJIN is the acronym for the online program provides court case information from Circuit Courts in all 36 counties in the state. The Oregon Judicial Department OJD is working to migrate the online platform from OJIN to a designated vendor (Odyssey). The purpose is to create a more modern, user-friendly environment for record access, compared to the OJIN command line based system.

South Dakota The South Dakota Unified Judicial System (UJS) recently changed the county serving as the centralized mail request center for statewide criminal record searches. The UJS asks that all mail requests be directed to the processing We welcome your comments and observations about The Public Record Update Please address your comments to Michael Sankey at mike@brbpublications.com center at: Jackson County Clerk of Court, PO Box 128, Kadoka, SD 57543. 605Making copies of any part of the Public Record UpdateŠ for any purpose other than your own personal use is prohibited unless written authorization is obtained from BRB Publications. Phone - 480-829-7475 Record Retriever Network - www.prrn.us 837-2122, fax 605-837-2120. Note the UJS will periodically change the designated Public The CRA Help Desk - www.CRAHelpDesk.com BRB's Free Public Record Resource Center - www.brbpublications.com/pubrecsites.asp county to operate the processing center. Be sure to call first.

Motor Vehicle Record Decoder - www.mvrdecoder.com BRB's Public Record Blog - www.publicrecordsblog.net BRB's Bookstore - www.brbpublications.com/books BRB's Public Record Blog - www.publicrecordsblog.net

Les Rosen’s Corner A monthly column

By Lester Rosen, Attorney at Law

A large background screening firm facing a class action lawsuit alleging inaccurate reports in violation of the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) failed in its attempt to have the FCRA declared unconstitutional on the basis that it violates the right to free speech under the First Amendment.

A Pennsylvania federal court ruled on November 6, 2012 that the FCRA was constitutional since it regulated information disseminated for private purposes for a fee, and not to the public. More information about the ruling is available at http:// www.paed.uscourts.gov/ documents/ opinions/12D1046P.pdf.

The FCRA is the federal law that regulates background checks. The lawsuit alleges that the screening

firm provided inaccurate reports by providing a prospective employer with information on past arrests that were dismissed and were older than seven years, which is prohibited

by FCRA section 605 (U.S.C 1681c). That law prohibits a background firm, known as a Consumer Reporting Agency (CRA) from providing arrests records to employers that are more than seven years old.

There is an exception, however, if the annual salary is expected to be $75,000 or more a year. .

that the information is only disseminated to an employer that purchases the services. After a lengthy review of the arguments and an analysis of the applicable law, the court concluded that the FCRA was constitutional.

The Court also noted that "...the federal government enacted section 1681c of the FCRA to provide businesses with the most accurate and relevant information while simultaneously protecting the privacy right of consumers. More important, section 1681c's In this case, the lead plain- speech restriction is approtiff in the class action law- priately justified." suit alleged that the CRA The ruling had the effect reported ten cases older than seven years where she of denying the background was arrested but no prose- firm's effort to have the cutions occurred. It appears case dismissed. that the parties agreed with (NOTE: The case is from the fact that the arrests too the U.S. District Court for old to report under the FCRA. However, the CRA the Eastern District of argued that the FCRA itself Pennsylvania, No. 10-6850, was unconstitutional since and filed 11/06/12). It is it violated the CRA's right this author's policy not to identify firms where a matto free speech. ter is only in the pre-trial The CRA contended that a state since the complaints 2011 U.S. Supreme Court are just allegations.) case on commercial speech Regardless of the eventual marked a major change in the protections provided to outcome of the lawsuit, the commercial speech and re- case demonstrates yet again that background checks are quired a court to apply a stricter standard of review. subject to ever increasing The plaintiff, as well as the levels of litigation, legislafederal government which tion, and regulation. On the other hand, failure to perentered the case, argued that a background report is form background checks not protected since it deals will almost certainly subject an employer to the lewith private matters, and

gal and financial nightmare of a bad hire. The solution is a background check program done in full legal compliance.

her air ducts six months earlier. Both employees had criminal backgrounds and one was a twice convicted sexual offender on parole; however the company that hired them did not conduct any criminal record check A Nice Letter prior to hiring them. This About Us tragedy inspired the vicby Jayme Klauser tim’s sister to start the Sue Weaver CAUSE — ConDuring my employment sumer Awareness of Unand as manager of a small safe Service Employment human resource company, — to educate people on the we have performed and aunecessity of criminal backthorized background ground checks on workers screenings for years. In entering homes. The webseveral instances we have site is received potentially negawww.sueweavercause.org. tive information on an applicant for employment that As a member of the Nawould adversely affect their tional Association of Prochances of gaining employfessional Background ment. At those times, we Screeners, we comply with conducted additional inFederal Trade Commission quiries of both the employrequirements and promote ee and the reporting agenthe importance of backcy. We have called courtground screening. houses where the charges originated to prove or disWe encourage all busiprove the information on a nesses to know who they report. Our clients realize are hiring and protect their the importance of checking workplace and the safety of the people that work for their employees and custhem and we do all we can tomers, especially our chilto protect the integrity of dren their workplace while respecting an individual applicant from unfair deciNO DELAYS sions based on incorrect Not a Police information.

