Fergie's Tech Blog

Expunged Criminal Records Live to Tell Tales

Adam Liptak writes in The New York Times:

In 41 states, people accused or convicted of crimes have the legal right to rewrite history. They can have their criminal records expunged, and in theory that means that all traces of their encounters with the justice system will disappear.

But enormous commercial databases are fast undoing the societal bargain of expungement, one that used to give people who had committed minor crimes a clean slate and a fresh start.

posted by Fergie @ 10/17/2006 10:04:00 AM