Crime isn't just something to read about in the papers, internet, or in a textbook. Crimes are real infractions against real laws. It's hard to find someone who has not broken some sort of law.
Go to Iowa Court Records OnLine http://www.iowacourts.state.ia.us/ESAWebApp/DefaultFrame
click on 'start a case search here'
click on 'case search' under the trial court heading
in the first two boxes type in your last name and your first name. Search yourself. click on the blue case number link to see the file. At the top of the screen it takes you to, you can click on other options. If it is a criminal offense, you can click on criminal charges and disposition. If it is a civil matter you can click on filings. Some fields are not available to you for free (terms not in brackets). Feel free to browse around. Were you surprised by anything you found about yourself?
Feel free to search others you know :)
You can also check out the Iowa Sex Offender Registry http://www.iowasexoffender.com/
click on search, and then map search. type in your address, and click on getting mapped results.
Keep in mind that though this information is a matter of public record, you should still search (and use the information you find) responsibly.
Provide a summary of your reactions to this activity. What does what you found tell you about laws and law breakers?
I’m surprised that literally anyone with access to the internet has access to this kind of information. While some of it is important for people to be aware of, like sex offenders living within miles of your home, I don’t think that anyone & everyone should be able to see your individual record and the nitty gritty details of it. If someone got a speeding ticket, I don’t think its necessary for everybody to be able to see how fast they were going and what their fine was down to the dollar amount. I guess as long as it’s the same for everyone, then it’s fair game, but I still don’t think it’s necessary. It’s one thing for the government to know so much, but thinking about how far this could go in the hands of the public is kind of scary. My mom thinks that pretty soon employers will have access to our health care information & that’s kind of a similar idea, so who says when too much is too much and it has gone too far? This kind of information could be used against somebody when it shouldn’t be, like the young man we talked about in class who had difficulty renting. Also, from my hometown in Illinois, some court trials are even starting to be televised. I just think that some things should be private, but deciphering what should be private and what should be public is another issue entirely.
I was aware of Iowa Courts Online before this blog. One thing that I find interesting is that everybody in the nation has access to a record. I feel that if more people knew this, they would probably try to watch what was put on their records. I have a few speeding tickets on mine. I was surprised to see that my 1st speeding ticket from when I was 16 was still on my record. I've been told that things go off a persons record once they turn 18. I'm sure this is a very useful tool for employers, or even families, who are looking for babysitter's and such. It's fascinating and frightening to know that the public can know this information about you. I feel that it falls on the fine line about privacy issues. I feel a little uncomfortable knowing everyone can see my record, even though there's only speeding tickets on it. I think that ICO could be a useful tool as long as it's not used to exploit the individuals on it.
I thought this assignment was very interesting to do. I believe that this information is important for the public to know in regards to the sex offender registry, and I am glad to know that it is allowed for public viewing by the government.
This assignment made me realize that even though people have broken laws and have cases that have went through the courts and even though people have been put on the registry, I don't think a person can fully judge a person by these labels put on them until knowing the full story behind the labels. Although, don't get me wrong, I do believe there are people out there who have these labels and deserve them for all they have done, but there are also some who were in the wrong place at the wrong time and put in an unfortunate situation. I guess it goes by saying that you can't fully judge a book by its' cover.
This assignment also taught me that laws do what they were put in place to do, protect the community. The fact that the registry is accessible by the public is a good call by the government in that it can help to prevent more crimes from occurring. The registry allows for the public to see what people to look for in neighborhoods where there are children and to keep the sense of security in our communities.
On the other hand, I am not so supportive of the court files being accessed by the public. I don't think it is fair that anyone and everyone can just search a person's name and get access to this personal information. The fact that a person's speeding tickets and amounts that they owed and all that detailed information shouldn't be any of the public's business. I completely understand why employers should be able to have access, but not the general public.
Overall, I thought this assignment was great!
After looking over these two websites, it was pleasing to find that my name did not appear for I have never had a ticket or violation of anything (luckily). Most of my friends that I looked up had speeding tickets or OWI tickets, which showed me how expensive it is to act stupidly.