One specific example of the failure to do background checks in a Florida business resulted in a homeowner’s murder. She was tragically killed by workers who had cleaned

Data Base Search Canada Provincial Courts Criminal Research

Call 1-866-909-6678 Or Fax 1-866-909-6679 Straightline International Shortest distance between you and the courts

fewer arrests for marijuana possession. In 2010, marijuana possession accounted In that one-year period for 64 percent of all drug (2010-2011), the number of arrests, and in 2011, that arrests for violent crimes number decreased to only

by Dick Baggett Continued from page 1 dropped by 16 percent, 46 percent. homicide went down by 26 There are various reasons The study, entitled percent and drug arrests California's drop in serithe Equal Employment Op- "California Youth Crime decreased by nearly 50 per- ous youth crime has deportunity Commission de- Plunges to All-Time Low" cent. creased faster than in the cided to reissue guidance and released by the San rest of the nation. on the use of criminal and Francisco-based Center on The category of drug ararrest records in hiring de- Juvenile and Criminal Jus- rests showed decreases in The study's authors discisions, among them: tice, looked at the number every type of crime; how- count a host of explanations of people under the age of ever, the vast majority of as to why juvenile crime Recent studies have found 18 who were arrested in the the drop resulted from far has dropped so precipitousthat a significant number of state and federal criminal record databases include incomplete criminal records.

Government At Fault For Many Criminal Record Errors

A 2011 study by the Department of Justice reported that, as of 2010, many state criminal history record repositories still had not recorded the final dispositions for a significant number of arrests.

A 2006 study by the Department of Justice found that only 50 percent of arrest records in the FBI's database were associated with a final disposition.

Reports have documented that criminal records may be inaccurate.

Even if public access to criminal records has been restricted by a court order to seal and/or expunge such records, this does not guarantee that private companies also will purge the information from their systems or that the event will be erased from media archives.

Criminal background checks may produce inaccurate results because criminal records may lack "unique" information or because of "misspellings, clerical errors or intentionally inaccurate identification information provided by search subjects who wish to avoid discovery of their prior criminal activities."

California Youth Crime Rate Drops To Record Low

state over the past eight decades.

ly (such as changes in the way the statistics are gathered, demographic changes, harsher sentences acting as a deterrent and other cultural factors like family connections). They assert that only two major factors explain the trend: the loosening of marijuana laws and improvements in the economic well-being of California's youth.

Only $5

Dennis Brownstein’s Extreme Court News

http://extremecourtnews.blogspot.com/ His friend was charged with unlawful possession of 24 Tenn. courthouses rea knife. ceive bomb threats (11/27) but denied knowing anything about any burglary. Their presumption of innocence, however, literally went up in smoke when, while being taken to the county jail, a video camera inside the patrol car recorded them discussing the burglary … while passing a joint back and forth! Yeah, cuz, weed doesn’t emit a strong odor, you know?

Voted #1 New Column

And We Think The Crooks Are Stupid

These two geniuses now face charges of burglary, grand theft and marijuana possession.

You Don't Have To Be Irish To Appreciate This A man who got a friend to stab him in the leg in order to avoid a court hearing has being given a suspended sentence of six months.

New Orleans city prosecutor Jason Cantrell was forced to resign this week after a reefer fell out of his James Ledden (32) was pocket … in court…while he was speaking to a police due to appear before a Dublin District Court on a pubofficer! Awkward. lic order offence when he Eyewitnesses said it was asked his friend in the pubquite comical watching the lic smoking area of the officer glance down at the Criminal Courts of Justice to stab him. joint, then at another officer, before chuckling and He was taken to St leading Cantrell out of the courtroom to write him up. James's Hospital where he reported the incident to Easiest. Drug bust. Ever. (police) and told them that he had been assaulted.

Cantrell was cited and let Ledden, of Ferrymans go, but later stepped down Crossing, North Wall, Dubfrom his city post. lin 1, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Stupidity Must Court to making a false reGrow On Trees port at the hospital on January 13, 2011.

The great thing about this country’s legal system is that everyone is innocent until proven guilty. Two Florida men were innocent until proven stupid!

