New Service-MyRecordCheck.com

Carolina Investigative Research now provides a criminal record search for the public. Please visit www.myrecordsearch.com This site allows consumers to order a background on themselves to check what is on the public record. The search is conducted by licensed private investigators. For those interested in a NC criminal records, a link is provided to conduct a criminal record search.  Coming Soon, an Instant NC criminal record “check”.

Visit us at MyRecordCheck.

NC Criminal Record

The Unintended Impact of Criminal Record Checks

The recent phenomenon of background screening college students is explored in this article. This is a very interesting point. Criminal record checks are viewed as a barrier to higher education. Education  is viewed as a way of poverty and the life of poverty,  including crime. We encourage prisoners to obtain their college degrees while incarcerated.  If felons are not able to rehabilitate and have a life beyond their conviction, we as a society need to re-evaluate our priorities.

Present Day Disparate Impact: Criminal Records, Higher Education and Collateral Consequences

In recent years colleges and universities have increasingly used an applicant’s prior criminal conviction as a basis to deny admission.  The growth of this practice threatens to undermine the gains achieved through the hard-fought efforts of the civil rights movement.  Because racial disparities infect every aspect of the criminal justice system in the U.S., the use of a criminal conviction to bar admission to college has a disproportionate racial impact on communities of color.  In effect policies that restrict admissions based upon a criminal record result in excluding more persons of color who disproportionately make up the population of the criminal justice system.  In short, exclusions for prior conviction become a surrogate for race-based exclusions. The rationale for criminal background screenings in college admission is campus safety. Legislative action directed at campus crime began in 1991 with Congressional passage of the Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act (known as the Clery Act) that required colleges and universities to track and report campus crime statistics.  Data reported in compliance with the Clery Act requirements show that crime on campuses is far lower than in the general community. The U.S. Department of Education 2001 Report to Congress, “The Incidence of Crime on the Campuses of U.S. Post Secondary Education Institutions,” concluded that “students on the campuses of post secondary institutions [are] significantly safer than the nation as a whole.” 4 The available data and media reports suggest that crime on campus is more likely to be committed by students without criminal records rather than students with prior records.  Nonetheless, a few high profile but aberrational crimes have led to admissions policies that now require disclosure of criminal records by prospective applicants.  In 2006, the Common Application, used by more than 300 universities and colleges, added questions about both criminal convictions and school disciplinary records.  Individual colleges include such questions on their applications as well.

To read the complete article and more, visit here-Unchaining Civil Rights.

The whitepaper “Closing the Doors of Higher Education” is available from the Center for Legal Action.

The danger of being a realtor.

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

From Realty Times. http://realtytimes.com/news/anpages/19980720_nightmare1.htm

This is the first of 4 articles regarding the dangers of being a real estate agent.

Every Realtor’s Nightmare: Part 1

by Mark Spencer

Editors Note: This article was originally published on November 10, 1997.

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This four-part series focuses on the personal safety issues facing the real estate professional as illustrated by the disturbing experiences and subsequent coping responses of two Realtors who each were viciously attacked while showing homes to what they assumed were prospective buyers. One stayed in the real estate business, determined to educate other Realtors how to protect themselves from similar crimes. The other left the profession, too traumatized by her ordeal to return. Also included in Mark Spencer’s informative series are life-saving tips for how Realtors — who assume considerable risk every day — can avoid becoming the next tragic statistic. Parts 1-4 will run in installments today through Thursday this week.

Neither woman ever thought it could happen. But it did.

Both of them were attacked while showing houses to a prospective buyer. Now, both of these women want to spread the word that it can happen to any real estate agent — anytime, anywhere — and that agents who take a few preventive measures now will reduce the likelihood of becoming the victim of an assault.

To read the complete article, please go here

The blog is back

Thanks to all my faithful readers. It has been awhile since I have worked on the blog. 2009 brought changes. A marriage and a grandson.  So I spent 2009 planning a wedding and knitting baby blankets, whether for my own, my relatives, or employees.  But it is all done and 2010 is free for me.

So here we go.

Why should we conduct searches on individuals in their teens?

Many of us believe that there is no reason to conduct a background check on an individual below the age of 18. The following story is an example of searching the individuals criminal record as far back as possible.

From the Associated Press

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – A grand jury on Wednesday indicted a 15-year-old girl on a charge of first-degree murder in the slaying of her 9-year-old neighbor.

Alyssa Bustamante is accused of killing Elizabeth Olten by strangling the victim, cutting her throat and stabbing her on Oct. 21.

Bustamante also is charged with armed criminal action for allegedly using a knife in the attack.

The indictment came hours after Cole County Circuit Judge Jon Beetem ruled Bustamante should face trial as an adult. She is being held without bond in Cole County jail.

The teen, who sat silently through the proceedings in an orange prison jumpsuit and handcuffs, was arrested on an adult charge of first-degree murder. She was scheduled to be arraigned later Wednesday.

To read the full story click here.

Violence in the Workplace

The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics said 517 people were the victims of homicide in U.S. workplaces last year (2008), 413 by gunshot

NEW ACT ADDRESSES CONSEQUENCES OF CRIMINAL SENTENCING

This is a press release from the Uniform Sentencing Commission regarding the impact of a criminal conviction.  The impact of a criminal convictionis often long lasting, farbeyond the jail time.

