In:
Punishment & Society, SAGE Publications, Vol. 14, No. 1 ( 2012-01), p. 3-28
Abstract:
A criminal conviction, if widely known, constitutes a life-long stigma that limits the convicted person’s employment and other opportunities. European countries, including Spain, recognizing an individual right of informational privacy and a societal interest in limiting recidivism, sharply restrict the dissemination of individual criminal history information. By contrast, the USA, in accordance with its commitments to judicial transparency, free speech and the individual’s right of self protection, allows (and even promotes) extensive dissemination of individual criminal history information. This article compares the profoundly different policies on providing public access to individual criminal history information in Spain and the USA, illuminating the cultural and legal values behind each country’s policies and the tensions both countries encounter in attempting to reconcile these policies with other socio-political values and goals.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
1462-4745
,
1741-3095
DOI:
10.1177/1462474511424677
Language:
English
Publisher:
SAGE Publications
Publication Date:
2012
detail.hit.zdb_id:
1491224-7
SSG:
2,1
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