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USM report busts myth that juvenile criminal records are sealed at 18
The widespread misconception means records that people think are blocked from view can come back to haunt them later in life.
Lawyers, court clerks, corrections officers and even judges in the juvenile justice system are unwittingly responsible for spreading a myth about juvenile court records that can harm offenders years after they successfully leave the court system, a study by two USM researchers has found.
In interviews and focus groups with more than 200 people, researchers from the University of Southern Maine’s Muskie School of Public Service describe the widespread misconception that juvenile court records are automatically sealed when an offender turns 18.
But in Maine and 23 other states, that is simply not true, said Susy Hawes and Erica King, authors of the 82-page report “Unsealed Fate: The Unintended Consequences of Inadequate Safeguarding of Juvenile Records in Maine.”
“The myth of records being sealed automatically at 18 was being repeated by so many different players,” said Hawes. “Everyone we spoke to in the system had that belief. It’s the vicious cycle of believing something and then hearing it again and believing it.”
Not only was the misconception pervasive, Hawes and King found that juvenile records that show up on background checks are practically indistinguishable from adult criminal charges.
The report and its findings will be the subject of a panel discussion Thursday among attorneys, prosecutors and offenders involved in the juvenile justice system.
While the goal of the adult justice system is to determine guilt and punish those responsible as a way to deter crime, the juvenile system is more holistic, seeking to rehabilitate young people so they can rejoin their communities and be healthy, productive citizens.
But even after a youth has fulfilled the court’s requirements and moved on with his or her life, the consequences of a past transgression can come roaring back.
In excerpts from interviews with former juvenile offenders conducted during the research, Hawes and King found that many former offenders lost jobs when employers found out about a juvenile charge that they believed would be hidden from public view.
In one case, a teenager from Aroostook County was charged with theft. During his court process, his biggest concern was whether the charge could come back to haunt him later, and he asked the court during the hearings.
“The judge clearly said no,” the Aroostook man told the researchers. “He told me my court case would be closed, it would be a sealed case, sealed document.”
Several years later, when the man was in his late 20s, he was hired at a job and withheld information about his juvenile charge. When the human resources department questioned him about the inconsistency, he explained to them it was a juvenile record. The employer asked for proof.
The young man went to the courthouse to request copies of his juvenile file, but he was denied because the file was sealed, a clerk told him. He would have to petition a judge to get copies, he was told.
“All this after I was told my juvenile record would have no effect on my future employment,” he told the researchers. “But somehow my place of employment finds out and then I can’t even have access to my own case file?”
The man did not end up losing his job, but he felt he was wronged by the judicial system.
“It takes one day to ruin a reputation and half a lifetime to rebuild it,” the man said.
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