One of the most important aspects of our country’s legal system is the fact that someone is “presumed innocent until proven guilty.” The burden of proof is on the one doing the accusing, and we often use this phrase to refer to an ongoing investigation or a case being tried in court. But what about after those convicted of crimes have served their sentences or otherwise paid their penance? Community watchdog groups often maintain that those who have done their time no longer deserve the benefit of being presumed innocent, and have advocated for the disclosure of crimes in a forum accessible to the general public, in this case: The Internet.
With the help of the Wisconsin Circuit Court Access’ Consolidated Court Automation Program, or CCAP, anyone can type a name into a search bar and view their past dirty deeds, and before you know it, you’re presumed guilty, not innocent. Even though the site notes if charges have been dropped or the individual was acquitted, this is a site that could be, and probably is, dangerously misused. The fact that Wisconsin courts are considering curtailing this site is a step in the right direction in protecting past offenders from discrimination.
The State Bar of Wisconsin recently filed complaints against WCCA and asked for its public access to be limited because they claim employers, landlords and others can use it to discriminate based on past criminal history, even though doing so is illegal. The site does warn possible employers that using the information on the site to discriminate is only warranted if “the circumstances of the conviction substantially relate to the particular job.” However, it is often times easy to be discretionary about what charges could apply to what job. For example, a speeding ticket might show you’re not responsible enough to have a nannying job, or a property dispute that you can’t interact with customers well. Employers don’t have to give any specific rational about why they turn a candidate down, so it’s difficult to tell if discrimination based on information gleaned from CCAP was the reason for the rejection. Additionally, employers or others who have had a look at the site may discriminate unknowingly, and an unintentional bias is very difficult to prevent.
The site is broad and its access is expansive. Right now, CCAP is updated hourly unless the WCCA experiences technical problems, and the site can also be used as an RSS feed, which, like a podcast, can e-mail you instant updates about changes in the site’s content directly to your inbox or mobile phone. This isn’t Twitter though, it’s important and potentially damaging info. With WCCA offering such broad, unchecked and on-the-spot access to information about past criminal records, it’s difficult to imagine how such a website would not lead to discrimination.
Think about it: We all, every once in a while, check up on an ex on Facebook or stalk someone we barely knew in high school. Why wouldn’t future employers, neighbors or landlords do the same to us, especially with information this juicy? We all want to find out the dirty little secrets about the people we know, and keeping the CCAP this open is like having embarrassing Facebook photos that everyone can see and you can’t untag yourself from.
As reported by Channel 3000, the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, supporters of the site, have “called the fears of misuse exaggerated,” even though the State Bar says the site is, “routinely misunderstood and misused.” Wisconsin lawmakers, acting on petitions by the State Bar, are looking to limit the amount of information the public will have access to by taking charges that have been dropped or acquitted off the site to limit its abuse.
The power to limit the site ultimately resides with the courts, but Director of State Courts John Voelker said Monday that justices will “wait to see what lawmakers do before taking action.” It’s legislation we need to support; although it may seem very important to know whether a future roommate was ever caught shoplifting, having an RSS feed and getting instant updates about who got what ticket seems a little much, and what’s more important to remember is that everyone is innocent unless proven otherwise.
Taylor Nye ([email protected]) is a sophomore majoring in anthropology and intending to major in Spanish.