Vernon D. Jones, 21, and Jacques Saintil, 19, of Naples, Florida, were picked up on suspicion of burglary

The List Goes On…

Bomb Threat Closes Sofia's Central Court Building (11/27)

Brisbane court evacuated over bomb threat (11/15)

Bomb threat at Benton County Justice Center a hoax (11/16)

Courthouse evacuated in Jackson after bomb threat (11/27)

DOB? How long does it take to find this most important bit of information?

We'll do it...

Cape courts hit by bomb threats (11/21) Warwickshire Justice Centre evacuated (11/21) Clark County Courthouse Evacuated Because Of Bomb Threat (11/15) All clear given at Union Co. Courthouse after suspicious package ...(11/15)

From January 7th, 2013 through Jan 11th 2013* *Requests must be received within these dates

the programming mistake.

DeSoto-based Metroplex Document Retrieval, said Technical employees are most of the clutter is abanworking to fix the problem doned office equipment that has existed for a couple from title companies and of months, Whaley said. abstractors who used to work in the room. A stairA programming glitch well between the workroom when a new computer sys- Records and Warren’s office is so tem was installed in the cluttered with old office Riverside County Superior Retrievers Trash equipment, that people in Court system mistakenly Room 333 can’t access the Dallas labeled public records as stairs in the case of an Courthouse confidential. emergency.

Glitch Has Limited Access To Riverside, CA Court Records

Civil temporary restraining orders are public records but have been off limits to the public for several months because of an error in programming and a misunderstanding by records department clerks, said Lori Whaley, chief deputy of operations for the county court system.

Dallas County Clerk John “So it’s just piled on and piled on and no one wants Warren told the Dallas County Commissioners to Court that abstractors who have been using a Records Building room for decades have left the space in disarray. He presented to commissioners pictures that showed open records drawers, microfilm cartridges strewn about cabinets and Civil restraining orders all sorts of old office equipare not legally permitted ment stacked also stacked online but are accessible in on top of cabinets. His the records department. But comments came during the system error made them tense interactions between confidential at the courtcounty officials this mornhouse, as well. Clerks also ing. there were under the impression that the records Misty Morelock, operawere not public because of tions vice president of

take the responsibility of cleaning it,” Morelock said.

She also said Warren has never asked anyone who uses the room to clean it.

MEXICO

Mexico City PUBLIC ACCESS ALL PUBLIC RECORDS Available only from

“Not once,” she said.

Morelock said the county has essentially ignored the room and its upkeep. She said custodians empty the trash but haven’t mopped it or cleaned it in five years.

She said the heating and air conditioning units in the

room barely work.

“It’s a county building, what right do I have to make any decisions about the room?” she said.

caution and the matter will The only way cautions can be closed, but if they refuse be deleted is by applying to they will face prosecution. the chief constable of the force that handed it out.

Cautions do not count as convictions but they do re- CRB Changes quire the perpetrator to admit their guilt and details The Disclosure and Barare recorded on the Police ring Service, a new organiIn total 2.8 million cauNational Computer. zation formed from the Growing numbers of peo- tions, known as first-time merger of the Criminal ple are being turned down reprimands and final warn- Until 2009 there was a Records Bureau and the ings when given to under- system whereby they would for jobs and university Independent Safeguarding places because they accept- 18s, have been handed out be 'stepped down' after a Authority, has launched. ed police cautions for mi- in England and Wales over few years, but although this was removed it is widely nor offences without realis- the past decade.

The new Disclosure and believed that the penalties ing they would give them a Barring Service will make They are usually offered are wiped when teenagers criminal record. it clearer and simpler for by police after they arrest turn 18. those requiring criminal someone for shoplifting, New figures show that records disclosures (CRB) possession of small Now cautions remain on a cautions showed up on and barring checks for em153,000 Criminal Records amounts of soft drugs and person's file until they turn ployment purposes.

100 and although they do Bureau checks carried out minor violent crimes. not have to be disclosed last year, allowing employThe Disclosure Barring when applying for jobs, ers to stop candidates work- Station officers tell ofService will oversee the fenders they can either sign they show up on CRB ing with children or in introduction of portable a statement to accept the checks. health and social care.

CRB checks which will

Brits Can Have No Conviction But Criminal Record Haunts Them For 100 Years

Young people caught shoplifting or taking part in drunken pranks are agreeing to sign the statements in the mistaken belief they will be wiped from databases after a few years, not realising that they remain on file until they turn 100.

A lawyer has now set up a business to help people affected by vetting checks find work or education, as the problem is becoming so common and overturning cautions is so difficult.

David Wacks, the legal director of CRB Problems Ltd, said: 'Minor incidents or pranks which in the past may have merited a 'good talking to' by a policeman often end up in cautions which may ruin a person's job prospects.'

