Volume 12 Number 9 September 2012
Worsening A Bad Law Fort Wayne Journal Gazette editorial
Hoosier lawmakers made a troubling law even worse this year, voting to prohibit companies from distributing factual information about criminal convictions. Such a ban raises constitutional questions regarding free speech and must be repealed. The General Assembly created the problem when it adopted a wellintentioned but flawed law written to help people who had been convicted of a non-violent misdemeanor or lowlevel felony years earlier but have had no further convictions for at least eight years. The law allows such Hoosiers to ask the courts to seal the records of their conviction from the public – but not from the courts or law enforcement officers. This story continues on Page 3
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A Colorado school bus driver accused of sexual assault on a child had prior convictions that should have prevented him from getting a job. Article continues on Page 9
Robert Gordon, 48, was arrested on three counts...
Indiana Shield Law Has Critics Private companies that buy and sell court records used in background checks are threatening to challenge a state law that allows people with years-old, lowlevel arrests to shield their criminal histories from employers. They contend the law violates constitutional protections on free speech and may overstep federal rules
on what states can regulate when it comes to collecting and disseminating information used to do employment screening and other background checks.
ing, Lemens said he objected to a portion of the law, slated to go into effect next year, that would penalize private data collectors for selling criminal records that had been sealed off by Chris Lemens, general a court order. The law counsel for backgroundwould also penalize those scheck.com, told members data collectors for providof legislature’s Criminal ing background information Law and Sentencing Policy that was inaccurate or inStudy Committee that the complete. state needs to rewrite the law or face a legal chalLemens was joined in his lenge in court. objections by Luke Rollins, a government affairs manDuring a committee hear- ager with Reed Elsevier,
one of the world’s biggest data collectors and the parent company of the information giant Lexis-Nexis Inc. Lemens described Indiana’s law as “much broader” than the laws in other states that restrict access to criminal records that have been sealed or expunged by the court. The law to which they object was passed in 2011. Informally dubbed the “second chance” law, it allows Indiana residents with years-old, low-level arrests to get a court order to shield that information from public view, including potential employers. The records are still accessible to law enforcement. The law applies only to arrests and/or convictions for misdemeanors and class D felonies, the lowest felony level in Indiana. The criminal history can be cleared with a court order only after certain conditions are met, including a waiting period of five or more years, and no additional arrests or convictions. Since the state law was passed, more than 1,700 people have sought and obtained court orders sealing their criminal records.
Well Fargo Gets Its Man The truth always comes out. If it takes half a year or half a century, the truth always comes out. So 68-year-old Richard Eggers really should have known that the sordid details of his dark, criminal past would eventually creep into the present and jeopardize his career. In 1963, the Iowa resident gave new meaning to the term “money laundering” when he tried to insert a cardboard cutout of a dime into a laundromat machine. Local law enforcement caught wind of the stunt and arrested him for fraud. Eggers, who was a teenager at the time of his arrest, turned his life around and until recently worked as a customer service representative at Wells Fargo bank. But under new federal employment regulations, Wells Fargo fired Eggers upon learning of his criminal record. And as Wells Fargo spokesperson Angela Kaipust told a local TV station: "A rule’s a rule."
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CONTRIBUTORS: Mike Sankey, Les Rosen, Dennis Brownstein, Derek Hinton
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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.
giving offenders a second chance, they should require the records to be expunged, Continued from front page essentially vacating or undoing a criminal’s conviction. If lawmakers think Judges don’t have an oppolice and courts must be tion; the law states they able to know about a sus“shall” order the records pect’s convictions, the recsealed. So the General Assembly ords should be open to all. The law makes clear that voted to prohibit “criminal history providers” from dis- Right or wrong, the law in filling out an employment application, Hoosiers tributing information about has potential to create who have had their records convictions that have been much more work for both court personnel and the sealed may state they have sealed in the courts. companies that compile never been convicted of a Consider the ramifications information about criminal crime. And the law makes of the government ordering histories. Judges and police it an infraction for a proa person or company not to are already busier; Indiana spective employer to ask State Police have received distribute factual inforapplicants whether they have a criminal record that mation. The law is almost court orders to seal 1,700 certainly an unconstitutionis sealed. al limit on free speech. While the bill was intended to give convicted crimi- The problem with both the nals a second chance, it has original and updated laws the effect of sealing public is that lawmakers are trying to have it both ways. For records from the public, prospective employers and which is bad enough. the public, the records are But legislators made the secret. For police and the courts, the records still exlaw even worse this year. ist. While some employers might get information about convictions from the If lawmakers truly want to accomplish their goal of courts, others may use a
Indiana Really Messed Up,
private company that collects and distributes information about criminal convictions for a fee. Information about convictions would remain in their databases even if it’s hidden in the courts’.
criminal records under the law. The portion of the law allowing the sealing of court records took effect last year. The portion of the law dealing with criminal history providers does not take effect until July 2013, meaning lawmakers can and should rescind the most noxious part before the law takes effect. The legislature would best serve Hoosiers by deciding to have all affected records either expunged or open.
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And a survey of police departments in the 30 largest U.S. cities found that nearly two-thirds have not The FBI's crime reporting been audited in the past program is considered the five years. final word on crime trends in the United States, but the Of those, six departments agency rarely audits police - including Oklahoma City, agencies providing the in- Philadelphia and Seattle formation and when it does have never been reviewed its reviews are too cursory by the FBI since the auditing program began 15 years to identify deep flaws. ago. In each of the past five That lack of scrutiny alyears, FBI auditors have reviewed crime statistics at lows cases of undercountless than 1% of the roughly ing of crimes, such as violent assaults that were not 17,000 departments that report data, a Journal Senti- included in the crime rate nel examination of FBI rec- since 2006, to go unnoticed and gives the public a false ords has found. In all, they've audited as many as sense of the true level of 652 police agencies during crime, criminal justice experts said. that time, or less than 4% of the total.
FBI Crime Stats Are Not Reliable
"It would be more candid to not do any (audits)," said Eli Silverman, professor emeritus at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. "This way, at least you're not offering any pretense of checking on the validity of the stats. If you are going to do that little, then why do it? You either do it systematically, or you don't do it at all." He called the audit process a "useful fig leaf."
