The public will get the opportunity to weigh in on a bill being considered in the state Legislature that would eliminate online court records for people who have been acquitted, have had charges dropped or had convictions overturned on appeal.
The hearing is set for Thursday before the state Senate Judiciary Committee, which is chaired by state Sen. Glenn Grothman, R-West Bend. Grothman is also a co-sponsor of the proposal to limit the records on the Consolidated Court Automation Programs, or CCAP, the heart of the Wisconsin Circuit Court Access website. He said on Wednesday’s “Big Question” segment that the bill is necessary because the online database unfairly chastises stand-up people.
“If you do something wrong when you’re 18 or 19 years old, when you’re 50 or 60 years old, it’s still on that website for all to see. So, you can see your entire background,” Grothman said. “Actually, being on that website is almost more of a punishment than paying a fine or spending a couple of months in jail.”
He insisted that CCAP has “forever” damaged individuals’ prospects for employment, housing or how a future boyfriend or girlfriend might view them.
“That’s why, to me, if you are not convicted of a crime, that should be removed,” he said.
Records would still be available in paper form at the county courthouses.
Bill Lueders, president of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, countered by saying that concerns about employers rejecting applicants with records on CCAP are overblown.
“I’ve heard a number of representatives of employers testify credibly that they use the system as the law prescribes, that if they see a criminal conviction that is not substantially related to the job they’re seeking to hire someone for, they don’t take it into account,” said Lueders.
He also said that landlords aren’t in the business of turning down potential tenants.
“They’re thinking, ‘Oh please, oh please, oh please’ – not, ‘Oh please, let me find some little thing in this person’s past that I can hold against them,’ -- but, ‘Oh please, let it be OK that I can rent to this person and start taking their money,’” Lueders continued.
“I think, fundamentally, the people of the state of Wisconsin can be trusted to make rational judgments about the information they see on the system,” he said.
However, Grothman implied that CCAP users tend to draw negative conclusions about what they see online.
“I think we all know that many people believe that if you’re arrested, that the charges are dropped, there probably just wasn’t enough evidence (to convict),” Grothman said. “It’s always something they hold against you to a certain degree.”
Thursday’s hearing is scheduled to begin at 2:01 p.m. in room 300 Southeast at the state Capitol building in Madison. Public input on four other bills will also be gathered at that time.
Editor’s note: “The Big Question” can be heard each Wednesday at 7 a.m. on the Ideas Network of Wisconsin Public Radio.