Josie Appleton of the Manifesto Club, a libertarian group that is campaigning against out-of-court punishments, said: 'It is fundamentally unjust that people's careers can be blighted by a reprimand that hasn't been proven in a court of law.'

Jackie Sinclair from the crime reduction charity Nacro, said: 'Cautions, rep-

rimands and final warnings do form part of a person's record, and are always disclosed on both standard and enhanced criminal record checks, even though many people have been told otherwise.'

eliminate the need for multiple checking and an online update service which will make it easier for employers to assess individuals.

Other upcoming changes to the current system of criminal record checks and barring include introducing a single criminal records certificate which will be sent only to the applicant; an independent right of review to allow individuals to challenge information disclosed about them before it is given to their employer; and reducing the number of positions requiring barring checks from 9.3m to around 5m.

Portable CRB checks are due to launch in Spring 2013.

Derek Hinton’s Column

Not Having Procedures For Maximum Possible Accuracy: Riding A Dead Horse Have you noticed the recent action by the FTC against a CRA? Are you aware of the legal actions by plaintiff attorneys against CRAs, especially in California? Did you happen to catch the NBC Today Show on background screening that aired November 9?

industry that is critical to the safety of our homes and workplaces,” and “For our part, NAPBS has developed a comprehensive individual certification program and a company based accreditation program with more than 58 specific standards of compliance to ensure our members provide the highest level of performance.”

Do you think if we had the budget and could go back to 2006 we could find a case of journalistic malfeasance surpassing this employment screening mistake? Of course.

Do you think we could find worse instances of the legal profession harming people? Of course.

Have employment screening firms provided a greater public net good than harm?

Not even close, of course.

With that said, if you are in the background screening business and you have been putting off instituting, documenting and monitoring procedures dealing with consumer protection, legal and compliance, client education, data and verification standards and other busiIt’s not paranoia if people ness practices to ensure are really after you. maximum possible accuracy, you’re riding a dead The recent NBC Today horse.

Show went back to 2006 and found a lady that had a The majority of the induscriminal record run on her try has dismounted that and the record actually pertained to a different lady with the same name. (As they say down here in Oklahoma, it was a startle’n ex-po-say. ). And, to make the industry look really silly, they had pictures of the two ladies, one being white and one being African American.

The NAPBS did a good job of responding the same day, saying part “NBC’s Today Show and reporter Jeff Rossen have done a disservice to employers and the general public by focusing on a small number of unfortunate instances in an attempt to indict an entire

dead horse or is in the pro- above, it contains 58 specific standards of complicess of doing so. ance—many learned the hard way. If you are not But there are too many companies still trying other incorporating those standards, I would dismount that strategies like buying a horse you’re attempting to stronger whip, changing ride. riders, saying things like "This is the way we always Derek Hinton is President have ridden this horse,” appointing a committee to of CRAzoom study the horse, arranging (www.crazoom.com) a company providing comto visit other sites to see how they ride dead horses, plete accreditation assischanging the requirements tance to CRAs. declaring that "This horse is not dead," harnessing several dead horses together for increased speed, declaring that "No horse is too dead to beat," providing additional funding to increase the horse's performance, purchasing a product to make dead horses run faster, declaring the horse is now "better, faster and cheaper," revisiting the performance requirements for horses, saying “this horse was procured with cost as an independent variable,” etc. etc—they’re all equally effective remedies for riding a dead horse.

They say an expert is someone who knows some of the worst mistakes that can be made in his subject and how to avoid them.

The NAPBS Accreditation standard is a cheat sheet from experts that will help you avoid the mistakes consistent with attempting to ride a dead horse. As noted

TORONTO COURT RECORDS “Straightline is your direct source to Ontario courts.”

Air Force May Limit Access To Criminal Records

instruction says.

“Considering the fact that anyone subject to the UCMJ can act as an accuser under the UCMJ, the accused normally retains a The Air Force is changing reasonable expectation of the rules on how the media privacy upon preferral of and general public get in- charges,” the instruction formation about airmen ac- says. cused of crimes.

That expectation of privacy begins to decline when A recent Air Force Inthe charges reach a public struction lists several changes to how the service forum, such as a courtapplies the Uniform Code martial or Article 32 hearof Military Justice that are ing, the instruction says. intended to protect the priAn Air Force spokesman vacy of accused airmen at the expense of the public’s said the changes outlined in the instruction do not limit right to know. what information is availaThe Air Force Instruction ble to the media but are appears to curtail the pub- meant to ensure that FOIA lic’s access to criminal rec- and the privacy act are implemented properly. ords.

“Under the Privacy Act, information from a system of records, such as a courtmartial file maintained in a [Judge Advocate General’s] office about an individual, may not be released to the public without the individual’s consent unless release is required by the Freedom of Information Act,” the instruction says.

