Sharing Criminal Records to Prevent Harm

Abstract This chapter proposes and defends a right to know for harm-prevention purposes. It defines this right via a set of criteria that would need to be met for a disclosure to be justifiably made. And it argues that this right to know would, if implemented, protect the public from criminal harm without unfairly stigmatizing people with criminal histories. The proposed right to know has three advantages. First, it is general enough to apply to any context in which a criminal record is shared or disclosed to protect public safety. Second, it is detailed enough to provide clear guidance for decision making in specific cases as well as on disclosure policies more broadly. Finally, it respects important moral principles, notably those of proportionality and necessity, equal treatment, dignity, and the presumption of innocence. Following the proposed criteria for a right to know would enable us to align our practices around criminal record disclosures more closely with these norms, and therefore to be more faithful to them than (in most places) we currently are.