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Civil Case Limits Raised in 3 Louisiana Counties Through several 2012 legislative acts, three cities have individually increased the upper $$ limit on civil lawsuits. The limit increase means the affected cases do not need to be filed in the more costly and time consuming District Court. The City Court of Slidell (St. Tammany Parish) increased its limit from $35,000 to $50,000. The Abbeyville and Kaplan City Courts (both in Vermilion Parish) raised their limit from $25,000 to $35,000. The increases took effect August 1, 2012. View a chart of all legislative changes affecting City Courts at www.lcaanet.org/images/2012_Legislative_Changes_City_Court_6-14-12_.pdf. City Courts are courts of record and handle misdemeanors, limited civil, juvenile, traffic and evection. The amount of civil is concurrent with the District Court based where the amount in controversy does not exceed $15,000 to $50,000 depending on the court.
SAM and the Excluded Part List System (EPLS) At the end of July 2012, access to the Excluded Parties List System (EPLS) was taken over by a new system. EPLS, along with Federal Agency Registration (FedReg), the Central Contractor Registration (CCR), and the Online Representations and Certifications Application (ORCA), were migrated into the new System for Award Management also known as SAM (https://www.sam.gov/portal/public/SAM) At this time, SAM is overwhelmed and record searching on the EPLS is still available at https://www.epls.gov/. Indications are this search feature will eventually be moved to SAM Other free search federal government sites commonly used in background investigations remain unchanged, including: +Denied Persons List - www.bis.doc.gov/dpl/default.shtm +Unverified List www.bis.doc.gov/enforcement/unverifiedlist/unverified_parties.html +Debarred Parties List - www.pmddtc.state.gov/compliance/debar.html
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Les Rosen’s Corner A monthly column By Lester Rosen, Attorney at Law
EEOC Must Testify On Own Use Of Criminal Background Checks A federal district Court in Maryland has ruled that an employer sued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for alleged discriminatory use of criminal background checks and credit histories in hiring may compel the EEOC the testify regarding the agency's own use of criminal records and credit information for employment screening.
The ruling EEOC v. Freeman, D. Md., No. 09-2573, 8/14/12 is here: http:// op.bna.com/dlrcases.nsf/id/ kmgn-8x7jwz/$File/ freemanprotect.pdf. In September 2009, the EEOC - the agency that enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination - sued the defendant, a corporate events planner, alleging it systematically engaged in a "pattern or practice" of unlawful discrimination against black, Hispanic, and male job applicants under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act by using criminal records and credit histories as hiring criteria. The EEOC opposed the deposition on the basis that the information was not relevant and that a deposition would be "unduly burdensome."
Day wrote if the EEOC "uses hiring practices similar" to those used by the defendant, "this fact may show the appropriateness of those practices," since the EEOC is "the agency fighting unfair hiring practices."
(USCIS) - the government agency that oversees lawful immigration to the United States - has announced that, until further notice, employers in the United States should continue to use the current version the Employment Eligibility Verification Form I-9 (Rev. The court added the EEOC 08/07/09) even after its Ofand the defendant "consider fice of Management and similar factors" in evaluat- Budget (OMB) control ing job applicants with number expiration date of criminal backgrounds, in- August 31, 2012. cluding the nature of the criminal offense, the seriThe bulletin sent by the ousness of the conduct, and USCIS for the announcethe particular job to be ment is available here: filled. http:// content.govdelivery.com/ These three factors are bulletins/gd/USDHSCISpart of the updated EEOC 4e551e. Enforcement Guidance on the Consideration of Arrest New EEOC and Conviction Records in Employment Decisions Un- Rules Adds To der Title VII of the Civil Employers Rights Act of 1964 availaDecison Making ble at:
Woes
According to the ruling by http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/ by Mark Fijman guidance/ U.S. Magistrate Judge Charles B. Day on August arrest_conviction.cfm. In a lifetime of crime, 14, 2012, the deposition Willie Sutton robbed banks regarding the EEOC's hir- Current of almost $2,000,000.00. ing practices could produce From 1934 through 1947 he information relevant to the Employment was one of the nation’s defense that its considera- Eligibility most successful bank robtion criminal backgrounds bers. He made the FBI’s and credit histories is job- Verifications Ten Most Wanted list in related and consistent with 1950, after escaping from business necessity. The U.S. Citizenship and prison disguised in a prison Immigration Services guard’s uniform. He’s fa-
mous for a comment he supposedly made to a reporter who asked him why he robbed banks. His now legendary reply was "because that’s where the money is." With his long history of arrests, convictions and prison time, what are the chances Willie Sutton would be hired today if he decided to go straight and fill out a job application for a sales job in retail, or even more unlikely, applied for a job as a bank teller? It’s no longer as easy a question as many employers might think. That's because the EEOC issued revised enforcement guidance on the extent to which employers may rely on an individual’s criminal history in making hiring or other employment selection decisions. The guidelines impose additional duties on employer’s to establish that any reliance on such information is legitimately "job related." To borrow from Willie Sutton’s famous phrase, employers using criminal background histories in making hiring decisions now have to proceed very carefully, "because that’s where the liability
dating from 1896, and site was sold off for affordPompeian Bath façade from able housing. 1874. The opening of the new During the planning stage, court also marks the end for groups including the Victo- the City of Westminster A brand new state-of-therian Society, Marylebone Magistrates’ Court on art magistrates’ court Association and St Maryle- Horseferry Road which opened its doors in Marylebone Society all opposed closed its doors. bone on after a multithe plans to demolish the million pound refurbishold court claiming it would The Horseferry Road site ment. be a destruction of heritage. dealt with some of the most high-profile cases in recent Built on the site of the old However, it was eventual- times including those of Marylebone Magistrates’ ly determined on appeal WikiLeaks founder Julian Court, the new 10that the baths could be de- Assange and late singer courtroom Westminster molished while some of the Amy Winehouse. MagisMagistrates’ Court took over responsibility for all cases in the borough.
London Magistrate Court Update
The move marks the culmination of five years of major upheaval for Westminster’s criminal justice system. At the turn of the century there were three magistrates courts in the borough at Marylebone Road, Horseferry Road and Bow Street. But in a bid to centralise the work onto one site the courts service decided to construct a brand new ‘super’ court on the Marylebone Road site. Dave Weston of Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service said: “This new centre demonstrates our commitment to ensuring that court users in London have access to a first class criminal justice system. “Our aim in opening Westminster Magistrates’ Court is to provide a single, purpose-built courthouse that is properly equipped to deal with the high-volume, high profile Westminster workload.” The construction of the new Marylebone court was a source of much controversy when the plans were announced in 2006. The old Marylebone Magistrates’ Court had comprised a building dating from 1848, the former Marylebone Public Baths
trates also sat through the night at the court during the riots last year. The Horseferry Road site – along with the Bow Street site – has now been sold to developers. The new Westminster Magistrates Court will deal with all cases originating in the borough as well as hearing national cases related to terrorism, extradition and other high-profile matters.