But submitting a FOIA request does not guarantee that you will get such records if doing so would be “an unwarranted invasion of an individual’s personal privacy,” which is when someone’s privacy interests outweigh the public’s interest in the information, the

Force Times.

But in that process, the NYPD, without additional Fidell wonders if everywarrants or subpoenas or one, including attorneys any of that, can see all the who want to write “friend happenings on that stolen of the court” briefs, will phone. Sometimes phone now have to submit a FOIA companies even give up request to get any docuinformation associated with ments related to criminal the victim's new number, trials from military attorwhich is a little bit unsetneys — even defense mo- tling, right? tions. With all the paperwork, delays and internal Civil Rights Lawyer Norappeals, the FOIA process man Siegal agrees. "There ends up impeding transpar- is absolutely no legitimate ency. purpose for doing this. If I’m an innocent New Yorker, why should any of my New York Cops information be in a police he tells GoldFind Way To Get database," stein.

Cell-Phone Telephone Records

by Rebecca Greenfield

Without court orders of any sort, the New York “This will not change the City police have gotten acmedia’s current ability to get charge sheets or other cess to "a trove of teleinformation about accused phone logs," reports The airmen,” Lt. Col. John Dor- New York Times's Joseph rian said in an email. “We Goldstein. have simply clarified curIn a somewhat frightening rent policy and law to entwist, it takes more papersure uniform application across the Air Force. Cases work to get a thief's cell records than it takes to get must always be reviewed the victim's. Here's how it on a case-by-case basis.” works: However, the instruction also requires military attor- Police need a subpoena to get access to the phone logs neys to comply with the FOIA guidelines, a concern of the person who did the stealing, which makes to Eugene R. Fidell, who sense because those could teaches military justice at help solve the crime.

Yale Law School.

“Taken literally, this reg- (Though, often they don't, say detectives.) ulation produces absurd results,” Fidell told Air

Pratten said of the appeal court ruling.

"All we were asking for is the same benefits of adopted people. They've basically said, `No, you can't have that.' And they've basically said that it's OK for the government to discriminate. It's failing to protect the health and safety of donor-conceived people, that's what this court has done.

We'll be appealing it to the Supreme Court of Canada."

The appeal court concluded that contrary to Pratten's argument, it is not her constitutional right to know her biological past.

Also, it doesn't quite make sense that law enforcement "There are many nonwould hold on to the infor- donor offspring who do not know their family history mation after the case is or the identity of their bioclosed, either. logical father because of decisions taken by others, Police won't say how or because of the circummany records they have hostage. But phone compa- stances of their conception," Justice David Frankel nies got 1.5 million* of said in the written ruling on these requests in 2011 alone. So, probably a lot? T behalf of the three judges.

-Mobile responded to almost 300 in January alone. "However desirable it may be that persons have access to information about their origins, Ms. Woman Has Lost biological Pratten has not established Right To Know that such access has been recognized as so Father `fundamental' that it is entitled to independent constiA woman who wanted to tutionally protected status know the identity of her under the Charter," the rulsperm-donor father is taking said. ing her case to Canada's top court after the B.C. Court In May 2011, a B.C. Suof Appeal threw out an earpreme Court judge agreed lier decision that sided with with Pratten, giving the her. province 15 months to amend its Adoption Act, Olivia Pratten wanted offsaying people who are despring like herself to be prived of their genetic treated the same as people backgrounds suffer psychowho are adopted and arlogical harm. gued that the B.C. government should change its Judge Elaine Adair also laws accordingly. ordered a permanent injunction against the deBut the appeal court ruled struction of donor records, there is no legal right for which can be disposed of in offspring to know their past six years, but the B.C. govand providing such inforernment appealed the rulmation would amount to ing. state intrusion into many people's lives.

"It's very disappointing,"

Researchers Charge Racial Profiling On Online Criminal Record Websites Two Harvard researchers charged that a website which catalogs mug shots and criminal records engages in racial profiling in its advertising—just before the founder of a different criminal records website made his first public appearance.

Las Vegas to try to speak to that students need to at UCF. an employee of Instantknow,” said Thomas Hall, Checkmate.com. director of Wellness and Health Promotion Services “I told them what I knew about the racial profiling, and they said, ‘We can’t talk to you, you have to come back.’” Tanner said.

When Tanner finally met with the company’s call center manager, he said he was told, “I don’t care if you’re the Pope of Rome; you’re not welcome here.”

