Date of Award

2014

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Tunick, Mark

Thesis/Dissertation Co-Chair

Jakee, Keith

Abstract

I argue that widespread use of criminal background checks has a privacy implication and fosters unjust punishment for ex-offenders. A criminal conviction has a twofold effect on the offender: judicial punishment in the form of court fees, incarceration, and similar court orders that temporarily restrict individual liberty; and non-judicial punishment in the form of social stigmatization attached to an arrest and/or conviction that marginalize the offender from society. Background checks indefinitely hinder reintegration by inhibiting the ex-offenders’ ability to obtain employment, housing and social acceptance. Permitting widespread use of background checks mismanages the intersection of privacy rights for the ex-offender and the 1st Amendment. I conclude by suggesting that a revised system modeled after European criminal background procedures would create a better balance between the ex-offender’s right to privacy and society’s interest in accessing public facts.

Comments

Includes bibliography.

Extent

51 p.

Identifier

FA00003614

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