Also, after searching the the sex offender website and typing in my current address I was slightly relieved to find that not too many people in my neighborhood area are part of the Iowa Sex Offender list, but the ones that did pop up within 2 miles included a few older men (about 50 or so) that had committed a sexual assault with males or females under the age of 13, which is quite disturbing. Additionally, I learned that committing a crime can be very public to anyone over the internet, which is obviously really embarrassing. I learned that most people on the Iowa Sex Offender Registry were probably just couples arguing or some rare situation of someone being involved with the wrong person at the wrong age.
Overall, I think it is a good thing to have these publicly open to anyone who wishes to view these cases because if someone doesn't want anyone to know what they have done or committed, maybe they shouldn't have acted on it in the first place. This assignment made me also realize that when people hear about someone committing a crime or being on the Sex Offender list, they think the worst at first until actually hearing the story behind the case. Lesson learned: don't judge a case by it's cover.
Iowa Courts online is a great website to learn more about an individual. I've taken advantage of this website before to learn about potential romantic interests. If they had a long arrest record for alcohol related offenses or any serious misdemeanors or felonies, I would steer clear from them. Any trouble that people get into will be known to the public and will be used against them. I’m going to try my best to keep my record as clean as possible because employers and other individuals will perceive my record as a reflection of my character just as I did with my potential romantic interests.
I am also happy to see that the sex offender list is available to the public. I am from a small town, so I was shocked to see that there are three sex offenders within five miles of my house. People with children should be aware of sex offenders in their town so they can protect their children’s safety. When I was a little girl, my mom would frequently check the sex offenders list and would show me the predator’s picture. I think every parent should be informed and proactive like my mother was. Perhaps if every parent was aware of the predators in their town, incidents of child abuse and other horrific events would be reduced.
I think that Iowa Courts Online and the Iowa Sex Offender Registry are both great tools to use. I have been on both websites prior to getting this assignment, so I knew that I wouldn't show up on either of the sites. I did search a bunch of my friends on Iowa Courts, though, and found a lot more tickets than the ones that they told me about, which was kind of a surprise. The Iowa Sex Offender Registry always kind of freaks me out. The pictures of the sex offenders always look super scary, and it makes me more aware of the number of sex offenders that live rather close to me. What I like about both of these sites is that anyone with access to the internet is able to look up records. I think it is important that these records are public. If you are moving into a new house and you have children, you might want to reconsider if the house next door is home to a registered sex offender. Or, before hiring that new employee, you might want to check Iowa Courts Online to make sure that they don't have anything bad on their record. Some people do not think that all of this information should be public, but I believe that it is important stuff to know. If you are going to break a law, just know that anyone from anywhere can search and find you and know what you did to get in trouble.
Before doing this assignment, I knew that everyone's records were public however I did not know that the records included so much detail. When searching for my friends, family, and myself I did not realize that I could figure out how much they paid or did not pay, if they had jail time, the specific crime they committed and other personal details. I believe that it is good to have these records available to the public. These records being public can help employers when hiring people to determine if they are correct for the job or for landlords when they are renting a house or apartment to a potential tenet. My aunt is the head of the HR department and she told me that she frequently used Iowa courts website to do background checks on potential employees. For her job there are certain rules she has to abide by when hiring someone, and if it is later determined the person she hired did have a previous record that violated those rules not only could that person be fired but she could too. I also believe that the other positive to having the Iowa court records public is that people will (or should) take into consideration the fact that what they do will become public and would hopefully deter people from doing stupid things.
