4 ms·

Sure it's technically true but an unpaid parking ticket counts as a criminal record. At any rate, of the 70 million people with a "criminal record", only 16 mil

by Kranar 4y ago

Sure it's technically true but an unpaid parking ticket counts as a criminal record. At any rate, of the 70 million people with a "criminal record", only 16 million have been to prison. That's still a high figure but it's not the insane "1 in 5 Americans are criminals!"

RBBronson123 4y ago
No, Kranar-the 70 million does not include unpaid parking tickets, unless it escalates to a criminal case (which rarely happens). The explosion in these numbers occurred during our war on drugs in the 80's and 90's, along with "three strikes" laws. The 70 million number relates to the number of people who have, in their record, an event(s) that might stand in their way from a variety of opportunities, so they are, by definition, serious events.
- Kranar 4y ago
  Failure to pay a parking ticket by the due date or failure to appear in court to contest a traffic ticket can result in a bench warrant for your arrest which results in a criminal record. Also, in many jurisdictions if you do not appear for a petty misdemeanor traffic ticket, you can be found guilty for failure to appear which also results in a criminal record. No you will not go to prison over it but if you are subsequently pulled over, you can be arrested for your unpaid traffic ticket and held in jail until a court has a hearing on your case (and it goes without saying this will result in a criminal record).
  - vidanay 4y ago
    Are you arguing with the guy whose literal business it was to know the facts of these situations?
    - aristofun 4y ago
      Why can’t one argue with anyone? Just saying.
    - Kranar 4y ago
      I don't look at people's usernames when replying. Everything I stated can be verified: https://www.findlaw.com/traffic/traffic-tickets/arrest-warrants-and-traffic-tickets.html https://www.findlaw.com/traffic/traffic-tickets/arrest-warra... I never disputed or argued anything about whether having a criminal record impedes ones ability to get a job. I replied to someone who was shocked that 70 million Americans have a criminal record and want to point out that it does not mean that 70 million Americans are criminals, or have been convicted of a crime. The vast majority of those records are strictly for arrests, most of which did not result in a conviction and could be the result of something as benign as having an unpaid parking ticket, which is a verifiable fact. OP's reply is that parking tickets rarely result in arrest warrants or jail time. I could not find data for the U.S. as a whole, but at least in Texas over 1 million arrest warrants were issued in 2018 alone just over unpaid traffic tickets to the point that the legislature had to step in to request judges stop putting people in jail over it: https://www.motherjones.com/crime-justice/2019/04/texas-asked-judges-to-stop-throwing-people-in-jail-for-unpaid-parking-tickets-they-didnt-listen/ https://www.motherjones.com/crime-justice/2019/04/texas-aske... You can find similar articles about other states (this seems to be a mostly state by state). For further information about how the 70 million people have criminal records gives a misleading impression, there's the following Politifact article as well: https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2017/aug/18/andrew-cuomo/yes-one-three-us-adults-have-criminal-record/ https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2017/aug/18/andrew-cuo...
      - soco 4y ago
        Still, one American out of three has been once arrested??? From my entire circle I only know of one person which almost got arrested, but true I'm not in the USA...
        deleted 4y ago
        [deleted]
      - giaour 4y ago
        I don't think the linked Politifact article supports your point: > The FBI considers anyone who has been arrested on a felony charge to have a criminal record, even if the arrest did not lead to a conviction. The FBI only counts those with a misdemeanor if a state agency asks the bureau to keep it on file. > So by the FBI’s standard, 73.5 million people in the United States had a criminal record as of June 30[, 2017]. The arrest warrants you mention from Texas would only count if failure to pay a parking ticket is a felony in TX
  - giaour 4y ago
    Having (or having had) an outstanding bench warrant for your arrest sounds like the kind of thing that could really mess up your employment prospects, though! I'm really not sure what you're trying to dispute. It seems like you and OP agree that there are many ways that someone can get themselves a criminal record and that a record shouldn't be a lifelong burden that prevents you from getting a decent job.
    - Kranar 4y ago
      My original post was not in response to OP but to someone who is shocked that 70 million people have a criminal record, because most people when asked assume that a criminal record means some kind of conviction, it does not. It was OP who decided to dispute me and argue that unpaid parking tickets are unlikely to result in an arrest or a criminal matter. I replied pointing out with sources that his claim is wrong. A surprising number of people are in jail over unpaid parking tickets and in Texas in one year alone over 1 million unpaid tickets became a criminal matter resulting in jail time. I agree that OP seems to argue against this is bizzare since even a record for unpaid traffic offenses can needlessly disqualify someone from a job, but I am not OP and all I really care to do is point out the facts.
pcthrowaway 4y ago
If 16 million have been to prison, this probably doesn't count people who have been to jail but not prison, or who have been given probation and/or community service as their sentence, which I suspect is probably where 70 million comes from. Prison is for sentences of longer than 1 year in the U.S. but I'd reckon any sentence affects your job prospects negatively.

by Kranar 4y ago

RBBronson123 4y ago

No, Kranar-the 70 million does not include unpaid parking tickets, unless it escalates to a criminal case (which rarely happens). The explosion in these numbers occurred during our war on drugs in the 80's and 90's, along with "three strikes" laws. The 70 million number relates to the number of people who have, in their record, an event(s) that might stand in their way from a variety of opportunities, so they are, by definition, serious events.