But at the event on at which Tanner and Sweeney Director of the Data Privaspoke in CGIS, Kyle Prall, cy Lab at Harvard Latanya the founder of similar site Sweeney and Harvard DeBustedMugshots.com, partment of Government agreed to answer audience Fellow Adam Tanner have questions and accusations researched these websites about his business. while writing an upcoming book on online criminal Sweeney had suggested records. that sites like BustedMugshots.com could qualify as “What has changed is using extortion tactics, scope of sharing,” Sweeney since they demand payment said. “Years ago...limits of to remove images. Prall technology posed natural affirmed that these public barriers to sharing and disrecords are available to the semination.” public based on the First Amendment, justifying the Today, however, this inpractices of his website. formation is rapidly spread online.

In their talk—subtitled “a tale of crime, betrayal, lust, race, and the internet”— Sweeney and Tanner alleged based on their research that Google searches for typically AfricanAmerican names lead to negative ads posted by one of these criminal records sites, InstantCheckmate.com, while typically Caucasian names draw neutral ads.

For example, when Sweeney searched her own name, she saw an ad saying, “Latanya Sweeney: Arrested?” In contrast, a search for “Tanya Smith” produced an ad saying, “Located: Tanya Smith.”

Good Samaritan Helps Druggie, Gets Arrested For Possession

You can wait in line or we can—Straightline

Unintentional drug overdose is one of the leading causes of death in Florida, where an average of seven people die every day from the misuse of prescription drugs, according to Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs’ Prescription Drug Task Force.

As of Oct. 1, the 911 Good Samaritan Act went into effect in an attempt to reduce the number of overdose-related deaths. Florida passed the bill in March, which protects any person experiencing a drug-related Sweeney and Tanner’s overdose, or any person research led them across seeking medical assistance the country in attempt to for someone who is, from uncover the people behind being charged with a crime these criminal records webof possession. sites. Tanner traveled to “I think it’s something

Mumbai city-wide police checks

If a hearing on the matter is successful, the petitionThe change applies only er’s record is wiped clean, to people convicted of cer- both in court and law entain felonies or misdemean- forcement records. ors who, for 15 years afterward, have no other convic- State and local law enA law change that went tions other than traffic vio- forcement agencies will into effect December 1st lations in any jurisdiction. still have the ability to reallows one-time, nonviolent view expunged records for offenders of all ages to ex- The law can apply even to employment purposes, acpunge their criminal recmultiple felonies or misde- cording to the law. The agencies that certify law meanors if a person was convicted of all within the enforcement officers also can review the expunged same court session. records, which are to be Some offenses may not be kept in confidential files purged from a criminal rec- with the Administrative ord, including: Office of the Courts.

— those containing assault North Carolina law alas an essential element ready allowed a person to — certain sex-related or expunge certain crimes stalking offenses committed before age 18 or — those involving methamphetamine, heroin or 21, but the changes now in possession with intent to effect expand the provision sell or deliver cocaine to adults of all ages. Ex— burning crosses in pub- punction also is possible lic places, intimidation by when charges are disdisplaying items such as a missed, when a person is found not guilty or not renoose, or intimidation sponsible, and when a perwhile wearing a mask, hood or other disguise son is pardoned.

— those in which a person Manila Court Record contaminated another’s Research and Retrieval food or drink to render them helpless Over 20 years

Law Allows NC Nonviolent Offenders To Clear Records

ords in North Carolina.

experience.

To purge a record, the North Carolina resident may petition the court at least 15 years after the conviction date or after any active sentence, probation or post-release supervision has been served, whichever is later.

The petition — which includes a $175 fee — must contain an affidavit by the petitioner that he or she has been of good moral character, statements from two unrelated people verifying the person’s good character and reputation, and affirmation that the petitioner has no outstanding restitution amounts or civil judgments.

The request then goes to the District Attorney’s office, which has 30 days to decide whether to object to the expunction. The district attorney also must make his best efforts to notify the victim of the crime, if one exists.

Steven Brownstein Straightline International orders@search4crime.com

Background Check Filipino Health Care Workers The Philippines is one of the world’s largest exporters of health workers, making this one of the country’s most important exports.

Straightline International's local staff provides complete background searches plus ALL public records in the Philippines.

Ask About Our “No Delay” Philippines Service

Call 1-866-909-6678 Or Fax 1-866-909-6679 info@straightlineinternational.com

Congress: NBI Record Check In Philippines Needs Improvement A member of the Philippines House of Representatives has filed a bill calling for the creation of a national crime database to upgrade the country’s crime fighting capabilities and to hasten the resolution of crimes.

“This central computerized database will strengthen and expand inter-agency coordination and cooperation in terms of criminal records and other pertinent data needed to hasten resolution and prevention of crimes,” Marikina representative Marcelino Teodoro said in a statement.

Teodoro is the author of HB 5709 or the “National Crime Database Act of 2012,” which proposes the establishment of the criminal record database.