The sex offenders list is always something that freaks me out a bit. When I put in my home address I was surprised to see how many sex offenders were located within a three mile radius. I was also surprised to find that I knew a couple of people that were listed as sex offenders. I do have mixed feelings though about the sex offenders list and how it is presented and what the criteria is to get on the list. Without clicking on someone’s picture and reading the full details of their case many people jump to the worst conclusions, similar to the outrageous cases they hear in the media. Some people are put on the sex offenders list because of a bad situation that sometimes, in my opinion, should not land them on the list. However I do feel that having this being a public record is a good thing. People that are looking to buy a house can determine if living in a close proximity to a person on the sex offenders list makes them uncomfortable especially if they have children. I feel overall that having both the Iowa courts and the sex offenders list public is a good thing
I was previously aware that I could do a search on background checks. Nonetheless, I still am surprised that the public has access to this information. I can see where it is useful though. Many employers ask to do background checks upon hiring a new person. This way, they can see how severe of a crime that person committed, or if they have committed one at all. I can see where it is applicable to those circumstances. I suppose, though, that if a person commits a crime, it is in fact public knowledge. It is just a little strange that anyone has access anyone's criminal record. It almost feels invasive, but there isn't much a person can do about it. The crime was committed, therefore, it should be seen as public information. The Iowa Sex Offender Registry was a little weird to look at. It makes me feel a little uneasy knowing that there are people like that living here in Cedar Falls. However, I did check my current address and only have one person registered in my proximity. This made me feel a little more safe, even though I realize they can be anywhere. It is good to have this website like this accessible to the public. For instance, it is useful to mothers deciding where to enroll their children in school. It is also somewhat helpful to college students trying to figure out where to live. I did notice on the website that information is updated hourly. That is good to know in case someone new is added to the list, or if someone moves. Overall, I found both of these websites to be very useful.
The thing that I find interesting about the Iowa Courts Online is that everybody has access to a person’s record. Even though it is very helpful for many people wanting to know someone’s record especially if they want to hire someone, but I do not think everyone should have this same ability. When I looked up my own name I thought that I had several tickets but to my amazement there were actually only two which made me very happy. I looked around the sex offender list and saw what some of the people’s crimes were, and it sickened me to think that legal adults would do something to a child 13 years or younger. One thing that didn’t surprise me was when I looked up the list for my hometown and there was no one, but that can also be because my town only has 120 people in it. When I looked up people near the dorms here at UNI though there were a few individuals who lived very close which is quite frightening when you think about it.
I have known about these two websites for a while but I have never taken the time to actually use them. It was really nice to search my name and have nothing come up but it was pretty amazing what I found for some people I know. It is pretty amazing that all of this information is just so readily available. Knowing that anyone can just look up the crimes that I or anyone have committed would just be another deterrent from breaking the law in my opinion.
I feel that the sex offender registry is a much more helpful website. It is nice to have the ability to check for known threats in an area, especially if you have children. Having the ability to look at why a person is on the registry is also very helpful because some issues are more serious than others. I don't believe that every registered sex offender is a criminal because for some it just happened to be a poor decision that turned wrong, such as someone 18 being charged for being with a person who is 17. Overall I think that both sites can be useful but overall the sex offender registry would be more useful.
I think that the Iowa Courts Online is a great tool that everyone has access to. Although you can't access everything without registering or signing up, you still have access to a vast amount of information about many cases. When I searched my name, I wasn't sure if my speeding ticket from long ago was going to show up or not, but gladly it was wiped off. Then I started searching my parents and my friends. I didn't find anything surprising or nothing I didn't know about. I just hadn't realized that they like to speed a lot.
The Iowa Sex Offender Registry is another great tool that is available to the public. Although some of the charges are more severe than what they seem because of the title of sex offender. I thought it was very neat that you can see the location of sex offenders in the area you live in or town. You can search a specific address and see the sex offenders in the area. Being able to see a name, picture, and location of the sex offender is a very useful tool. You can also see the specific offense that the offender committed and how old they were when they committed it.
Overall I think these two websites are very useful and can be used in a variety of situations. You can use the Iowa Courts to check the background of someone who you question or if you are moving to an new area you can see if there are any questionable people living in the area. When searching these two websites, you should use caution. You may find something out that you didn't want to know. But for the most part, these two sites are good tools that is open to the public.
First off, I find it interesting how much is qualified as public knowledge! I knew that these two search engines were out there and easily accessible, but it just reinforces the thought that so much is available to the public!
On Iowa Courts Online, I found myself with two very old violations...speeding tickets...one deserved and one TOTALLY not deserved! OK, not that that's off my chest...After I looked myself up, I looked up family and friends. I found out that my brother has WAY more tickets than my parents or I knew about! I could use that for blackmail.. I also found that there is man who has quite a record with the same name of my brother-in-law to be. My brother-in-law to be is very straight-laced and pretty innocent, so aspect could hurt a person if whoever is searching doesn't take the time to investigate further in the cases or people they are searching for instead of stopping at the name or the allegation/crime.