Uniform Law Commission 111 N. Wabash Ave., Suite 1010, Chicago, IL  60602 312-450-6600, www.nccusl.org Contact:  Katie Robinson, ULC Communications Officer, 312-450-6616 Michael Kerr, ULC Legislative Director, 312-450-6620 For Immediate Release: July 15, 2009 – A new act approved today by the Uniform Law Commission (ULC), a national law reform group, addresses the consequences of the conviction of a crime that are imposed by law in addition to direct penalties imposed by the judge.  Traditionally, offenders are sentenced to fines, probation, and jail or prison terms.  When this punishment is complete, as far as the criminal justice system is concerned, the offender has done the time and repaid his or her debt to society.  However, today’s offenders learn – often too late – that they have only begun to suffer the consequences of their convictions after they have served their sentences. More and more, states are imposing subsequent penalties and disabilities on those convicted of particular crimes.  These “collateral consequences” are in addition to those imposed at sentencing. The sanctions vary from state to state, but they generally relate to restrictions on voting, occupational licensing, vehicle licensing, firearm restrictions, offender registration, and public benefits. Preliminary studies show that, in many states, literally hundreds of these consequences may apply.  Unlike direct consequences of conviction, collateral consequences are often unknown, may prove devastating, and often last a lifetime. To deal with this issue, the Uniform Collateral Consequences of Conviction Act was approved today by the Uniform Law Commission (ULC) at its 118th Annual Meeting in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The provisions of the Uniform Act are largely procedural, and designed to rationalize and clarify polices and provisions which are already widely accepted in the states. The Act includes provisions to ensure that defendants are aware of the existence of collateral sanctions before conviction, are reminded of them at release, govern the effect of out of state convictions, and provide limited means by which some offenders may obtain relief from many such consequences. Concern about the impact of collateral consequences has grown in recent years as the numbers and complexity of these consequences have mushroomed and the U.S. prison population has grown. There is a real concern on a societal level that collateral consequences may impose such harsh burdens on convicted persons that they will be unable to reintegrate into society. In 1974, 1.8 million people had served time, or 1.3% or the adult population.  In 2001, 5.6 million people, or 2.7% of the adult population, had served time.  The Department of Justice estimates that if the 2001 imprisonment rate remains unchanged, 6.6% of Americans born in 2001 will serve prison time during their lives.  In addition to those who have served prison time, an even larger proportion of the population has been convicted of a criminal offense without going to prison.  According to a 2003 report of the Department of Justice, nearly 25% of the entire population (some 71 million people) had a criminal record. The Act requires collection in a single document all of the collateral sanctions and disqualifications contained in state statutes or administrative regulations.  Fortunately, this task has been simplified by a recent complimentary federal legislation which requires that the Director of the National Institute of Justice identify collateral sanctions in the constitution, codes and administrative rules of the 50 states and the territories.  Accordingly, the federal government will do the bulk of the initial work. As states grapple with various related issues – including reforming prison systems and releasing prisoners to balance budgets – the number of offenders impacted by collateral consequences continues to grow.  The Uniform Collateral Consequences of Conviction Act is an effort to clarify the state’s collateral consequences in such a way as to make the criminal justice system both smarter and fairer to all involved. Further information on the Uniform Collateral Consequences of Conviction Act can be found at the ULC’s website at www.nccusl.org. The drafting committee on the Uniform Collateral Consequences of Conviction Act was chaired by Richard T. Cassidy of Burlington, Vermont.  Other committee members included: Ann Walsh Bradley, Madison, Wisconsin; John M. Cary, Seattle, Washington; Brian K. Flowers, Washington, DC; Jessica French, Richmond, Virginia; Roger C. Henderson, Tucson, Arizona; H. Lane Kneedler, Richmond, Virginia; Harry D. Leinenweber, Chicago, Illinois; Marian P. Opala, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Raymond G. Sanchez, Albuquerque, New Mexico; Alexandra T. Schimmer, Columbus, Ohio; Paula Tackett, Santa Fe, New Mexico; and Michele L. Timmons, St. Paul, Minnesota.  Professor Jack Chin of the University of Arizona, in Tucson, Arizona, served as the committee’s reporter. The Uniform Law Commission, now in its 118th year, comprises more than 300 practicing lawyers, governmental lawyers, judges, law professors, and lawyer-legislators from every state as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.   Uniform Law Commissioners are appointed by their states to draft and promote enactment of uniform laws that are designed to solve problems common to all the states. After receiving the ULC’s seal of approval, a uniform act is officially promulgated for consideration by the states, and legislatures are urged to adopt it.  Since its inception in 1892, the ULC has been responsible for more than 200 acts, among them such bulwarks of state statutory law as the Uniform Commercial Code, the Uniform Probate Code, the Uniform Partnership Act, and the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act.

How does this employee pass a “background check”?

Image via Wikipedia

We wonder sometimes how this employee could have passed a background check. Perhaps the former employer(s) simply fired the employee for wrongdoing, thereby passing the problem on.  Should an employer press criminal charges to protect the next employer and the public?  Read the case below, when will an employer stop this person and charge her with criminal neglect, instead of firng for neglect?

Home health aide fired after neglecting severely ill kids

Employee was fired after family caught her actions on videotape, report discloses.

By MAURA LERNER, Star Tribune

Last update: June 3, 2009 – 12:55 AM

For months, a home health aide neglected two severely ill children, turning off their feeding tubes and skipping their medications while she slept on the job and had sex with a male visitor, according to an investigation by the Minnesota Office of Health Facility Complaints.

The aide, who was not identified, was fired after her actions were captured on videotape, the investigation found.

The case was one of several reports disclosed Tuesday by the state agency, which investigates complaints of poor care at hospitals, nursing homes and home health agencies. It also cited two nursing homes for neglect in the deaths of two patients.

To read the complete story, click here