NCJ Number
73485
Date Published
1979
Length
30 pages
Annotation
This is the report of a 1-day privacy conference of Federal, State, and local officals who met to assess the trends in criminal justice information policy.
Abstract
The first part of this report presents an edited version of the briefing paper that was distributed to roundtable participants before the meeting. It reviews important criminal justice information developments in the 1970's in three areas: Federal legislation and regulations, State legislation and regulations, and State and Federal case law. The two Federal statutes reviewed are the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and the Privacy Act. Perhaps the most visible impact of the FOIA and the Privacy Act upon Federal criminal justice information practices has been the tremendous increase in the number of requests from subjects made to the Department of Justice and other Federal law enforcement agencies for access to their criminal justice records. The impact of LEAA regulations on State statutes is examined; results of an LEAA survey of State criminal justice information statutory law in 1974 and 1977 are presented. Federal and State case law is analyzed concerning personal information, record management, subject access, and third party disclosure. The second part of this report summarizes the presentations and discussions, including remarks make by a panel of State officials, and the discussions that followed these prepared presentations. Two fundamental points emerged from the conference. First, there appears to be a growing consensus that criminal history records should be more widely available. Second, the focus of the criminal justice information policy debate may be shifting toward those issues that concern access to personal data by governmental and criminal justice agencies for investigative purposes. Criminal justice information definitions are appended. Footnotes and a list of conference participants are provided. (Author abstract modified).