I think that the Iowa Sex Offender online registry is a great resource to have. I think it is important when buying or renting a home, having children, or just to know your surroundings. Of course not all of these registered sex offenders actually offended or abused someone, but it is a good reference to look into and do further research. I personally found that there are less than a dozen sex offenders living in a 10 mile radius of my home address. My hometown has a population of around 700, and the neighboring town has a population of 6,000. I realize that the smaller the location, the less amount of sex offenders there will be than in a larger location/city.
Overall, I think that these two websites are good resources for employers and families. I agree with other posts that it is important to remember what you're getting into when searching these sites and you may find some things that you really didn't want to and that you should also use caution when making quick judgement, thinking that the person you searched for is the person you found without further investigation, and keeping things confidential and not using these websites for personal gain.
I found that they Iowa Court Records and the Iowa Sex Offender Registry websites were very interesting, to say the least. Although I knew both sites were accessible, I can’t say that I have ever browsed around on either before now. It’s kind of addicting once you start to snoop around on your friends’ and family’s records. It’s actually quite amazing that this information is readily available for the public to access. Although I agree that it is useful to employers and other agencies that require background checks, I feel like random people being able to access this information may be a little too invasive. However, I do feel that it’s our responsibility to abide by our laws, so we should think about our actions if we do not want them publicly announced. Although most of the criminal charges I found were for speeding, anything unlawful, no matter how miniscule or terrible, is available to the public. The Sex Offender Registry is a great tool and should be utilized whenever possible. Though not all of the offenders listed are the complete creeps that people may preconceive them to be, it is always good to be aware of the people you are surrounded by. This tool is especially useful for families that have children. Overall, I think that both sources are very informative and practical in most situations. Nevertheless, I believe the information should be used responsibly and tactfully, regardless of how public it is.
Terms: Iowa Court Records, Iowa Sex Offender Registry, laws, background checks, speeding, unlawful, sex offenders, criminal charges, public
When I searched my name I discovered that I was the plaintiff in State of Iowa vs James Kurtis Garcia and the Defendant in State vs Nicole Smith. It actually wasn’t me. The name that appeared was actually Nicole Lynn Combs. Lynn is not my middle name. I did search my dad’s name and I found my parents’ divorce. I also found that my mom has had three speeding tickets. I didn’t find anything other than speeding tickets for anyone I searched. I really wasn’t surprised by anything I found on this site except that there is another Nicole Combs in the state of Iowa.
I searched the Iowa Sex Offender Registry website second. The first town I did was Plainfield, Iowa which is where my fiancé is from. I decided to go that route since we did both Cedar Falls and Waterloo in class. I also wanted to look at something that wouldn’t have a lot of results. There is one sex offender in Plainfield and he lives just two blocks away from my fiance’s family. In this case the individual was 22 when they were charged with “lascivious acts with a child.” The victim was ages 0-13. That one was a little scary. Next, I checked my hometown of Nashua, Iowa. There was only one individual within 5 miles. The individual is currently 69 years old. The case in question actually occurred in 1997. In this case it was child enticement with an exposed sex organ and the victim was 14-17 years old. I was actually kind of surprised that there only was one within five miles of my hometown. I figured there would be a few more. I searched several other towns including Charles City, Cresco, and Hudson. However, I really didn’t find much surprising. It was sort of interesting that there weren’t very many cases of female sex offenders. It would be interesting to know the proportion of male to female.
On the Iowa Courts website nothing really told me anything that I didn’t already know about law breakers. We have speeding laws to prevent accidents and these people violated those laws. Those were all cases where things were clear-cut. The cases that I found for sex offenders were also clear-cut. Exposing yourself to a young girl is inappropriate. However, some of the cases that we found in class were not so clear-cut. In several cases, the offender was 18 or 19 with the victim being 16 or 17. In most of those cases, it seems as though the offender was engaging in somewhat normal teenage behaviors with their classmates or significant other. In those cases, it makes me wonder if there should be another layer to the sex offender laws that takes into consideration classmates of similar age. However, a law like that would be very difficult to formulate without a lot of loopholes so it makes sense that the law is the way that it is. There is no perfect law.