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http://extremecourtnews.blogspot.com/ their worst years of under 70 per 100,000. still asleep. A sheriff's report said the woman, whose name was not released, had a history of sleep walking.
Most Dangerous Television Towns
Voted #1 New Column Follow Up On Ambien Sleepwalkers A US woman who went missing in the early hours of the morning had gone for a swim in the river while sleepwalking. The 31-year-old, of Burley, Idaho, was reported missing by her husband who awoke to find her gone.
I f you’re looking for somewhere peaceful to spend a holiday, you might think of Oxford, somewhere quiet in Scandinavia or perhaps quaint Cabot Cove in Maine.
filmed in Oxfordshire so Charlotte McDonald, numWhile not every episode is bers expert on More Or set in Ystad, the annual The dreaming spires of Less, worked out a murder murder rate is about 110 Oxford are much safer, in rate for a similar population per 100,000. The real figure Inspector Morse and its se— around 3.2 per 100,000. for the whole of Sweden is quel Lewis. The real total is one. roughly one. The city has a population of 154,000 but suffered about four TV murders a year. That works out at around three per 100,000 people, compared to roughly one in real life. Scandinavian detectives are the latest TV trend. Take the best-known, Wallander, set in the Swedish town of Ystad.
It has a population of 18,350, although that must be hard to maintain considThey all look so pretty on ering how many serial killTV shows Inspector Morse, ers Wallander hunts. Wallander and Murder, She Wrote. But you would be lucky to return alive — if their fictional crime levels are to be believed. The rates were calculated by BBC Radio 4 show More Or Less which found sleepy, but fictional, Cabot Cove is actually the most dangerous place on Earth.
The home town of amateur sleuth Jessica Fletcher, played by veteran actress Angela Lansbury, had just over five murders a year in the series’ 12-year run. Deputies found her a quar- Since the town has a population of 3,560, that works ter of a mile downstream from her home on the bank out at 149 per 100,000 people. of the Snake River. She had left the home barefoot, wearing only pajamas, and had left a sliding door open, he told police.
She was safe but disorien- Even strife-torn South Aftated and soaking wet after rica and drug-ravaged Coapparently swimming while lombia had murder rates in
Back in England, Midsomer was the haunt of DCI Tom Barnaby, played by John Nettles in Midsomer Murders. It is a fictional county but much of it was
3 Record Checks 3Misses Continued from front page
...of Sexual Assault on a Child stemming from an alleged sexual relationship he carried out with a 12 year old boy in 2002. In the arrest warrant, Gordon admitted to detectives with the El Paso County Sheriff's Office to having sex with the victim and another underage boy at his home on multiple occasions. Both Gordon and the victim described the sex to investigators as being consensual.
tecka said Gordon is on unpaid leave pending the outcome of the current trial. He says either of the misdemeanors would have disqualified any job applicant.
for eight months have filed for bankruptcy, preventing an eviction from the sheriff's department.
On July 12, a judge in Arapahoe County ruled that However, neither convic- Veronica Fernandez-Beleta tion turned up in separate and Jose Rafael Leyvacriminal background Caraveo, the two people searches with the Colorado who were living in the Bureau of Investigations, home, had to move out in the Colorado Springs Po48 hours. lice and the FBI. Troy Donovan, 45, filed "It is concerning to us that for a forced eviction with the Arapahoe County Sherwe would receive information that wasn't fully in- iff's office on July 16. clusive of all the information necessary," VseHowever, FernandezBeleta filed for bankruptcy tecka said. on July 20, which the Donovans learned about just hours before the scheduled Family Can't eviction was to take place Move Into Their last week.
A local television station searched court records and found Gordon was acquit- Home After ted in a case of Sexual AsSquatters File sault on a Child in 2001. He also had prior misdefor Bankruptcy meanor convictions of Harboring a Runaway Child in Dayna Donovan and her 1998 and driving under a family have been unable to suspended license in 1996. occupy their home after two strangers squatting in The school’s Human Reher Littleton, Colo., home sources Director Kirk Vse-
"The sheriff's office will not proceed with an eviction if there is a bankruptcy in question," Arapahoe County Undersheriff David Walcher told a local CBS television station. "It's frustrating. It's just one thing after another, af-
ter another," Donovan told ABC News. "We've lost two months' time. It has been an absolute living nightmare and an emotional roller coaster.
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Mounties Admit CPIC Records Back A Mess A whopping backlog in the RCMP’s national crime records database shows no sign of getting better soon, the force has admitted. A spokesman for the national police agency told QMI Agency there are 430,000 criminal records waiting to be filed into the Canadian Police Information Centre database, with more piling in every day. The backlog accounts for about 10% of the RCMP’s complete criminal record file of 4.3 million records. It’s become and increasingly thorny issue for judges, who use the database to hand down appropriate sentences. Recently, Justice Stephen Hunter in Belleville, Ont., found an eight-year gap in one offender’s criminal history file during a manslaughter sentencing hearing. Carole Gaudes, acting officer of criminal records management services for the RCMP at the Ottawabased RCMP headquarters, said there are several problems the force is dealing with. Many records have accumulated from French-
speaking jurisdictions as He said this is not a new dentials, are taken to the the RCMP struggles to find problem and is not limited police, this issue will never bilingual staff to manage to emerging or mature mar- come to an end." them, for instance. kets. Farmer said hiring candiAs well, courts across the Farmer said: "Common dates who lie in their recountry are not on the same areas where people exagsumes inevitably creates a computer systems, so the "big problem" for IT comgerate or list fake details inconsistency is also caus- include academic degrees, panies. "It's not until the ing headaches, Gaudes start and end dates of em- candidate is in the role that said. Worse, many convic- ployment, previous emit becomes clear his or her skills do not match [those tions filed by the courts are ployers and job titles." still done on paper, creating stated in] the resume," he logistical headaches for According to Edwin Lim, said. RCMP staff, who have to managing consultant for manually input about IT&T at Hudson, providing Kathryn Yap, managing partner of CTPartners Sin365,000 new convictions fake credentials seemed every year. more common in emerging gapore, said employees markets and not in mature who are dishonest in their “That is something that markets such as Singapore. resumes can also damage we’ve been dealing with for But while the act is not the reputation of a brand. a while here,” Gaudes said. prevalent in Singapore, he She pointed to how former Yahoo CEO Scott Thompnoted there still are fake son's inflated resume-resumes in the market. which were "small but imFake Resumes Train Luo, managing part- portant details"--can seNot Unique verely damage the image of ner of CTPartners China, even high-level execu- a company, the CEO, as Problem In Asia said well as the board. tives in Asia had been caught giving fake credenJobseekers who tout inLim noted that large multials. For example, Tang flated resumes is a problem tinational corporations such Jun, current CEO of Xin that exists in both emerging as IBM, Dell, HewlettHua Du Industrial Group and mature Asian markets, and former president of Mi- Packard, Cisco Systems, according to recruiters who crosoft China, was publicly SAP, Oracle and other suggest ways to spot fake companies conduct detailed criticized for lying about credentials when hiring IT his education and work ex- background and reference professionals. checks, and request supperience, noted Luo. porting documents such as Richard Farmer, director education certifications and A Times of India report for professionals at recruitidentity documents before revealed one in five rement agency Randstad, said delivering the letter of offer sumes in the country's IT competition for highlyto their chosen candidates. industry were deemed skilled professionals in "suspect". An executive Asia can result in employThe Hudson consultant told the newspaper: ers rushing through the hirsaid some IT companies "Honestly, most IT firms ing process and not giving don't care; they just termi- also employ third-party it the appropriate due dilivendors to conduct detailed nate these employees and gence. forget about it. Unless em- background checks to look ployees, who fake their cre- into the candidate's credit