“I am confident the Committee on Public Order and Security would give due consideration to my proposal while there’s still time until our term ends in 2013,” Teodoro said.

The bill would require the National Bureau of Investigation and the Philippine National Police to provide information and records for the National Identification Index and the National Fingerprint File in order to provide criminal history records in a timely fashion.

Likewise, it should create criminal history records repositories, and for noncriminal justice purposes, to update existing criminal records system that are currently outdated and contain incomplete or incorrect information.

“This data central would make accessible detailed

database of criminal history records, including arrest and dispositions,” Teodoro said.

establishment of a National Crime Database Council which shall have the authority to promulgate rules and procedures governing Criminal history records the use of the national means information collect- criminal database. ed by criminal agencies on individuals consisting of Canadian identifiable descriptions Employees and notations of arrests, detentions, indictments, or Stealing Like other formal criminal Crazy charges, and any disposition arising there from, including acquittal, sentencCanadian retailers are losing, correctional superviing about $4 billion a year sion, or release. to “shrinkage” — a loss of inventory caused by differThe terms do not include ent sources such as theft, identification information inventory counting errors, such as fingerprint records accounting errors, fraud or if such information does damaged products accordnot indicate involvement of ing to PwC's 2012 Canadithe individual with the an Retail Security Survey, criminal justice system. completed in conjunction with the Retail Council of The measure mandates the Canada (RCC).

However, theft by emthe survey. ployees has risen to 33 per cent compared to 19 per Airplane Joke cent in 2008, found the survey of 34 retailers, repreIrish police are investigatsenting about one-quarter ing the crash of a small of 2011 retail new sales. light aircraft in a cemetary south-west of Dublin.

On the other hand, estimated theft by external parThe emergency services ties including shoplifters say it may well be the worst and organized criminals has aviation disaster in Irish decreased to 43 per cent history. since the 2008 estimate of 65 per cent.

Probing the crash site, rescue workers have so far While three out of five discovered over 500 bodies. retailers perform preemployment screenings before hiring new staff, only 29 per cent request new employees to pass a police background check. This is one-half as many that said they did so in 2008, found

these cases. he says too often background check companies rely solely on computers to match the data with no one checking to make sure the results are correct. a billion dollar in>> i was supposed to start dustry, he says, that is well work the following week. >> i have never been con- aware of the problem. if the companies know this prob>> reporter: but then sud- victed of anything, nonedenly catherine 's job offer theless have a traffic ticket. lem exists, why not just fix it? was yanked. a criminal >> reporter: consumer adbackground check had come back with a long rap vocates say these mistakes >> they would have to sheet of drug felonies. the are happening far too often. spend money on personnel problem is, it wasn't her. take leonard smith . when and instituting procedures which would carve into he applied for a job the >> i was devastated. it was background check compa- their profits. like my whole world was ny, sterling info systems, just torn apart. confused him with this sex >> reporter: under federal offender , who was in pris- law , the companies are re>> reporter: the company on at the time. it also hap- quired to use reasonable procedures to assure maxihired to run the background pened to james hines , an mum possible accuracy. innocent dad. the backcheck in 2006 , choiceground check company adp point, one of the biggest, mixed him up with michael >> the error rate is less than 10%. james hines , a convicted sex offender in a different state. they don't even have Are you missing these important criminal records? the same first name. the not in alacourt companies say accuracy is important, but errors do not in dexter happen. not in any database

>>> back now at 7:41 with "rossen reports." finding a new job is hard enough but now experts say there may be a hidden flaw that can ruin your chance of getting hired. today national invesWhen you apply for a job, tigative correspondent jeff rossen is here with the demost employers will do a criminal background check. tails.

You may think it’s nothing to worry about if your rec- >> good morning. we all ord is clean, but experts are know when you apply for a saying background compa- job most employers will do nies are causing innocent a criminal background people to lose their jobs by check . we do them here. mistaking them for felons. nothing to worry about, NBC’s Jeff Rossen investi- right? because you're not a gates. criminal. well, think again. experts say the background check companies are causThis content comes from Closed Captioning that was ing innocent people to lose broadcast along with this jobs, mistaking them for drug felons, armed robbers, program. even sex offenders . it hap-

Rossen Reports: Background Check Mistakes Cost Jobs

pened to catherine taylor . a stay at home mom looking to get back to work. the red cross wanted to hire her. as an accountant.

mixed her up with this catherine taylor , a repeat drug offender with the same date of birth but nothing else in common. they didn't even live in the same state.

