IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/anname/v665y2016i1p127-141.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Found Out and Opting Out

Author

Listed:
  • Sarah Esther Lageson

Abstract

Online criminal histories document and publicize even minor brushes with the law and represent people who may not even be guilty of any crime. This has dramatically changed the relationship that millions of Americans have with the criminal justice system and may affect their social and private lives. Drawing on interviews and fieldwork with people attempting to expunge and legally seal their criminal records, I explore how online versions of these records impact family relationships. Many who appear on mug shot and criminal history websites are arrestees who are never formally charged or convicted of a crime. The indiscriminate posting of all types of justice contact on websites may impact those who, for the most part, desist from crime and are core contributors to their family and community. I find that many of those who are affected by the stigma of online records did not know that records existed until they “popped up†unexpectedly, and that this experience leads them to self-select out of family duties that contribute to child well-being.

Suggested Citation

  • Sarah Esther Lageson, 2016. "Found Out and Opting Out," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 665(1), pages 127-141, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:anname:v:665:y:2016:i:1:p:127-141
    DOI: 10.1177/0002716215625053
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0002716215625053
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0002716215625053?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lars H. Andersen, 2016. "How Children’s Educational Outcomes and Criminality Vary by Duration and Frequency of Paternal Incarceration," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 665(1), pages 149-170, May.
    2. Robert Apel, 2016. "The Effects of Jail and Prison Confinement on Cohabitation and Marriage," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 665(1), pages 103-126, May.
    3. Bjerk, David, 2005. "Making the Crime Fit the Penalty: The Role of Prosecutorial Discretion under Mandatory Minimum Sentencing," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 48(2), pages 591-625, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sara Wakefield & Hedwig Lee & Christopher Wildeman, 2016. "Tough on Crime, Tough on Families? Criminal Justice and Family Life in America," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 665(1), pages 8-21, May.
    2. Lawrence M. Berger & Maria Cancian & Laura Cuesta & Jennifer L. Noyes, 2016. "Families at the Intersection of the Criminal Justice and Child Protective Services Systems," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 665(1), pages 171-194, May.
    3. Sara Wakefield & Kathleen Powell, 2016. "Distinguishing Petty Offenders from Serious Criminals in the Estimation of Family Life Effects," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 665(1), pages 195-212, May.
    4. Richard T. Boylan, 2012. "The Effect of Punishment Severity on Plea Bargaining," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 55(3), pages 565-591.
    5. Signe Hald Andersen, 2016. "Drinking Alone? The Effect of an Alcohol Treatment Program on Relationship Stability for Convicted Drunk Drivers in Denmark," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 665(1), pages 46-62, May.
    6. Samantha Bielen & Peter Grajzl, 2021. "Prosecution or Persecution? Extraneous Events and Prosecutorial Decisions," Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 18(4), pages 765-800, December.
    7. Bindler, Anna & Hjalmarsson, Randi, 2016. "The Fall of Capital Punishment and the Rise of Prisons: How Punishment Severity Affects Jury Verdicts," Working Papers in Economics 674, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics.
    8. Freeborn, Beth & Hartmann, Monica, 2009. "Judicial Discretion and Sentencing Behavior," MPRA Paper 13880, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Randi Hjalmarsson & Matthew J. Lindquist, 2022. "The Health Effects of Prison," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 14(4), pages 234-270, October.
    10. Jeffrey Penney & Steven Lehrer & Emilia Galan, 2024. "Mandatory minimum sentencing and its effect on sentencing distributions: Evidence from Canada," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 57(1), pages 55-77, February.
    11. Fusako Tsuchimoto & Libor Dusek, 2009. "Responses to More Severe Punishment in the Courtroom: Evidence from Truth-in-Sentencing Laws," CERGE-EI Working Papers wp403, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague.
    12. David Bjerk, 2017. "Mandatory Minimums and the Sentencing of Federal Drug Crimes," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 46(1), pages 93-128.
    13. Alma Cohen & Alon Klement & Zvika Neeman, 2015. "Judicial Decision Making: A Dynamic Reputation Approach," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 44(S1), pages 133-159.
    14. Diaz, Carmen L. & Lowder, Evan Marie & Northcutt Bohmert, Miriam & Ying, Michelle & Hatfield, Troy, 2024. "A retrospective study of the role of probation revocation in future criminal justice involvement," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    15. M. Marit Rehavi & Sonja B. Starr, 2014. "Racial Disparity in Federal Criminal Sentences," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 122(6), pages 1320-1354.
    16. Jakub Drapal & Michal Soltes, 2021. "Sentencing Decisions Around Quantity Thresholds: Theory and Experiment," CERGE-EI Working Papers wp715, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague.
    17. Bjerk, David J., 2016. "Mandatory Minimum Policy Reform and the Sentencing of Crack Cocaine Defendants: An Analysis of the Fair Sentencing Act," IZA Discussion Papers 10237, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    18. Estelle, Sarah M. & Phillips, David C., 2018. "Smart sentencing guidelines: The effect of marginal policy changes on recidivism," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 270-293.
    19. David S. Abrams, 2012. "Estimating the Deterrent Effect of Incarceration Using Sentencing Enhancements," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 4(4), pages 32-56, October.
    20. Christmann, Robin, 2018. "Prosecution and Conviction under Hindsight Bias in Adversary Legal Systems," MPRA Paper 84870, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:anname:v:665:y:2016:i:1:p:127-141. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.