status, criminal records and employment tenure with companies stated in the resumes. Farmer said: "Evaluating candidates' resumes is an important part of the recruitment process and this is where a recruitment company plays an important role in checking employment history and qualifications." He said there are several ways for recruiters to validate the credibility of a candidate's resume. Performing a background check is a good starting point, he recommended. "We always speak to referees or people at the candidate's previous workplaces to cross-reference salary, dates of employment, reporting lines and work undertaken," he said. Randstad also checks for red flags such as unexplained gaps in employment or reluctance from the jobseeker to give reasons for leaving a role, Farmer said. "With the increase of social media networking sites, it is also easy to conduct online research to verify details," he added. "Today, social networks such as LinkedIn or Weibo have increased transparency and provide additional sources for background checks
The Israel Court System Magistrate's Courts The Magistrates' Courts are the basic trial courts of the Israeli system. They have jurisdiction in criminal matters where the accused is charged with an offense that carries with it a potential punishment of up to seven years imprisonment. In civil matters, these courts have jurisdiction in matters up to a million shekels (approximately U.S. $300,000). These courts also have jurisdiction over the use and possession of real property. Magistrates' Courts also act as traffic courts, municipal courts, family courts and small claims courts. There are 29 Magistrates' Courts in Israel. The jurisdiction of a magistrate's court is the locality in which it sits and the whole district in which it is situated.
District Courts District Courts are the middle level courts of the Israeli judiciary. They have jurisdiction in any matter that is not within the sole jurisdiction of another court. In criminal matters, District Courts hear cases where the accused faces more than seven years imprisonment. In civil cases, District Courts' jurisdiction extends to matters in which more than one million shekels (approximately U.S. $300,000) are in dispute. District Courts also hear cases dealing with companies and partnership, arbitration, prisoners' petitions, and appeals on tax matters. These courts hear appeals of judgements of the Magistrates' Courts. Generally, a panel is composed of a single District Court judge. A panel of three judges is established when the court hears an appeal of a Magistrates'
Court's judgement, when the accused is charged with an offense punishable by imprisonment of ten or more years, or when the President or Deputy President of the District Court so directs. There are five District Courts in Israel - in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa, Beersheva, and Nazareth.
The Supreme Court The Supreme Court has jurisdiction to hear criminal and civil appeals from judgements of the District Courts. Cases that begin in the District Court are appealable, as of right, to the Supreme Court. Other matters may be appealed only with the Supreme Court's per-
mission. The Supreme Court has special jurisdiction to hear appeals in matters of Knesset elections, rulings of the Civil Service Commission, disciplinary rulings of the Israel Bar
Association, administrative detentions, and prisoners' petitions appealed from the District Court.
Straightline actually visits and obtains records from around the world.
Derek Hinton’s Column
Protecting Yourself “Should an intruder attack you in your home, you are likely to be within your rights if you pick up an item such as a frying pan, umbrella or golf club to defend yourself. Likewise if the attacker is wielding a hefty blade it is probably OK to parry this with a kitchen knife, but a court is unlikely to be sympathetic if you use more force than a court decides is necessary to deter the burglar or intruder.” ---The book “Extreme Survival” I suspect that if you’re like me, if someone breaks into your home they’re going to be met with more than an umbrella and we’ll figure out what they were wielding later. (My son was reading the book referenced above, found that passage, showed me and, it’s a Great Britain import.) I’ve thought about that passage several times while talking to employment screening firms recently. They would have gone to great length to protect themselves, their family and business if an intruder broke in to steal what they had built. But when confronted with a somewhat more covert— but every bit (or more) as dangerous a threat to their business—I do say old chap, out comes the umbrella and the TAP… tappity-tap-tap on the nog-
may not be exactly clear, but when an agency is making a list of companies, What external threats there’s oftentimes a purshould concern you as a CRA and what is much bet- pose. http:// ter protection than a figura- files.consumerfinance.gov/ tive umbrella? The protec- f/201207_cfpb_list_consum tion answer is much more er-reporting-agencies.pdf. And if your agency is not within your control: you should learn, adopt, docu- listed, I would certainly not presume that it will not latment and internalize the er be added. practices detailed in the •Plaintiff Attorney Fishing NAPBS Accreditation Standard. It is a CRA best Expeditions and State Government Agencies practices handbook. The external threats are harder You may believe that beto predict, but there are cause you are not one of the three areas of concern. big boys the FTC will not •Government Actions target you, or you are not on the new Consumer FiThe recent FTC penalty on HireRight for $2.6 mil- nancial Protection Bureau’s radar so there is not much lion is the first time the to worry about. FTC has charged an employment background screening firm with violat- I can assure you, with first ing the FCRA. Is this a new -hand knowledge, that there threat? Not really—but it is are other external threats a new focus by the agency that would like to have which increases an existing some or all of the money your agency may earn. At threat. They’ve made a present, there is an attorney statement in one area of practice (primarily in crimi- who is making a nice living by finding CRAs who make nal record reporting) but consumer identity theft pro- even no-harm technical vitection, employer education olations of some manner and then shake them down and practices and use of credit reports are other are- for $20K to go away. This as of practice of interest to attorney does not discriminate against the smaller them. agency. Oftentimes, the There’s also a new wanna- CRA will be charged with a claim that is defensible--but be co-sheriff in town, the Consumer Financial Protec- a review of the CRA’s tion Bureau (CFPB). How forms and processes show much power and authority non-compliance with anthey will have over whom other law and thus the CRA gin of the threat begins.
cannot defend the defensible claim because of the other issues that will come out on discovery.