Terms Used: Defendant, Plaintiff, Speeding, Iowa Sex Offender Registry, Sex Offender, Iowa Courts, Laws
I really enjoyed this assignment. I have used the Iowa court's online website before and I still go there sometimes and look up my family and friends information just for fun sometimes. I personally, don't mind whether these documents are privite or public. I think people who are so against it have something to hide.Since they are public, I can see many ways how they could be very useful. As for the other website, the Iowa Sex Offender Registry.I have never even heard of that before. I think that would be a very useful website for everyone. People should know who they have living next door to them. I'm sure employers check both of these websites just to know who they are dealing with. I sent the website to my family and friends who have children so they could check out their neighbors to see the different kinds of people they have living around them. They all thought it was very interesting and they were shocked by the results. I definitely want to have a family someday and when I buy a house I think I will consider the neighborhood and check the Iowa sex offender registry because I buy a house.
After having the opportunity to look around on the Iowa Courts website and the sex offenders website, I was surprised at the information you can find about anyone because the law is a matter of public record. When searching my own name I was curious to see what would show up, however I was not surprised when the only files were my previous speeding violations. Though I had few violations, the fact that any teacher, future employer, or peer for that matter can search me definitely made me think twice about how serious the law should be taken by the public. However, I was surprised when searching a few random names the fact that I could learn anything about their history with the law by just simply browsing this site. I do believe that it is important to be aware of the people you are surrounded by, therefore the sex offender site was very useful to understand the criminals that are living near me. This site would be especially important for families with small children, only to make them more aware and safe. I was a little taken aback by how thorough the site was by listing every case a person had against them, including slight infractions such as speeding tickets. However, I appreciate that the courts set a president by holding every violation of the law to the same standard and making every single one a matter of public record. This assignment helped me to have a better understanding of the law and the price one pays by breaking it, not just by fines, probation, or jail time but the price they continue to pay by having their crimes be public record, accessed by anyone.
Terms: law, public record, violations, criminals, infractions, courts, fines, probation, jail
I have known about these sites for a while. One of the classes that I had during the spring we actually looked at the Iowa Sex Offender Registry and looked around the Cedar Falls area at different sex offenders. It's crazy how little minor things that happen could put you on the registry, especially at a young age. I believe that before getting put on the registry it needs to be taken accounted for what exactly happened and if they should really be put on the registry. I think the Iowa Sex Offender Registry is a great site to know who surrounds you in a certain area that you may potentially be moving into. I'm just glad that when I looked around different areas of Waterloo and Cedar Falls area that I didn't recognize anybody.
I've also known about Iowa Courts for a while. Every once in a while my job will require me to look into the website and see if the person of interest has been arrested or has any been involved in any criminal activity. Luckily, when I searched my name I didn't have anything on my public record. When searching my parents names' they had a lot of stuff dealing with their divorce and my father also had a few speeding tickets as well under his record. I like the Iowa Courts website, it's honestly very useful especially when it comes to my job.
I really believe that both of these sites are very useful. Iowa Courts comes in handy very well sometimes when I have to look a certain person of interest up. I believe the Iowa Sex Offender Registry is also very important as well. As I stated before, if you are interested in moving to a new place and are a little worried about sex offenders that live around you, especially if you have children, the website gives you exactly where they live and there isn't any loopholes because any person convicted of anything that pertains to being a sex offender, has to pretty much let anybody and everybody know so that the community can be aware of their presence. Law enforcement will always have them in their system until otherwise stated.
Terms used: Iowa Sex Offender Registry, Iowa Courts, public record, law enforcement, sex offender
After I got going a little bit on Iowa Courts Online, it actually became a bit more for entertainment value than anything else. I showed up on there about 4 times. I also looked up my parents and some friends. Of course my parents are both clear. I noticed that the vast majority of offenses of my friends involve speeding tickets or something along those lines with a public intox peppered in. This site is a good way to look someone up. We've always been told that they're public records but I hadn't used the site before. As for the sex offender registry, after doing the map search, I couldn't help but be a little grossed out at the amount of sex offenders nearby. I saw at least three individuals that I went to school with on the site as well as two (former) of my high school teachers. I really like the map search because people deserve to know where potential threats reside.
