Public Records, Private Purposes
31
#AIIM14 #AIIM14 #AIIM14 Public Records – Private Purposes Access to Judicial Records in an Electronic World Nial Raaen, CRM Principal Court Management Consultant Na;onal Center for State Courts [email protected]
-
Upload
aiim -
Category
Technology
-
view
101 -
download
3
description
Courts are rapidly becoming a gold mine of information for private companies that re-sell case information for such purposes as credit, criminal record, and rental history checks. This session will address issues surrounding the use of court information for public purposes, including what information should be available to non-parties, who is responsible for ensuring its accuracy, whether courts should charge for access and on what basis, and how long information should be available?
Transcript of Public Records, Private Purposes
#AIIM14 #AIIM14
#AIIM14
Public Records – Private Purposes Access to Judicial Records in an Electronic World
Nial Raaen, CRM Principal Court Management Consultant
Na;onal Center for State Courts [email protected]
#AIIM14
Why an Open Judiciary?
§ To ensure that proceedings are fair § To monitor and hold courts accountable § A forum for public concerns about crime § Public educa;on about the judiciary § Promote more ac;ve ci;zen par;cipa;on
#AIIM14
A Court Records Timeline The Pape
r Age
Through the 1970s court records are paper-‐based and “prac;cally obscure”
The Da
tabase Age
1980s – 1990s Introduc;on of case management database systems makes records more available
The Digital D
ocum
ent A
ge
2000s on.. Expanding use of digital imaging coupled with database systems
#AIIM14
Document Imaging PracBces
§ Preserve and archive legacy documents § Public access to legacy documents § Back-‐file and scan-‐on-‐demand approaches § Scan forward for improved workflow and access, paper-‐on-‐demand
§ Imaging has complicated the picture
#AIIM14
The Court InformaBon Mine
§ Felony and misdemeanor § Non-‐criminal traffic § General civil & small claims § Landlord-‐tenant § Protec;on orders § Divorce and custody
www.aiim.org/infochaos�
Do YOU understand the business challenge of the next 10 years?
This ebook from AIIM President John Mancini explains.
#AIIM14
Commercial Uses of Court Records § Employment background inves;ga;ons
§ Criminal history § Outstanding civil judgments
§ Credit ra;ng § Renter background checks § Legal research services § “Pay for view” pos;ngs
#AIIM14
Criminal Background Checks
§ An es;mated 65 million people have criminal records (Na;onal Employment Law Project)
§ 87% of employers conduct background checks (Society for Human Resource Management)
#AIIM14
Court Files May Be… § Fully public § Public with nonpublic, private or sensi;ve documents or informa;on contained within the file
§ Ordered closed at a later stage § Fully non-‐public
#AIIM14
§ FOI does not apply, most case informa;on is fully public
§ But restric;ons include: § Case types are confiden;al (adop;ons, juvenile) § Specific informa;on is non-‐public (vic;m info.)