The bad news is that whether it be government action, plaintiff attorney, competition, disgruntled There are also some state consumer or even an unedand even local government ucated employee or client, agencies that are stepping you don’t know from where the next threat will come. up to sue CRAs. This is not a new threat, there have been plaintiff attorneys and state government agency actions since the little known and poorly recorded aftermath of Moses parting the Red Sea and the resulting destruction of wetland habitat imbroglio. What is new, is the focus and specialization of looking for CRAs and plaintiffs as a specialty. The good news is that you can greatly inoculate your firm from these threats by adopting, living and documenting the NAPBS Accreditation Standard. •Competitors will be accredited Another outside threat is that many more companies are becoming accredited and it will soon be a standard that employers look for when deciding whom to use for their screening. Most of you have seen it on RFP questions already. It will become the norm, but prior to that it will (and is) being used as a competitive advantage by accredited firms.
The good news is that there’s an effective protection strategy common to much of these threats— NAPBS Accreditation.
Case Dismissed Because Of Too Much Evidence A fugitive doctor charged in the nation’s largest prosecution of Internet pharmacies is getting off in part because there’s just too much evidence in his case: more than 400,000 documents and two terabytes of electronic data that federal authorities say is expensive to maintain. Armando Angulo was indicted in 2007 in a multimillion dollar scheme that involved selling prescription drugs to patients who were never examined or even interviewed by a physician. A federal judge in Iowa dismissed the charge last week at the request of prosecutors, who want to throw out the many records collected over their nineyear investigation to free up more space.
attorney for northern Iowa. She called the task “an economic and practical hardship” for the Drug Enforcement Administration. When a major drug suspect flees the country, federal authorities often leave the charges pending in case the fugitive tries to sneak back into the U.S. or a country with a friendly extradition process. But in Angulo’s case, the volume of evidence posed a bigger burden.
said. “But the result is you end up in situations like this where the capacity they have is not quite up to the incredible volume of data involved.” Randy Stock, who runs the website whatsabyte.com, which explains electronic storage, said he doubted that storing the data would have been that problematic for the government. “I’m thinking that excuse is just their easy way out,” he wrote in an e-mail.
Wolstenholme of the Biomedical Research Center at Sheffield Hallam University. The project is supported by UK’s Home Office in order to enhance the country’s law enforcement capacity. In certain cases, the peptides and proteins left behind in fingerprints will be the only data police will have on suspects, especially if the suspect’s profile is not matched within the UK’s National Fingerprint Database. Determining the gender, based on the chemical composition of a finger mark, can help narrow down suspects.
The evidence took up 5 percent of the DEA’s U.S. District Judge Linda worldwide electronic storage. Agents had also kept Reade dismissed the case with prejudice, meaning it several hundred boxes of paper containing 440,000 cannot be refiled. Based on a study using documents, plus dozens of matrix assisted laser decomputers, servers and othsorption ionisation profiler bulky items. 85 percent accuracy New Fingerprint ing, was gained using the techTwo terabytes is enough Technique nique. The process can deto store the text of 2 million Determines tect drug use or drug hannovels, or roughly 625,000 dling from lipids present in copies of “War and Peace.” Gender, Drug latent fingerprints. The profiling can help investigators Use Two-terabyte memory create suspect composites The Miami doctor fled to drives are widely available along with determining the his native Panama after The gender of suspects for $100, but the DEA’s nutritional habits, drug use coming under investigation can now be determined data server must be relaor hormonal status of a perin 2004, and Panamanian from latent fingerprints. tively small and may need son. authorities say they do not Peptides and proteins left replacement, a costly and extradite their own citizens. behind in fingerprints can risky proposition for an Given the unlikelihood of be processed using a tech- A Kind Of ID agency that must maintain capturing Angulo and the nique called mass spectro- Theft That the integrity of documents, inconvenience of maintainmetric imaging, a new said University of Iowa ing so much evidence, milestone in fingerprinting Works computer scientist Douglas prosecutors gave up the technology. Jones. long pursuit. A 56-year-old man in SaThe technique, entitled the lem has stolen Taylor “A responsible organiza“Continued storage of “matrix assisted laser deDark’s Social Security tion doesn’t upgrade every these materials is difficult sorption ionisation” process number and it seems there’s time new technology is and expensive,” wrote was developed by Simona nothing she can do about it. available. That’s all they Stephanie Rose, the U.S. Francese and Rosalind would be doing,” Jones Dark, a 22-year-old Oregon State University engineering student and former Eugene resident, is the victim of an obscure but insidious kind of identity theft. The Salem man isn’t using her name, just her Social Security number, or SSN. He isn’t racking up all kinds of charges and wrecking her credit. He might be an undocumented worker who doesn’t want to draw attention to himself, but does want to work, get electrical service, buy a cell phone, borrow money and the myriad other things that
require a credit history. Because the thief stole her SSN, but hasn’t yet tried to take her money, police are unlikely to go after him. So the man — police and at least two Oregon electrical utilities know his name — may well continue using Dark’s number because he knows that government bureaucracies and business entities have policies that make it easy on thieves and hard on victims. In at least two cases, courts have concluded that stealing “just” a Social Security number may not even be against the law. Known as “synthetic” identity theft, it’s far more common than the betterknown theft of a person’s name and SSN, according to the Federal Trade Commission. What frustrates its victims: The traditional tools for combating ID theft — fraud alerts and credit freezes — typically don’t work.
Company Offers Irish Credit Check Online A new website went online: creditcheck.ie. to check a firms' financial status, credit history and general background. Spokesperson Christine Cullen says the site helps filter out the risky companies, so the public can do business with better firms: "Consumers and small business can do one-off ondemand searches. The website is updated three times daily with judgements and full background history, even going into the court services. "It goes into quite an indepth overview of the company for less than the price of a cup of coffee."
prints and criminal histories for more than 70 million subjects in the criminal master file, along with more than 34 million civil prints.
15 Women Are Raped Everyday Woman 'Kills ElIn Zimbabwe derly Neighbor With Her Bra' At least 15 women are raped daily in the country, A woman has killed her according to latest statistics elderly neighbour — using supplied by the Zimbabwe her bra. National Statistics Office (ZimStat). The 26-year-old Russian from Zakamensk, in eastern However, there are fears Siberia, has been charged that the number could be with murder after she stranhigher as some cases go gled an elderly man to unreported. death with the piece of underwear. The ZimStat report, titled Quarterly Digest of StatisRussian investigators said tics, says 2 195 cases of the woman was drunk when rape were reported in the she and her boyfriend asked first five months of the their 65-year-old neighbour year. But it is in May where for money to buy drinks the statistics are gory, as one evening in July. 470 women were subjected to sexual assaults. When he refused to lend them any cash, the woman This translates to 15 wompunched him in the face en being raped daily or an and tried to strangle him equivalent of one woman with her hands — before abused every 90 minutes. taking off her bra and strangling him with it.