I knew that I was not going to show up when I was searched. My record is completely clean save for one juvenile charge that was long ago expunged anyways because it was later proven to be false.
I then searched my father. I was expecting him to have a longer record than he did. He had one very minor speeding ticket from years ago. That was mind boggling to me because I know he often gets cited for property code violations. I figured they would be civil but they weren't listed in this database.
I did discover a few interesting things about friends though. Some things that should probably be kept private but are easily revealed with a simple unsecured search. I would think, that, if the individuals in question knew what it held they'd probably want to get it expunged. It generates an interesting dilemma for me because I could tell the cited individuals but it would also expose my knowledge of the charge that could be potentially embarrassing or humiliating.
Since im not from iowa I had to do some research on how to figure out how I could look up records from Illinois. I finally figured it out but then realized when I was typing my name in that nothing was going to come up since I dont have a record of any sort. So I looked up my parents and my brothers. My father had no record which i wasnt surprised at all and my mom just had to traffic violations. As for my brothers they both just had traffic violations.
When i looked up the sex offenders near my house back home i was a little scared because i have never looked that up, but when i searched it there was nothing in my neighborhood but just a few outside of it. So then i searched my apartment here in cedar falls but again there wasnt anything too close to us.
I have known that anyone can find this information using these search engines for a long time now. However, I have never searched either one. Today I searched my name and found 4 incidents, two speeding tickets and two proof of insurances. All in my younger days. I did enjoy searching some of my old high school buddy's court cases, brought back some memories. I was relieved to see that there were zero sex offenders living in my hometown. However there are 11 living within 2 miles of my current location. The sex offender search site is useful and makes people aware of potential threats to their children. The main thing that I took from the court records search was be careful what you do. If you mess up and do something stupid it's right there for the whole world to see.
Surprisingly, I did now about the Iowa Courts Online. I love this site because I can check out if my friends are behaving or not. I think the thing that is amazing is that it is in fact open to the public. I think this is a good resource if you need to check up on someone, especially when you are hiring a person to do something. I think that people shouldn't be judged by the things they have done in the past. Its about what they are doing right now that we should look at.
I was kind of worried when I looked at the sex offenders for my town and surrounding areas. Only two showed up, but had no restrictions. Luckily, it isn't like someone who raped a kid. This website I think is the most important one to look at. Especially when you are moving in somewhere new, it is also important to look at what the incident was. Some people were just probably couples that where different ages, which is very sad to say that their name has been tainted.
Overall these websites just show the importance of keeping your name clear. For the fact, that everything can go up on the web. So, think before you act.
I had a little to much fun with this assignment to say the least. However, when searching myself I was not surprised with what I saw. I had two guilty charges for seat belt and speeding.One thing that I was surprised about was the fact that it had listed the case that I was a victim in under my records. It listed me as a witness, which is true, and gave further detail on the case and its charges. How much you can find out about a person on these sights is pretty detailed. I was curious if I ever had a job interview should I make them aware this is on my record or would them talking about it ever happen? Some things I found on others was the most surprising to me. My next experience was on the Iowa Sex offender registry. I used my father's address and found he was surrounded by sex offenders. I also am aware that there is a park right by his house that is busy with young children. This makes me think about when I decide to have children and how where I live is never going to be sex offender free. It seemed many of the sex offenders do not have restrictions on their living, therefore, their case is less severe. I want to become more knowledgeable about each charge and its restrictions before judging based on these public records. I do have understanding for people in the wrong place at the wrong time. Overall, this experience just made me more personally aware of myself and those close to me.
After interacting with these sites for a while, I am pleasantly surprised to see such a practical application of technology. These sites provide almost instantaneous and very detailed information concerning public record.
In the past, i imagine that obtaining this information would be a hassle just because of the time one would be required to spend let alone the mental wear that comes with dealing with bureaucracy. Now that this information can be found online, even children can stay up to date and get informed about what infractions have occurred around them and who was responsible.
I feel like these sites, especially the sex offender registry, can provide a significant margin of safety and control in communities around the country. Its also a lot of fun to be able to snoop on the records of friends and family.
These websites are extremely interesting! I quickly searched some of my family and friends and was surprised by how few tickets my grandpa has received. I, thankfully, was not surprised by my own record.