Birmingham, AL Municipal Court not accessible off site We go on site daily for $3/ name (free alias)

205/ 823-4260 herb@cromcheck.com

>> consumers are losing jobs by the thousands every year because of bad background checks that are run on them. >> reporter: jim francis is an attorney specializing in

Contact: Steven Brownstein PMB 1007 Box 10001 Saipan, MP 96950 1-670-256-7000 findcrime@thebackgroundinvestigator.com

Background Check Mistakes Cost Jobs, Continued from preceding page

>> you know, if there are errors in a report individuals do have an opportunity to contest it so i'm sorry. i just don't know all the facts of that particular case.

>> we went straight to the >> reporter: catherine did industry group representing contest it but by the time choicepoint cleared it up, those companies. that job was long gone. >> accuracy is paramount. >> they need to have tighter, stricter controls. you're >> reporter: how do you explain background compa- talking about human lives. this has got to stop. nies coming back with a different date of birth, different state, just matching a >> the company that ran first and last name in some catherine taylor 's backcases. does that seem accu- ground check was bought by lexus nexus . they say rate to you? their systems have since improved and now they >> it -- what i will say to have a 99.8% accuracy rate. that is that the most important thing is to let view- experts say if this happens ers know how background to you, you don't have many options, unfortunatechecks are conducted. ly. you can contact the you're speaking of hypobackground check company theticals. as catherine did and dispute >> reporter: we asked her it. the problem is, they have about a real life example. i 30 days to investigate. by want to show you a picture. then the job could be long this woman's name is cath- gone as it was with catherine . the only other option erine taylor . she lives in arkansas and applied for a unfortunately, savannah, is to sue the company but job with the local red once again the job isn't cross . the background check comes back and says there when you want it. she has a long rap sheet of they just go down the list. drug felonies. turns out they mistook her with this >> doesn't remedy it if you woman who lives in a dif- don't get the job. thanks for ferent state. how does this bringing the story. appreciate happen?

form, an American prison system that shocked Dickens in 1842 for its cruelty

by Chip Corwin could finally begin to meet international standards, I was taught in law school helping to restore America that prison sentences have A few states are now real- Although state budget cri- as a country of just authoritwo purposes: to ensure izing that they can cut pris- ses spurred these changes, ty and moral leadership. public safety and to punish on sentences (and thus, more than money is at the offender. For the past costs) without sacrificing stake. With continued reBut first, we need to stop

How We Punish Crime

few decades, meeting those goals has meant long prison terms even for nonviolent offenders, leading to soaring incarceration rates.

public safety. Reforms include expanding re-entry programs to curb recidivism and developing alternatives to incarceration.

using punishment as a principal justification for lengthy prison terms and, instead, reserve prison for those who pose a grave risk to public safety.

Punishment, where productive, could still be employed through sanctions and local supervision of graduated intensity. But instead of going to prison, low-risk offenders should stay in the community.

This emphasis on results over retribution would bring many benefits. Not only would it help redeem America’s image abroad, but it would also help restore many communities that have come to regard prison as a rite of passage.

Also, offenders not in prison are better able to pay restitution to victims. And, finally, reform could frustrate the private prison industry’s unconscionable efforts to profit off mass incarceration.

Some think the existence of long prison terms for nonviolent offenders is a myth. That is not the case in many states. In Louisiana, writing a bad check can be worth up to 10 years. Even in Minnesota, a leader in community corrections, the time served for drug offenses has increased 99 percent since 1990. It’s time to reverse these trends, and not just because it’s cheaper.

A Couple Of Minnesota Court Updates Dakota County, MN District Court goes online Dec. 3rd that allows access to civil, family and criminal documents at any time from a computer.

Washington County went online for civil and family cases on Nov. 26, and criminal cases will be online in January, 2013. mncourts.gov/eCourtMN

no fee increase passed along to vehicle records or collision reports.

ed, 6 codes retired and several dozen with changes. At this point, the changes are still subject to final approval and have not yet been New Release of ACD in Washington (State) formally released. the Works Driving Records A primary function of the For an overview of these The AAMVA Code Dic- ACD is to enable the state The most recent version is probable changes go to Effective October 1, 2012, tionary (ACD) is a transla- to use the Commercial Release 4.0.0. However, www.mvrdecoder.com. the fee for a driving record tion table used to exchange Driver's License Inforthe AAMVA is now in the in Washington (state) inconviction and withdrawal mation System (CDLIS) to process of finalizing a newcreased from $10.00 to information between the exchange convictions and er release with fairly signif$13.00. This fee increase states' driver licensing au- withdrawals. Other applica- icant changes. There will affects all access methods thorities. The AAMVA tions, such as the Problem likely be 5 new codes addand record types. There is

BRB Motor Vehicle News

Code Dictionary (ACD) is copyrighted by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA).

Driver Pointer System (PDPS), use these codes as well. Also, many states use the ACD to indicate out-ofstate convictions on driving records.