§ Access policies vary across the country
#AIIM14
Non-‐Public Records
§ Juvenile records § Adop;on records § Presentence reports § Grand jury records § Medical and psychiatric treatment records § Proprietary business informa;on … and more
#AIIM14
Accessing State Court Records
“Access to court records is determined on a discre;onary basis on the basis of interpreta;on of rules of the court…anecdotal evidence would suggest that there are significant varia;ons in the
extent to which court documents…are made generally accessible”
(Philip Leith/Maeve McDonagh, New Technology and Researchers’ Access to Court and Tribunal Informa;on)
#AIIM14
What’s Different Today
§ Decreasing costs of storage § Increasing demand for electronic access § Business opportuni;es created by data access § Ease of distribu;on § Increasingly sophis;cated search engines § Data manipula;on tools
#AIIM14
US Courts PACER System § 25 years in opera;on, e-‐filing started in 2002 § Includes case and document management system access pursuant to 2007 rules
§ Fee based, requires sekng up an account § 500 million documents, available upon filing § Filer must redact, some pre-‐2003 documents not available
#AIIM14
The Balance
§ Individual privacy, confiden;ality, security § Copyright, data protec;on, commercial interests vs. § Judicial transparency § Public right to know § Economic benefits
#AIIM14
Fair Credit ReporBng Act Places ObligaBons on Commercial Vendors § Generally, can’t report arrests more than 7 years old § Use “reasonable procedures” to insure “maximum possible accuracy”
§ Special rule when public record informa;on is reported for employment purposes (concurrent no;ce or strict procedures to be complete/current)
#AIIM14
The Challenges § Legacy documents may predate informa;on protec;on legisla;on
§ Interpre;ng terminology and abbrevia;ons § Reliability of redac;on techniques and technology for born-‐digital records
§ Correc;ng/upda;ng disposi;ons § Guaranteeing authen;city
#AIIM14
Problems with Consistency
§ Reten;on periods vary across states § Local prac;ces for destruc;on are inconsistent § Responsibility for redac;on and informa;on protec;on is locally determined in some states
§ Terminology may be jurisdic;on-‐specific
#AIIM14
Concerns with Commercial Use
§ Inaccuracies (upon receipt or publica;on) § Problems with individual iden;ty § Repor;ng of obsolete arrests § Mul;ple repor;ng of single case/incident § Not excluding expunged cases § Not upda;ng judgments/disposi;ons
#AIIM14
This Could be Your Lucky Day!
#AIIM14
Look What I Found! Donkers v. Calandro et al MICHIGAN EASTERN DISTRICT COURT Nature of Suit: 440 Civil Rights -‐ Other Case No. 4:05-‐cv-‐40058 Defendants William Leo Cahalan David J. Calandro John Doe John D. Ferry Jr. Daniel Flanagan Deborah L. E. Green Dawn A. Monk Nial Raaen Joseph A. Schewe Alan E. Skrok State Court Administra;ve Office Show More PlainBff Christopher James Donkers
#AIIM14
Different PerspecBves
§ Paper and electronic records should be treated the same for access purposes and open to all
§ Electronic records access should be limited to the courthouse and registered par;es, not rou;nely disseminated for public viewing
#AIIM14
Responsibility for RedacBon
§ Duty for iden;fica;on and redac;on rests with filers (federal model)
§ Duty rests with court staff to redact informa;on and control release (Florida model)
#AIIM14
Are More Controls Needed??
§ “Cer;fica;on” of reques;ng en;;es or individuals reques;ng bulk data?
§ Regula;on or limita;on of data re-‐use? § Increased third party liability for upda;ng? § Required subscrip;on to regular updates? § “Inten;onal obscurity”?
#AIIM14
Criminal Background Issues § What right or redress do individuals accused or convicted of crimes have to ensure accuracy of the records?
§ What is the impact on the privacy rights of criminal defendants?
§ Will vic;ms and witnesses be assured that their privacy interests are accounted for?
#AIIM14
Unanswered QuesBons
§ What is the cost of enhanced public access? § Does enhanced access compromise public safety?
#AIIM14
Who Should Pay? § Many courts charge fees without conduc;ng a cost assessment
§ Should courts profit from access fees? § Should access fees be dedicated for technology, privacy controls?
§ Do different charging structures impact the kinds of documents courts make available and their formats?
§ Should intended use be a basis for sekng the fees?
#AIIM14
How Long is Too Long? § Should there be increased obliga;ons for data collectors to “sunset” informa;on?
§ Should a “right to forget” be created? § Who would have the duty to remove records to protect a “right to forget”?
§ Should court record reten;on periods be revised?
#AIIM14
Digital Rights Management § Restrict who can read or has rights to a document § Restrict how long a document is available § Restrict prin;ng and forwarding § Require logging onto a specific network for access § Is user registra;on/tracking a privacy issue? § Is this a prac;cal op;on in the long run??
#AIIM14
The Future…
§ Disappearance of paper records systems § More demand for digital audio/video recordings of court proceedings
§ Embedded video and audio files will become part of the “court record”
§ Reten;on periods need to be reconsidered
www.aiim.org/infochaos�
Do YOU understand the business challenge of the next 10 years?
This ebook from AIIM President John Mancini explains.