When I searched the area surrounding my house on the sex offender registry, I had to search a ten mile radius in order to find any offenders. Only one offender lived in the nearest town. These small numbers are definitely directly related to the sparse population.
Prior to this assignment, I knew that search databases like these existed but I did not realize that everyone could use them. Additionally, I did not realize that it is extremely easy to end up on these lists.I wonder if advertising these websites would have an affect on the number of tickets/offenses persons earn.
Being an out-of-state student, I was not able to find myself, my family, or some of my friends on the Iowa Court Records. However, Wisconsin, where I am from, has their own public records website. I have used this website many times in the past. My family stems from working in the criminal justice system. My grandfather was a police officer along with my dad and a few of my uncles and cousins. My aunt showed me the Wisconsin Court Records (http://wcca.wicourts.gov) because she uses it for her job sometimes and I have used it to look up friends, family, coaches, coworkers, etc. I find the site very interesting and love to see what dirt I can find on people. Even with these tools to find out people’s hidden information, I do feel that the site should be used with caution, along with the Sex Offender Registry. Sometimes people make mistakes or get caught in a sticky situation, and I believe that people should not be judged by their past. So while the information on both these sites is accurate and interesting, I feel that people should remember you can’t learn everything about a person by one website. I really do enjoy these websites though and will continue to search for interesting information on both of them.
My first impression of the website and the information it portrays was astonishment. I assumed this type of information was rarely given out and I was amazed at how easily I could obtain it. Although it surprised me, I am grateful the information is publicly available.
I am grateful that the information is available for future instances where it may be of use. For example, I may use this website when I am searching for a babysitter or a daycare. I can search the people that I am considering hiring to view their criminal records. If they are a sex offender (depending on criteria for their label) I may not hire them. Another example would include a family looking to buy a house. They may do a search for sex offenders in the area which may influence their decision on where to live.
Although these websites may be helpful, they can also be harmful. People may be on the sex offender list for a crime as simple as peeing in public. Although this crime may be seen as harmless to may people, having the label as a sex offender may automatically bring up a red flag for most people. It may bring up a red flag even if people don't know why a certain person is labeled as one.
What I discovered from this website is to not judge someone so readily based on their past or labels. This website gives me a different perspective on laws and law breakers. Some laws I may not agree with such as being so easily labeled as a sex offender for reasons such as peeing in public. It also has given me an insight that law breakers are not necessarily bad people. Sometimes law breakers are people who broke the law for the right reasons, or happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.
Overall when viewing people on these websites for future purposes, I will try my best not to judge them too readily while also being cautious. I also believe that some laws take situations too far but are there for a reason.
I am used the Iowa Courts online prior to this assignment. I have searched myself and many others. Mine showed up just as I assumed they would, even the first time I looked. I knew my ticket had been dismissed at that's just how it shows up. That is also the only thing listed under my name. I do find it surprising how much of this information is "public knowledge" just by going to the website.
The sex offender registry bothers me because when you search there always seems to be someone that is located near you. I know some cases may have been from when they were younger and that conviction is just something that sticks with you. They may not be a repeated offender but it still shows up. I think both websites are very beneficial when hiring people or looking for a new place to live if you are starting a family. You just never know.
What surprised me most about the background search was finding someone with my name. I have never even received a ticket so there is nothing listed for me, and when I search including my middle name there are no results found. There is however a woman with the same first and last name as me as well as the same middle initial. She has several charges against her including several speeding violations, providing alcohol to a minor, drunk driving, public intox, and harassment. Her birth date is only a few years off from mine. This may be something I will have to explain in the future if someone who doesn't really know what they are doing tries to run a background check on me.
I was pleasantly surprised to see that there are no registered sex offenders living within a two mile radius of me. I was expecting there to be at least a couple because I live in and am surrounded by apartments. I guess just because there are more people around me I expected there to be sex offenders closer.
When we first learned about this website and I think I was most taken aback from all the information that is out there about people. I didn't realize that everyone's criminal record is on the internet for anyone and everyone to see. We talked today in class about how people were worried about their address being out there for public use and I believe criminal record, although you can't nessecarily be tracked through it is just as, if not more personal.
