Security and Safety

Benton-Franklin County ,

By Pasha S.

WHEREAS, The practice of expunging juvenile arrest records prevents society from acting on the fact that those who have committed crimes in the past are likely to commit crimes in the future and ergo should be treated differently from true first-time offenders, and
WHEREAS, Employers can’t know whether potential employees are more prone to stealing or other criminal behaviors, and
WHEREAS, The system was originally designed to deal with the delinquents who stole a toy truck from the toy store, not those who mug the elderly, and

WHEREAS, Juvenile records are routinely withheld, making the police’s job much more difficult, and
WHEREAS, It has been made nearly impossible to collect meaningful data about juvenile delinquents, making it difficult to evaluate rehabilitation and crime prevention programs, and
WHEREAS, Juveniles are the fastest growing segment among violent offenders (FBI estimates a 57 percent increase in criminal activity every decade), and

WHEREAS, Studies found that 73.2 percent of repeated offenders repeat within 10 years of their first appearance in juvenile court;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, While expungement may be appropriate for the onetime child offender (who presumably has been rehabilitated), it is inappropriate for a young chronic criminal who, based on the number of incidents or seriousness of the crime, shows no rehabilitative potential and should, therefore be unachievable for such.

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