The Harms and Wrongs of Public Criminal Records

Abstract This chapter examines the impacts of a publicly accessible criminal record on individuals and society more broadly. It begins by surveying the empirical evidence on the impacts on people, families, communities, and society of a visible criminal record. It surveys and synthesizes a wide range of sociological, criminological, economic, and public health evidence, and then articulates its implications in explicitly moral terms. The main claim advanced is that imposing a visible or otherwise publicly accessible criminal record on a person harms and wrongs them by undermining their flourishing and violating their dignity. Any assertions of a right to know about criminal histories—including those considered in future chapters of this book—must be assessed against countervailing entitlements grounded in these fundamental human values.