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The Trend Toward Free Background Checks - Federal, State & Local Governments Open Access to Records
The Center For Democracy & Technology conducts surveys of the practices of federal, state and local courts in making information public via the Internet. It finds a wide variety of practices and policies, and an important, nearly singular trend. Courts and other government background check services are making their records available to anyone via the Internet, often for free.
Free background checks are being offered by many government sources. Are background checks becoming an "open source" service?
Governments are making records available that span statewide background check services to many instances of single jurisdictions, such as county-level courts, providing Internet access to their records. Some governments provide access to both criminal and civil records while others restrict users' access to records that may contain sensitive background check information. And while some governments offer free comprehensive access to their background check services, many others charge users a range of fees for Internet access.
On the one hand, moving to post background check services to the Internet represents a hushed upheaval in transparency and accountability for both individuals and government, part of a rapidly shifting social reality. Public access to electronic court background check services provides a convenient way for the public to broaden government checks and balances and ensure the fairness and equality of its operations.
Concurrent to the trend towards background check transparency, governments are struggling to find balance, such as balancing privacy and accountability. What information should be available Internet? Many governments make judicial opinions at the appellate levels freely available Internet but do not offer Internet access to trial court proceedings, which generally contain more detailed and sensitive evidence. Others offer access to trial court dockets and a variety of other information at the trial level. Should a distinction be drawn between civil cases and criminal background check access? Another set of issues concern cost. Is it appropriate to charge for Internet access? Does a subscription or fee-based system unfairly discriminate against those who cannot afford fees for background check services? Do fees exclude everyday citizens? Questions like these pose a significant challenge to governments attempting to design background check services.
In addition to exclusions that may be caused by background check fees, there's a knowledge gap. Very few citizens are aware that the information is available to them, much less what type or how to find it. Yet, for example, the entire Federal Court System is open to all. A search can lead to the federal government's registry for all federal criminal, civil, bankruptcy and tax cases, for example. The federal registry charges 8-cents per search.
County courthouse websites can be located, many of which offer free searches of criminal, civil and traffic court cases. Also, Secretary Of State records can be accessed, giving users free background check information on business ownership and transactions.
In addition the web offers articles on important issues and laws, such as those surrounding privacy rights. Guideline for conducting background checks can also be found.
It provides anyone with the ability to search and locate individuals and businesses, criminal and civil court records, property records, bankruptcies, liens, judgments, tax cases, business records, employment histories, federal government exclusion lists, OFAC records, FDA debarment records, healthcare sanctions records -- in short, information to conduct a thorough background background check.
There remains quite a bit of secrecy and misunderstanding surrounding background checks. In part because it was long the domain of private investigators who kept the tricks of the trade to themselves, such as the mythology "nationwide criminal records databases" that report criminal records from every jurisdiction in the United States. No such background check exists.
Many commercial background check companies offer database searches that cover many jurisdictions in the majority of states, but they are all incomplete. Commercial nationwide criminal records databases can cover a lot of ground and inexpensively. So, they are worthwhile. However, they may not include the jurisdiction needed. The FBI's Criminal Justice Information Services Division manages the National Crime Information Center, a database of nationwide criminal records. It is the most complete source of records, yet even it is not perfect. Most misdemeanors are not included in the database and many county and state records never make their way to the FBI. En route to the FBI from counties and states there are breakdowns in the process.
All this to say, you can do your own, free background checks. However, it's not always straightforward, you may need to do some homework to do it right.
Don't Over Buy Or Over Commit
During tough economic times every business is under pressure
to figure out ways to maintain their current sales and obviously find ways to
increase sales. Many of us have just returned from the granddaddy of all shows,
the ASD show in Las Vegas.
The vendors exhibiting seemed upbeat and between the Sands and Mandalay Bay Convention Centers,
there were thousands of these vendors to choose from. But if you spent any time
talking beyond what products were being sold, you definitely felt the
underlying current that business is very tough in our industry. 2 driving
factors have the suppliers in the industry very concerned. First is their major
accounts are slowing down how quickly they pay their bills; and second the
average order size is down.
When you are in the closeout and inexpensive goods industry,
a slow down in payments can be a death wish for companies on the bubble.
Finding the right closeouts at the right price usually requires the right cash,
and if the suppliers’ cash flow is interrupted because of a slowdown in
payments coming in, they can’t close the deals that they once could when
business was normal. This does have a snowball effect, because now stores
aren’t going to be exposed to the same number of quality deals and it slows
down the entire beat of the industry.
This in turn is one reason why the average sale was down for
this show. Another reason is the slowdown in growth during January and
February. Stores sell less during the first part of 2008 which clogs up open to
buy and they have less to spend because the shelves do not need to be
replenished at the same rate.
A third reason is we believe what we read and in today’s
news of downturn and recession, we all get the jitters in how far out we are
willing to step in when it comes to predicting the future.
So, is this spiral the industry is experiencing short term
or long term? Our combined psychic will determine that for the long run, so to
protect yourself in the short run, don’t over buy or over commit.
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Beat Last Year
Now that Black Friday and Cyber Monday are in the past, how does your business really look. Are you going to beat last year?
Welcome everyone to the retail community
The decisions you made 3-6 months ago on how you were going
to market your company during the holiday season are now in play. Were you
right? Is the economy or customer buying habits any different from what you
thought it would be? Let’s also look into the future together. What pressures
do you see on retailers to survive the first quarter? What are you going to
have to do differently to beat last year’s numbers? Do you see any real
merchandising trends that will drive your business? Are online sales going to
make or break your company?
This is a community of entrepreneurial retailers who thought
they had a better idea then the chains and have put their heart and soul into
realizing their dreams. We gather here not as competitors, but as forward
thinking business people who share the common goal of making a difference in
the retail world for our customers and employees. By sharing our thoughts and
insights, we can make that difference.