Kranar 4y ago
Failure to pay a parking ticket by the due date or failure to appear in court to contest a traffic ticket can result in a bench warrant for your arrest which results in a criminal record. Also, in many jurisdictions if you do not appear for a petty misdemeanor traffic ticket, you can be found guilty for failure to appear which also results in a criminal record. No you will not go to prison over it but if you are subsequently pulled over, you can be arrested for your unpaid traffic ticket and held in jail until a court has a hearing on your case (and it goes without saying this will result in a criminal record).
- vidanay 4y ago
  Are you arguing with the guy whose literal business it was to know the facts of these situations?
  - aristofun 4y ago
    Why can’t one argue with anyone? Just saying.
  - Kranar 4y ago
    I don't look at people's usernames when replying. Everything I stated can be verified: https://www.findlaw.com/traffic/traffic-tickets/arrest-warrants-and-traffic-tickets.html https://www.findlaw.com/traffic/traffic-tickets/arrest-warra... I never disputed or argued anything about whether having a criminal record impedes ones ability to get a job. I replied to someone who was shocked that 70 million Americans have a criminal record and want to point out that it does not mean that 70 million Americans are criminals, or have been convicted of a crime. The vast majority of those records are strictly for arrests, most of which did not result in a conviction and could be the result of something as benign as having an unpaid parking ticket, which is a verifiable fact. OP's reply is that parking tickets rarely result in arrest warrants or jail time. I could not find data for the U.S. as a whole, but at least in Texas over 1 million arrest warrants were issued in 2018 alone just over unpaid traffic tickets to the point that the legislature had to step in to request judges stop putting people in jail over it: https://www.motherjones.com/crime-justice/2019/04/texas-asked-judges-to-stop-throwing-people-in-jail-for-unpaid-parking-tickets-they-didnt-listen/ https://www.motherjones.com/crime-justice/2019/04/texas-aske... You can find similar articles about other states (this seems to be a mostly state by state). For further information about how the 70 million people have criminal records gives a misleading impression, there's the following Politifact article as well: https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2017/aug/18/andrew-cuomo/yes-one-three-us-adults-have-criminal-record/ https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2017/aug/18/andrew-cuo...
    - soco 4y ago
      Still, one American out of three has been once arrested??? From my entire circle I only know of one person which almost got arrested, but true I'm not in the USA...
      - deleted 4y ago
        [deleted]
    - giaour 4y ago
      I don't think the linked Politifact article supports your point: > The FBI considers anyone who has been arrested on a felony charge to have a criminal record, even if the arrest did not lead to a conviction. The FBI only counts those with a misdemeanor if a state agency asks the bureau to keep it on file. > So by the FBI’s standard, 73.5 million people in the United States had a criminal record as of June 30[, 2017]. The arrest warrants you mention from Texas would only count if failure to pay a parking ticket is a felony in TX
- giaour 4y ago
  Having (or having had) an outstanding bench warrant for your arrest sounds like the kind of thing that could really mess up your employment prospects, though! I'm really not sure what you're trying to dispute. It seems like you and OP agree that there are many ways that someone can get themselves a criminal record and that a record shouldn't be a lifelong burden that prevents you from getting a decent job.
  - Kranar 4y ago
    My original post was not in response to OP but to someone who is shocked that 70 million people have a criminal record, because most people when asked assume that a criminal record means some kind of conviction, it does not. It was OP who decided to dispute me and argue that unpaid parking tickets are unlikely to result in an arrest or a criminal matter. I replied pointing out with sources that his claim is wrong. A surprising number of people are in jail over unpaid parking tickets and in Texas in one year alone over 1 million unpaid tickets became a criminal matter resulting in jail time. I agree that OP seems to argue against this is bizzare since even a record for unpaid traffic offenses can needlessly disqualify someone from a job, but I am not OP and all I really care to do is point out the facts.

pcthrowaway 4y ago

If 16 million have been to prison, this probably doesn't count people who have been to jail but not prison, or who have been given probation and/or community service as their sentence, which I suspect is probably where 70 million comes from. Prison is for sentences of longer than 1 year in the U.S. but I'd reckon any sentence affects your job prospects negatively.