And In The USA, Does College Maybe You're In Rape Exist? A FBI Database According to statistics in And Do Not the book, "I Never Called Know It It Rape," by Robin War-
shaw, 84% of college men The Integrated Automated who committed rape Fingerprint Identification claimed that what they had System, or IAFIS, is a nadone was not, in fact, rape. tional fingerprint and criminal history system that reOne in 15 male students sponds to requests 24 hours reported that they raped a day, 365 days a year to someone or attempted to do help our local, state, and so in the preceding year. federal partners—and our And "nearly one third of own investigators—solve college men said they were and prevent crime and likely to have sex with an catch criminals and terrorunwilling partner if they ists. IAFIS provides autothought they could get mated fingerprint search away with it." capabilities, latent search capability, electronic image Another study published storage, and electronic exin the Journal of Social and change of fingerprints and Clinical Psychology asked responses. students to what extent it was acceptable for a man to What is included in verbally pressure or force a IAFIS: Not only fingerdate to have sexual interprints, but corresponding course. The responses show criminal histories; mug that 17% of men considered shots; scars and tattoo phothat using force was an actos; physical characteristics ceptable strategy to get like height, weight, and hair their way. and eye color; and aliases.
Included in the criminal database are fingerprints from 73,000 known and suspected terrorists processed by the U.S. or by The system also includes international law enforcecivil fingerprints, mostly of ment agencies who work individuals who have with us. served or are serving in the A Brief History U.S. military or have been or are employed by the federal government. The fingerprints and criminal history information are submitted voluntarily by state, local, and federal law enforcement agencies.
How Big Is The Database? IAFIS is the largest biometric database in the world, housing the finger-
The FBI has been the national repository for fingerprints and related criminal history data since 1924, when more than 800,000 fingerprint records from the National Bureau of Criminal Identification and Leavenworth Penitentiary were consolidated with Bureau files. The first use of computers to search fingerprint files took place in October 1980. IAFIS was launched on July 28, 1999.
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Samoa Searches Call 1-866-909-6678 Fax 1-866-909-6679
“Costco should make a special time during the day that is American members only,” wrote the page’s administrator, who described local Costco shoppers as “Founding customers.” “They used to do it for Business members, why cant they do it for us.” But not everyone is complaining about the “mob show” at the Bellingham Costco. One Facebook poster called the comments “discrimination” and wrote, “I say to Canadians boycott, and watch how fast your city begs for Canadians to return.”
Costco Shoppers Want ‘Americans Only’ Hours If you’ve ever shopped at Costco on a weekend, you know it’s like an endurance sport, with tough parking, packed crowds and competitive lines for those minisausage samples. But Costco shoppers in Bellingham, Wash. have an additional challenge: Canadians. It seems that the store, 90 miles north of Seattle and near the border, attracts flocks of Canadians in
search for cheaper American milk and gas. And that’s making some locals grouchy.
Bellingham Mayor Kelli Linville also continued to welcome Canadians. “The unpleasant comments we’ve seen on social media regarding Canadians are offensive and inappropriate,” Linville said Monday.
The Facebook page creator wrote that the problem isn’t Canadians personally, but the need for a larger A Facebook page has store. That may not happen emerged to vent the grumpany time soon. An execuiness, called “Bellingham tive with Issaquah, Wash.Costco needs a special time based Costco told CBC just for Americans.” With News the company wants more than 4,200 likes so to expand, but there’s no far, it features rants about room on the current propercrowds, parking and rude ty. Canadians who buy up all the milk (by the doubleAlso, don’t expect any gallon) and take forever in special U.S.-only shopping the gas line (with their exhours. Costco said it’s plantra gas cans). There’s at ning to continue its policy least one photo of a bad of letting Costco members British Columbian park job shop in any Costco they that committed the sin of choose. hogging up two spaces.
people whose sentences lack of legislation means that local governments dif- have been finalized. Local governments use fer in how they compile and manage these rosters. the criminal lists to determine who should be deleted "There are strong doubts from voter rolls. Other entiamong many local govern- ties use the rosters for background checks of those ments over whether such Local governments are demanding the central gov- work should be handled by applying to work. local governments," an ofernment take greater reficial of Tokyo’s Adachi sponsibility in managing lists of people with criminal Ward said. New York City records, saying the sensiA national organization of Certificate Of tive nature of such inforlocal governments plans to Good Conduct mation has created too ask the justice and internal much of a burden. For Only $30 affairs ministries to pass Although the central gov- legislation to clarify how criminal rosters should be Good Conduct Certificates ernment frequently uses such rosters to weed out compiled and managed. individuals considered for Organization officials said The Mission of the Public awards or government jobs, local governments were Inquiry & Request Section considering refusing to re- is to process applicants for no law has been enacted that clarifies the legal basis spond to inquiries about Good Conduct Certificates, criminal rosters if the cen- which are criminal history of the lists. tral government does noth- searches within the enviing about the situation. Currently, local governrons of New York City, inments assume all responsidicating whether or not the The criminal rosters con- applicant has a criminal bility for compiling, mantain the names, birth dates, history. Good conduct ceraging and handling the crimes and sentences of criminal rosters. But the tificates are only issued un-
Local Tokyo Prefectures Passing The Buck
der specific guidelines (see er's License or DMV issued Identification Card or additional requirements). -Voter's Registration Card An applicant for a Good AND A valid Driver's License or DMV issued IdenConduct Certificate must apply in person between the tification Card -Naturalization Certificate hours of 9 A.M and 3:00 P.M., Monday through Friday (Holidays excluded), at He Hurt My the Public Inquiry & ReFeelings, Arrest quest Section, located at Police Headquarters. The Him! applicant will be fingerprinted and is required to The NZ Law Commission submit a thirty-dollar has released a report on ($30.00) money order or harmful digital communicacertified check payable to tion in an attempt to stamp the New York City Police out the problem. Department or credit card. The Applicant must also The paper recommends provide identification, see creating a new criminal ofadditional requirements. fence for sending offensive Processing takes approxior harmful messages on mately ten working days. sites like Facebook and Twitter and sending hurtful Additional Requirements text messages. A United States citizen is required to submit the following as proof of citizenship: -Valid U.S. Passport or -Birth Certificate (U.S. born) AND A valid Driv-
The law would apply to those aged 14 years and over and an offender could face a penalty of up to three months imprisonment or a fine of $2000.
