3 ms·

Any reason why it can not be legally challenged and abolished? Or at least keep the record sealed from the regular prying eyes of the companies / orgs?

by FpUser 4y ago

bilbo0s 4y ago
Um. Well, approaching the subject delicately, it's one of the tools the system uses to maintain our "societal power hierarchy". Is that the politically correct way to say it? Put it this way, traditionally in the US, the people who would challenge this state of affairs fall mainly within a certain group that has historically occupied the lower part of our "societal power hierarchy". Conveniently, this sort of "mistake", tends to happen to people belonging to that same group far more often than it happens to others. Which saddles that group with the problems outlined in the comment we're discussing. It also saddles them with the concomitant consequences with respect to their ability to advance in society. (Since they can get neither a good job nor a good place to live after their arrest.) That they were innocent is a nuisance to the system, not really a deterrent to the system. Certainly not a reason to change the system in the eyes of a lot of Americans.
- FpUser 4y ago
  So you think something like ACLU / whatever other human rights orgs share similar view?
  - bilbo0s 4y ago
    They may or may not, but until they find a majority of supreme court justices to agree with them, (which judges, incidentally, are pulled from the rest of America), it doesn't really matter in our system. That's kind of the way our system works. The people on the bottom, are there for a reason. And there are many, many safeguards in place to keep it that way.
    - FpUser 4y ago
      Ouch. Sounds very depressing.
JohnFen 4y ago
A judge can order everything sealed if you can convince them to. Otherwise, everything is totally legal and no challenge is possible. To fix this requires changing the law. And this sort of thing is state law, so it would have to be changed in each state.

Any reason why it can not be legally challenged and abolished? Or at least keep the record sealed from the regular prying eyes of the companies / orgs?

by FpUser 4y ago

Any reason why it can not be legally challenged and abolished? Or at least keep the record sealed from the regular prying eyes of the companies / orgs?

bilbo0s 4y ago

Um. Well, approaching the subject delicately, it's one of the tools the system uses to maintain our "societal power hierarchy". Is that the politically correct way to say it? Put it this way, traditionally in the US, the people who would challenge this state of affairs fall mainly within a certain group that has historically occupied the lower part of our "societal power hierarchy". Conveniently, this sort of "mistake", tends to happen to people belonging to that same group far more often than it happens to others. Which saddles that group with the problems outlined in the comment we're discussing. It also saddles them with the concomitant consequences with respect to their ability to advance in society. (Since they can get neither a good job nor a good place to live after their arrest.) That they were innocent is a nuisance to the system, not really a deterrent to the system. Certainly not a reason to change the system in the eyes of a lot of Americans.

FpUser 4y ago
So you think something like ACLU / whatever other human rights orgs share similar view?
- bilbo0s 4y ago
  They may or may not, but until they find a majority of supreme court justices to agree with them, (which judges, incidentally, are pulled from the rest of America), it doesn't really matter in our system. That's kind of the way our system works. The people on the bottom, are there for a reason. And there are many, many safeguards in place to keep it that way.
  - FpUser 4y ago
    Ouch. Sounds very depressing.

JohnFen 4y ago

A judge can order everything sealed if you can convince them to. Otherwise, everything is totally legal and no challenge is possible. To fix this requires changing the law. And this sort of thing is state law, so it would have to be changed in each state.