"Governor Deval Patrick.... has called for reducing the time limits on criminal records to give ex-convicts a better chance at employment"
I wanna know when he is going to start caring 'bout YOU, taxpayer and voter.
Btw, does that include the nonviolent drug offender (I doubt it)? I mean, just who exactly are they trying to help? Perverts, rapists, murderers, and thieves? Isn't that who is supposed to be in jail?
"Police prying into stars' data; Records system often misused, state audit finds" by Andrea Estes and Peter Schworm, Globe Staff | May 6, 2009
Police from communities across the state have repeatedly tapped into the state's criminal records system to improperly access information on celebrities and "high-profile citizens," according to a scathing audit released yesterday that also branded the system as obsolete and flawed.
Oh, of course. The article begins with a totally different premise.
The Criminal Offender Record Information system, with its massive databases of criminal records, driving histories, car ownership, and Social Security numbers, is intended to provide police and prosecutors with complete portraits of individuals who have been arrested or brought into the court system. Reports are available to other users such as landlords and some employers conducting background checks on prospective tenants and job seekers. Access is supposed to be restricted to authorized law enforcement users, who are specially trained.
But the yearlong review by state Auditor A. Joseph DeNucci depicts a system repeatedly accessed by users "without any apparent work-related justification." DeNucci's audit condemned the decades-old system as antiquated, highly vulnerable to mistakes, and easily accessed by unauthorized users. With terminals in many locations that allowed anyone to look up information, the system permitted law enforcement officials access without fear of being identified and detected.
Welcome to the Fascist Commonwealth of Massachusetts, folks!
The criticism comes as activists call for legislative changes to the controversial Criminal Offender Record Information law. Critics, who say it unfairly prevents ex-convicts from landing jobs and leading productive lives, seized on the audit as evidence for their cause.
Hey, I'm not for keeping anyone down; however, WHAT ABOUT the REST of us getting F***ED by the state who DID NOTHING WRONG?!! Oh, right, criminals helping criminals.
Governor Deval Patrick, who has called for reducing the time limits on criminal records to give ex-convicts a better chance at employment, is slated to announce his plans to change the law tomorrow. The governor's plan, according to a summary obtained by the Globe, would allow prospective employers, landlords, and some others to pay for criminal records information on the Internet. They could access information about all sex crimes and homicide convictions as well as felony convictions, which would remain on a defendant's record for 10 years. Misdemeanor convictions would remain for five years.
The state expects to collect $20 million a year in revenue from the program, some of which would be used to create a fingerprint-based criminal record system and for educating employers regarding hiring former offenders, according to the summary....
That's what it is always about, isn't it?
EXPAND the TYRANNY and MAKE A FEW BUCKS!
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