How The Police Found Steve Jobs' Stolen I-Pads The digital breadcrumbs left behind when people use Internet-connected gadgets are what led California investigators to recover iMacs, iPads and other items stolen from the home of the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs. Based on the police report, obtained by one IDG News Service, here's how they did it. The burglary took place while the Jobs family home, in a leafy and quiet area of Palo Alto, was being renovated and was unoccupied. Sometime between the construction crew leaving the site at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, July 17, and arriving just before 8:00 a.m. the next morning, someone entered the house and stole several personal effects and Apple gadgets.
verse Internet IP address from 7:22 a.m. to 7:31 a.m. on July 18, the morning after the house was broken into and minutes before the returning construction workers would discover the break-in. Upon searching logs for the IP address, Apple investigators discovered a different iPad had connected from the same address at 8:10 a.m. on July 17, before the burglary took place, and again at 1:56 p.m. on July 20, after the break-in was reported to police. That iPad wasn't suspected stolen, but the iTunes account information gave investigators a lead. Tied with information from AT&T U-verse about the Internet connection, investigators were led to an address in Alameda, on the east side of San Francisco Bay. At that address Kariem McFarlin, the suspect in the case, was paying for AT&T Internet service, ac-
police say.
cording to investigators. While police were building their case there was more activity on the stolen devices. Over a five day period, Apple investigators recorded activity on McFarlin's iTunes account linked to the iPad that originally connected to restore its operating system, a second iPad stolen from the Jobs' home and an iMac computer that was also missing, according to police. One of the iPads later connected from a Comcast Internet connection in Alameda using a different iTunes account. Investigators say they searched McFarlin's Facebook page and discovered their suspect and the owner of this new iTunes account were friends.
They traveled to the Alameda address where McFarlin lived and swept the immediate area for WiFi signals. Police wanted to determine whether there was an open Wi-Fi network that perhaps was being used without the owners' permission. If the AT&T Internet address was tied to an unsecured connection, it could complicate the case because anyone could have used it. Finding only secured Wi-Fi signals, investigators could argue it was being used by the person paying the bill or those with permission. Police entered McFarlin's apartment and discovered one of the stolen iMac computers on his kitchen table, according to the police report.
Before investigators made The other iPads were retheir move there was one covered from people assofinal check that had to be made. ciated with McFarlin, the
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Within several days, the Palo Alto Police Department had enlisted the help of the Rapid Enforcement Allied Computer Team, a San Jose-based organization formed by local, state and federal law enforcement agencies that specializes in computer-related crimes. Local police wanted assistance tracking down the Apple computers and iPads that were reported stolen from the house. The REACT team reached out to Apple's own investigators, who had access to the company's computer systems, and supplied them with a list of serial numbers of stolen devices. Apple was quickly able to determine that one of the stolen iPads had connected with Apple's servers soon after the burglary. The iPad was trying to reinstall its operating system and was recorded connecting from an AT&T U-
Philippines (Manila) NBI police checks
Israel To Charge Parents For Child's Crimes
Some MKs believe that the law should apply to all minors — that is, children up to the age of 18 — while others say that it should only apply to children up to the age of 16.
In the wake of a recent violent beating of an Arab teen by several Jewish Five of the seven minors youths in Jerusalem, an excurrently in custody for last isting law that places reweek’s beating are under sponsibility for children’s the age of 16. misdeeds on their parents is likely to be expanded. Should the bill be legislated, the more difficult legal East Jerusalem resident challenge would be to deJamal Julani, 17, nearly termine specific guidelines died after he was brutally for what constitutes parenbeaten in downtown Jerusatal negligence, as opposed lem last week. Eight susto what is not reasonably pects, seven of them miwithin the parents’ control. nors, have been arrested so far in connection with the “We cannot abide a situaincident. Julani was retion where the streets of leased from the hospital on Israel turn into a dangerous Thursday. place just because parents are unaware of what their MK Haim Katz (Likud), children are up to,” Katz chairman of the Knesset told Yedioth. “After the Labor, Welfare and Health horrible incident in JerusaCommittee, has initiated a lem, we need a… comprebill which, if passed, would hensive, aggressive soluhold parents of minors tion to eradicate violence.” criminally responsible for crimes in which their children are implicated, Yedioth Ahronoth reported on Thursday.
“I have a great idea! Let's start holding the children accountable for the crimes they commit.” Anonymous Blogger
Last year, local courts handled 14,901 cases, a drop from recent years. But the number of people facing criminal charges or If the number of new civil landing in court over unand criminal cases contin- paid bills has continued to With a growing populaues at the same rate as in grow. tion and an economy that the first half of the year, the has been sluggish in recent county would be on track to years, local judges expect have around 1,200 more to see increases over last court cases than last year. year in felony and misde-
Johnson County, A Sign Of Prosperity For Record Checks?
meanor charges as well as mortgage foreclosures, criminal and civil court cases.
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A law currently in effect states that if a minor is caught in possession of a sharp object, such as a knife, the parents of that child can be fined as much as NIS 21,000 (approx $5,000) or serve up to a year in prison. Katz is essentially proposing a widerreaching extension of that law that would also mandate criminal charges for parents of minors involved in cases of violence or other criminal activity. According to the terms of Katz’s initiative, parents would be charged in cases where it could be established that they could have conceivably prevented the crime had they supervised their children more strictly. According to Yedioth, one aspect of the bill still under discussion in the Knesset is the age of the children for whom parents would bear criminal responsibility.
Mumbai city-wide police checks
Colorado Government Trying To Find Jobs For Workers Who Failed Checks
as of state government. But she said she doesn't know how long each worker sat at home collecting a state paycheck before the temporary job became available.