I looked up myself and found my speeding ticket from a while ago. I also looked up my friends and roommates and found their various traffic infringements and thankfully nothing more. My roommates boyfriend warned me before-hand that he had a mild charge where he was drinking and driving and his liscence was taken away. But surprisingly it didn't show up on the court system online and he had only was only charged about a year ago. So I figured that after a while they go away. I thought it was really nice that it was really easy to look up anything you needed. I mean if it's going to be public anyway it might as well as be easy to get to if you need it for any reason.
When I searched my current Cedar Falls address I didnt get many hits around my apartment but when I checked my hometown address in Marion, there isn't much around my house but when I get within 5 miles, the numbers are still not significant but I did figure out what a couple of my former schoolmates have been up to since graduating! Although their offenses weren't severe (in my judgement anyway) I was surprised to see their pictures pop up.
I knew about the sex offenders registry because it has been on the news and in a lot of controversy lately and I believe since it began. Although I do think that the registry is important and that it provides a much needed protection for people I can also see the negative side of having a list out there like this one. It would be very simple for someone who was angry enough to go out and smash up a sex offenders house. The list tells you who they are, what they look like and where they live and that is definately more information then you probably even need to cause some serious damage. I had a very heated discussion with my roommate on this topic. She feels that this registry doesn't need to be available to everyone, that only the police need access to this kind of information and putting it in the hands of everyone else just makes it dangerous. Like I mentioned I can see her point of view but given the fact that sex offenders although not all of them are dangerous, they do have a high rate of reoffending, people have the right to know who their neighbors are and if they are potentially dangerous. Sex offenders give up the right to privacy when they commit a crime like that. Assumably they know the risks and still continue with the crime. There were fewer
I have previously been on this website, therefore have already tried to dig up all the dirt I can on anybody! Unfortunately, I don't have as exciting friends as I thought I did! I did do some random searches for random people and found that to be quite interesting. I looked up all my relatives as well and only found quite the collection of speeding tickets between our immediate family members - 37 to be exact. Ouch! I think this website is very interesting and provides information that I think could be useful.
On the sex offender registry, I found more than I wanted to within a mile of my house. I thought it was very useful to be able to see the person and the crime that they committed, whether it be severe or not. I think it's nice to know what they were convicted of so you can be more informed. I also searched my hometown address and was relieved to only find one in a 5 mile radius. When I searched in a 10 mile radius, I found quite a few more than I expected. Thankfully though, no one that I knew! I was a little worried about that being as I come from a very small town.
Overall though, I definitely think these websites are a good thing. They provide people with the information that they need to know and they are quite easy to maneuver through!
I was rather surprised we, as average citizens, had access to this information about EVERY ONE. I found some rather interesting information about friends, family, co-workers, teachers, etc. It also encourages me to care a little bit more about my speeding tickets, because apparently everyone can look them up. It also added another reason to not do anything worse than speed (Or have an expired registration by 3 days).
However, I think if someone breaks a crime, they lose their right to privacy (of the knowledge of the crime). Granted, that doesn't mean I'm going to be making Facebook statuses showing how many hgih school classmates have been arrested, received MIP's, etc. I just think it is useful for employing purposes, especially private employers that may not have access to that type of information elsewhere.
I really enjoyed looking through the CSI Handbook. It really helped to spell out when and what should be done when entering or being around a crime scene. It requires a lot of detailed notes and descriptions to help record the events upon arrival and the condition of the crime scene. It was slightly astonishing at how many responsibilities every person involved in CSI have. From the initial responder to the detectives that take over the process involves a thorough process of communicating what all has happened. The Handbook also helps point out exactly how easily one can contaminate a crime scene, in turn ruining evidence, which is why so many precautions are taken.
The TAL stories helped to talk about different aspects of a crime scene. I found the second story to be the most interesting. It amazed me that law enforcement doesn't handle the cleaning of a crime scene. The fact that certain procedures have to be met and followed also means that most people cannot properly clean up a crime scene even if it is in their own house. This would naturally lead to somebody creating a business to do what the general public can't. I just feel that taking that job would bring a slight amount of social stigma because it is a fairly gruesome profession.
Terms: CSI, evidence, crime scene, detective