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The Criminal Justice System, 2nd Edition

Criminal records

Definition: Official documents that list individuals’ past convictions for misdemeanors and felonies and that sometimes include arrests that do not result in convictions

Criminal justice issues: Convictions; defendants; sentencing

Significance: Criminal records allow police agencies and courts to know the histories of criminal suspects’ and defendants’ violations of laws and are often used as sentencing tools in evaluating convicted persons’ eligibility for probation and parole.

Local, state, and federal law-enforcement agencies and courts all compile criminal records. Effective national coordination of criminal records is now a clear goal of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and other law-enforcement agencies, but there are still holes in the system of record keeping that make it difficult to track mobile offenders, particularly low-level misdemeanants.

Data Collection

The FBI has national responsibility for the compilation of criminal records. These records are stored at the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) division, which is headquartered in Clarksburg, West Virginia. The CJIS is now the world’s largest fingerprint repository; it cooperates with both national and international law information agencies. From fingerprint cards to digital copies to latent fingerprints, the FBI is a repository for all. As of May, 1997, CJIS had more than 219 million fingerprint cards. Of these more than 132 million were criminal record cards and more than 187 million were civil record cards. Additionally, till 2011 the FBI has been provided with 1,50,000 latent fingerprints from the US Department of Defence.

Although submission of records to the CJIS is voluntary for state and local law-enforcement agencies, data submission increased during the late twentieth century. The CJIS also receives the fingerprints of aliens who seek permanent residence, naturalization, and asylum in the United States, as well as the fingerprints of Americans seeking to adopt children abroad. Alien residents who are convicted of felonies are automatically deported if found, and aliens with serious criminal records cannot be admitted to the United States legally.

In some states, state law requires those arrested for felonies and class A and B misdemeanors to be fingerprinted, and two sets of fingerprint records are made so that both local authorities and the state bureau of investigation can maintain appropriate records. Juveniles charged with offenses that would be felonies or class A and B misdemeanors for adults also must submit fingerprints. Minor misdemeanors slip through the cracks of states’ recording systems.

Other than the use of fingerprints, today the FBI also uses latent and palm prints, facial recognition, and Combined DNA Index System to to increase the range and quality of our biometric identification capabilities, including these three initiatives Global Collections Program Through the Global Collections Program, we foster national and international relationships related to biometrics in support of counterterrorism and other law enforcement efforts. Our initiatives include:

  • Foreign Fingerprint Exchange

  • Quick Capture Platform

  • Flyaway Program

Private and Public Use of Criminal Records

In addition to law-enforcement, court, and corrections use of criminal records, private citizens increasingly seek access to criminal records. Employers must know whether they are hiring individuals with criminal histories that raise serious concern about their fitness to deal with vulnerable populations in day-care centers, schools, summer camps, and nursing homes.

If an employer fails to do a background check and hires an employee whose record would have indicated that he or she posed a potential threat, the employer can be sued for negligent hire. Judgments now average more than $1 million per case. Specialized search firms have proliferated to meet employer needs to learn of potential employees’ criminal histories and other potentially damaging background information. Potential employees must often sign a consent form agreeing to a criminal record check or forfeit further consideration for employment even in low-level jobs.

Law-enforcement agencies use criminal records to track offenders over time. While juvenile records were once sealed when juvenile offenders became adults, many states now make them available to courts sentencing former juvenile felons for adult crimes.

Prosecutors and courts use criminal records in determining how serious punishment should be for particular crimes. In some states, first-time offenders may be granted a diversion that keeps them out of the criminal justice system if they accept responsibility for their offenses and honor restitution and other conditions imposed on them. The successful completion of diversion leaves persons with no formal criminal record, although prosecutors have access to records that indicate who has been granted diversions. Judges in many states use mandated sentencing guidelines that impose sentences for specific offenses based on the severity of the offense and individuals’ prior criminal records. Judges must justify departures from a recommended sentencing range.

Coping with a Criminal Record

Former offenders find themselves severely handicapped by their criminal records. In addition to losing voting rights and the right to bear arms, those with felony convictions are barred from obtaining many occupational and professional licenses in most states. Sometimes criminal background checks are required for health care workers who deal directly with patients, and some states have passed laws that revoke the teaching certificates of public school teachers with felony records. It might also effect the application to immigrate to a new country, school admittance, adopting children or applying for a visa or passport. Some states have a formal process called “expungement,” through which persons who can demonstrate that they have been rehabilitated can have convictions for most crimes removed from their records. Expunged records are not totally destroyed, however. In addition, expunged records can be reopened if further offenses are committed.

In 2015, the Record Expungement Designed to Enhance Employment Act, 2015 (REDEEM Act) was introduced to amend the deferral criminal code and thereby provide a process for the sealing / expungement of records that relate to nonviolent criminal or juvenile offences.

Susan A. Stussy

Updated by Tania Sebastian

Further Reading

1 

Bureau of Justice Statistics. Improving Criminal History Records for Background Checks. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, 2004-06.

2 

Niam, Edward, Jr. “Do You Know Who You Are Hiring?” USA Today Magazine 125 (July, 1997). Describes the legal problems that can confront employers who hire employees without thoroughly researching their pasts. If someone with a serious criminal record is hired and then commits a felony, the employer may be liable in tort for negligent hiring practices.

3 

Sontag, Deborah. “U.S. Deports Felons but Can’t Keep Them Out.” New York Times, August 11, 1997. Reports on the efforts of the INS to exclude deported criminal aliens from the United States.

4 

Vail, Kathleen. “Privacy Rights Versus Safety.” American School Board Journal 184 (April, 1997). Reports on trends to open juvenile records of serious offenders to school superintendents and other educators.

5 

Jacobs, James and Crepet, Tamara. “The Expanding Scope, Use and Availability of Criminal Records,” Legislation and Public Policy (2008) 177.

6 

Pager, Devah; Western, Bruce and Sugie, Naomi. “Sequencing Disadvantage: Barriers to Employment Facing Young Black and White Men with Criminal Records,” 623(1) Ann Am Acad Pol Soc Sci. 195 (2009).

7 

Kurlychek, Megan C.; Brame, Robert and Bushway, Shawn D. “En-during Risk? Old Criminal Records and Predictions of Future Criminal Involvement,” 53 Crime & Delinquency 64 (2007).

8 

Jacobs, James B. “Mass Incarceration and the Proliferation of Criminal Records,” 3 U. St. Thomas L.J. 387 (2006).

9 

Mukamal, Debbie A. and Samuels, Paul N. “Statutory Limitations on Civil Rights of People with Criminal Records” 30 (5) Fordham Urban Law Journal, 1501 2002.

See also Booking; Computer information systems; Convictions; Criminal history record information; Criminals; Misdemeanors; Sentencing; Three-strikes laws.

Citation Types

Type
Format
MLA 9th
"Criminal Records." The Criminal Justice System, 2nd Edition, edited by Hooper Michael K., Salem Press, 2017. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=CJ2E_0565.
APA 7th
Criminal records. The Criminal Justice System, 2nd Edition, In H. Michael K. (Ed.), Salem Press, 2017. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=CJ2E_0565.
CMOS 17th
"Criminal Records." The Criminal Justice System, 2nd Edition, Edited by Hooper Michael K.. Salem Press, 2017. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=CJ2E_0565.