Alert 1/24/07

An American Bar Association committee on "effective criminal sanctions" is recommending that the Bar endorse a severe limitation on public access to criminal records. The House of Delegates is scheduled to take this up in early February.

The proposed restriction reads: “Public access to criminal records should in general be limited, in light of the government's interest in encouraging successful offender reentry and reintegration, people should be able to challenge the accuracy of their records, and only law enforcement agencies should have access to records of closed criminal cases that did not result in a conviction.”

The intent, says the ABA panel, is to aid former convicts in re-entering society. They believe it will aid ex-convicts in getting jobs because records of closed criminal cases that didn't result in a conviction would no longer be available.

We believe any such law or rule would inevitably result in vast amounts of pre-trial information being stricken from the public record. And an endorsement by the Bar would create a strong incentive for courts to write new rules and legislators to draft new laws. The effect could be to close much of the law enforcement information now available to reporters.

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press earlier sent a letter opposing the report’s recommendation.

Below is draft language for a joint letter to go out from the Criminal Justice Journalists, CJOG and any members wishing to sign on.

If your organization would like to join the protest, please let me hear back by the close of business Friday.

FYI, I’m attaching a copy of the committee’s report and a letter RCFP received from the Bar .