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US newspapers are deleting old crime stories, offering subjects a 'clean slate'

theguardian.com

51–60 of 390 posts

Re: US newspapers are deleting old crime stories, offering subjects a 'clean slate'

#51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

20% of the world's prisoners are housed in America. Interactions with police and arrests are very common here.

4.25% of the world's population live in the US.

Right, so the US incarceration rate is almost five times the global average.

Re: US newspapers are deleting old crime stories, offering subjects a 'clean slate'

#52
post #42

A flip side to this is that you can go here to see archives of newspapers: https://news.google.com/newspapers After reviewing lots of southern papers during the 1960s, shockingly (!) entire months are gone. I was really hoping to read their editorials saying what they thought MLK really was at that time, and then see what they wrote today. I figured this would be more fun than paying attention to Trump on inauguratio…

What would happen to people’s perception of crime if only the crime perpetuated by the rich and powerful was reported on?

Re: US newspapers are deleting old crime stories, offering subjects a 'clean slate'

#53
This is a huge disservice to the public. Lots of offenders are repeat offenders, and the public needs to know who they are. Or maybe someone just wants to look up an old news story they remember. More fundamentally, this type of action is just a manipulation of the public and not journalism, which should be a neutral way of sharing information.

Re: US newspapers are deleting old crime stories, offering subjects a 'clean slate'

#54

I understand this is the general policy in a few places, like Germany. The general idea seems to be that it is more beneficial to a society if criminals are given a viable avenue to lead non-criminal lives again, with the alternative being people going "ah fuck it, I guess I'm a criminal now". I'm surprised at this concept spreading in the US, since the system would generally benefit from having perpetual perpetrator…

It’s almost like there are multiple competing interests at play in a country of 340 million people…

Re: US newspapers are deleting old crime stories, offering subjects a 'clean slate'

#55

I understand this is the general policy in a few places, like Germany. The general idea seems to be that it is more beneficial to a society if criminals are given a viable avenue to lead non-criminal lives again, with the alternative being people going "ah fuck it, I guess I'm a criminal now". I'm surprised at this concept spreading in the US, since the system would generally benefit from having perpetual perpetrator…

take your tinfoil hat off. the US isn't one system conspiratorially doing one thing or another. it is a myriad of competing individuals and groups.

journalists have different incentives than private prison operators and tend to be more progressive for whatever reason. they often are activists.

it should not be surprising that journalists might take a softer view and than prison industrialists in a country with free thought and expression

Re: US newspapers are deleting old crime stories, offering subjects a 'clean slate'

#56

> One in three U.S. adults has been arrested by age 23. Does that seem crazy to anyone else? I'm in Ireland and can't think of one person in my extended family and friends that has any interaction with the police beyond routine insurance/DUI checkpoints or reporting incidents like car accidents.

Policing and imprisonment are very aggressive here. Arrests very often don't turn into convictions because the police are rewarded for wielding force any way they choose regardless of whether it's justified - their right to do this is legally protected via qualified immunity.

You may already know of Peelian Policing, but if not: Several countries practice a very different model, described as as ‘policing by consent’. Police try to work with and not against citizens, recognising that they are citizens too.

Ireland polices its population this way, USA doesn’t.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peelian_principles

Re: US newspapers are deleting old crime stories, offering subjects a 'clean slate'

#57

> One in three U.S. adults has been arrested by age 23. Does that seem crazy to anyone else? I'm in Ireland and can't think of one person in my extended family and friends that has any interaction with the police beyond routine insurance/DUI checkpoints or reporting incidents like car accidents.

It’s an obviously incorrect figure. It must include things like traffic tickets. The guardian is a highly activist and biased publication by their own admission, and not truly “journalistic”.

Re: US newspapers are deleting old crime stories, offering subjects a 'clean slate'

#58
post #42

A flip side to this is that you can go here to see archives of newspapers: https://news.google.com/newspapers After reviewing lots of southern papers during the 1960s, shockingly (!) entire months are gone. I was really hoping to read their editorials saying what they thought MLK really was at that time, and then see what they wrote today. I figured this would be more fun than paying attention to Trump on inauguratio…

What would happen to people’s perception of crime if only the crime perpetuated by the rich and powerful was reported on?

It's probably just me, but it feels like reporting on crime is very lopsided and slanted against the powerless.

Re: US newspapers are deleting old crime stories, offering subjects a 'clean slate'

#60

I'm ok with this, as long as it's systemic. Otherwise it's just another way for people with means to get a leg up on people without means. If it's, "we delete all crime stories after N years", then fine, especially for low level, non violent stuff. The punishment for crimes should come from the justice system and people should be able to pay their dues and move on.

You're describing punishment by the state. One is entitled to move on from a fine or imprisonment. One is not entitled to a clean social or occupational reputation. There's a good reason those consequences exist.

It’s useful for society if there’s a way for criminals to reintegrate into society.

If potential employers can always check for a criminal record, and refuse to hire criminals, then guess what those criminals will do? The answer isn’t “starve to death”.

Previously there were practical limits to how long a sentence could follow you. If you moved across the country, you might lose whatever family you still have, but at least you could get a fresh start. Nowadays that’s effectively impossible.

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