State House Speaker Frank McNulty, RHighlands Ranch, said "nobody else in Colorado is The state of Colorado is scrambling to find perma- sitting home collecting a nent jobs for 19 employees paycheck." who can't work for the De"This is exactly why peopartment of Public Safety ple are so frustrated with as planned because they didn't pass its background government," he said. check. Okes said when the state The employees were orig- first discovered that some inally hired to work for oth- workers were not eligible to er state agencies, but those join Public Safety, it alerted human resource directors in agencies were recently folded into Public Safety. other agencies. Those directors were told that if That department requires its workers pass a criminal they had job openings to check and a polygraph test, first look at the backwhich wasn't the threshold grounds of the rejected at the other state agencies where the workers were first hired. The employees were told beforehand what kind of questions would be asked on the polygraph test, said Public Safety spokesman Lance Clem. Some refused to take the test. Some who did take it provided answers that were deemed "deceptive." "What they are looking for is anything that indicates illegal behavior," he said. "It's up to the hiring authority to decide whether that illegal behavior knocks somebody out of the process." He said there is a time frame on the behavior, so the questions start, "In the past 10 years ... ." Workers were asked about drug use, theft and such, he said. Clem said some workers have yet to be checked, so the number could end up being higher than 19. Jennifer Okes, deputy director of the Colorado Department of Personnel and Administration, said most of the workers now have temporary jobs in other are-
Public Safety employees to agencies were merged: Port see whether they could fill of Entry, which used to be the slots. under the state Department of Revenue; and Homeland The salaries for the emSecurity, which used to be ployees who aren't eligible part of the governor's ofto join Public Safety range fice. from a manager making $104,445 annually to five Clem said Homeland Seworkers making $35,856 curity involves only a handannually. Most of the sala- ful of employees and none ries are in the range of on the list of workers need$35,000 to $50,000, Okes ing permanent jobs. said. In the other three agenEffective last July, the fol- cies, 194 state workers lowing agencies were were affected by the merger merged into Public Safety: into Public Safety, Clem the firefighting component said. Eleven resigned or of the State Forest Service, retired before the backwhich had been at Colorado ground checks began. State University; and the Division of Emergency He said he does not have Management, which had an exact breakdown of been under the state Dewhat happened with the 19 partment of Local Affairs. employees who were not eligible to join Public SafeThis spring, two other ty, such as how many failed
the criminal check or whether they refused to take a polygraph or provided answers deemed deceptive.
Indiana In The News Again Indiana is stepping up efforts to catch people who are collecting unemployment illegally, resulting in 14 felony convictions so far this year. The Indiana Department of Workforce Development has caught more than 135 people falsely claiming jobless benefits since 2006. Sixty-two of those have been convicted of felonies.
ruption and fraud remain widespread. At the same time, many countries are strengthening their enforcement regimes, for example Driven by market uncertainties and declining eco- the UK, with the introduction of the Bribery Act, and nomic growth forecasts, many companies are strug- India, with a range of progling to maintain margins. posed anti-bribery/antiWith fewer remaining op- corruption (ABAC) legislaportunities for cost-cutting, tion. many businesses are now focused on opportunities in As regulatory activity intensifies, the risk of exterrapid-growth markets. nal scrutiny of corporate Even these markets, how- activity also increases. Senever, are feeling the effects ior management must do of a weakened global econ- more to ensure that they and their companies are not omy. found wanting should their In this environment, our activities come under the 12th Global Fraud Survey's spotlight. findings are, unfortunately, a further cause for concern. Bribery and corruption They suggest that bribery, remain pervasive. On a cor-
E&Y Global Fraud Survey
global basis, 39% of respondents reported that bribery or corrupt practices occur frequently in their countries. The challenge is even greater in rapidgrowth markets, where a majority of respondents believe these practices are common. For example in Brazil, 84% responded that corruption was widespread. Multinational businesses inevitably have to confront this challenge. Regulators have recognized this. In 2011, enforcement actions under the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) continued to focus on conduct in rapid -growth markets.
Thirty-one of the thirtysix reported FCPA cases related to activities in Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America. Many of these prosecutions related to payments to employees or officials at state-run enterprises.
mance (5% versus 3% in our last survey) to survive an economic downturn.
The findings from Far East Asia, where 15% of respondents think that financial performance misstatement can be justified are particularly shocking: There is little question that In Indonesia, 60% of rethe current economic situa- spondents consider making cash payments to win new tion has exerted negative business acceptable. pressure on employees. One of the most troubling findings of the survey is the In Vietnam, 36% of rewidespread acceptance of spondents consider it acunethical business practic- ceptable to misstate a company's financial perfores. mance. It is particularly alarming that respondents are inIt is no coincidence that creasingly willing to make this is a region where concash payments (15% versus duct has been heavily scru9% in our last survey) and tinized by US authorities. misstate financial perfor-
Contact: Steven Brownstein PMB 1007 Box 10001 Saipan, MP 96950 1-670-256-7000 findcrime@thebackgroundinvestigator.com
NJ Criminal Records Now Online
on the state Judiciary's website.
The Criminal Conviction Public Access system provides access to information In what's been a long time for all cases filed after coming, a searchable data1994. Users can search by base of criminal convicname or docket number and tions in New Jersey Superifind the charge for which or Court is now available
the defendant was convict- resolved are not available ed. through the system. Hometowns and birth years of defendants, as well as their State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) numbers, helps reduce misidentifications. Expunged cases and cases that have not been
“The addition of this online feature to the Judiciary’s website is part of a comprehensive plan to make more court information and records available to the public,” Judge
Glenn A. Grant, acting administrative director of the courts, said in a release. “Online access to criminal conviction information is one of several convenient web-based public access systems that the Judiciary has made available in recent months. We are continuing to leverage our existing resources to provide more access, transparency, and more convenience to the public.” Visitors to the Judiciary website also can search the status of civil cases; search the attorney registration index, which allows users to determine whether an attorney is eligible to practice law in New Jersey; and search the judgment lien index, which allows users to determine if liens are filed against individuals. Click on "Online Resources" on the Judiciary website to access the databases. Website: www.judiciary.state.nj.us/
Linn, Oregon Going Online Linn County Circuit Court is drowning in paper, so starting on Monday, Dec. 10, manila folders will go the way of the buggy whip and the court will strt using an electronic filing and retrieval system. Oregon’s entire court system is expected to be paperless by late 2016. Presiding Judge Dan Murphy of the state courts in Linn County said the switch will make the courts more efficient and the public will have faster and easier access to documents. People will be able to look up information on civil and criminal cases wherever there is an Internet connection.
Courts system is in use for Chief Justice Bill Waller civil cases in Warren CounJr. made the announcement ty and a few others around in a speech to the local Bar the state. Association. Waller said the criminal "Hopefully, one day in the court program is still under The public should be able not-too-distant future, development but should be to access criminal cases in you'll be able to log in and ready for distribution in the Warren County Circuit practice law all across the pilot testing area, including Court by December, acstate," Waller said. Warren County, by Decemcording the chief justice of ber. the Mississippi Supreme Waller said a version of Court. the Mississippi Electronic Waller says domestic vio-
Warren County, Mississippi Court Going Online
lence files, for example, will not be included or be heavily edited because of the amount of personal information they contain.
it will be launched across the state, he said.
"We're very committed, if there is any way to, to having one system statewide," "It's huge because the gen- Waller said. eral public will be able to access the case on the Internet," he said. "It brings the courthouse, if you will, closer to the public." If the system is successful