More on Connecticut's Public Criminal Records

The competition to sell your personal information such as public records of your criminal history continues to heat up. As I noted before, Ct is one of the few states that currently has a free state sponsored criminal record search.

Now, there are even private companies widely advertising on google and gmail for their services, even though the state offers a free version.

Information is becoming a commodity. Even free information is being resold and repackaged at a profit. In the age of vast online recordkeeping, privacy is becoming a thing of the past.

And for public information, you really need to expect it to become widely available to anyone at anytime.

If a criminal record could hold you back in life, whether now or ten years from now, consider fighting your criminal case, and looking for every conceivable opportunity to keep you from getting a criminal record.

Because once it is out there, it will never disappear. Even if you hope to be able to get a Connecticut charge and conviction expunged in the future, that past information could easily still pop up.

Data never goes away, it's always copied somewhere. Expungement could become a myth.

Your best chance to keep a criminal record from ruining your life is before you are convicted.

Connecticut Sex Offender Laws

Governor Rell just signed a law closing a loophole in Connecticut's Sex Offender Laws. The new law makes it more difficult for a registered sex offender in Connecticut to change his or her name. A person must now declare the reason and intent for the name change to the courts, and the commissioner of public safety can challenge those reasons and the name change itself.

Being branded as a registered sex offender in Connecticut can seriously ruin your life. While there is a clear need to protect the public from dangerous sex offenders, there are also many cases when simple and innocent criminal charges in Connecticut can result in sex offender registration.

Public urination, statutory rape charges resulting from consensual sex between kids only a couple of years apart (if one happens to be of legal age) and many other situations can get you in a dangerous area. And prosecutors are often not sympathetic in these cases, even when the punishment nowhere near fits the crime. A criminal record that includes a sex offense registry can have a horrific impact on the future opportunities of a young person. It can follow you for the rest of your life, especially here in CT where all criminal charges are easily accessible public records.

If you are facing a criminal charge in Connecticut where you might be at risk of a conviction resulting in a sex offender registry requirement, please contact our Connecticut criminal law offices for a legal consultation on what you can do to prevent this from happening.

Connecticut Hate Crime Law

Governor Jodi Rell signed a new hate crimes law that makes it a criminal charge in Connecticut to display a noose as a means of harassing or threatening someone.

The new law will go into effect on October 1, 2008 and was supported unanimously by the state legislature as well as the Division of Criminal Justice and and Connecticut Police Chiefs Association. The legislation resulted from some a number of recent incidents of displays of nooses in West Hartford, Stamford, Bridgeport, and New London, CT.

Connecticut Crime Bill Veto?

Governor Rell may veto the crime bill, thought to be a signature achievement of the administration, for budgetary reasons.

The proposed would toughen criminal sentences for some violent crimes in the wake of some recent high profile home invasions and murders in Connecticut. But the sticking point is with the cost (up to $10 million) of the increased enforcement and criminal justice expenses, from additional prosecutors and parole officers, to more state police detectives to investigate and solve these horrific crimes.

Budgetary problems are impacting law enforcement efforts and new criminal legislation across the country. Also in the news, the Governor of Tennessee announced he is abandoning plans to toughen DUI laws due to budgetary constraints. That bill was also considered a high priority before the reality of state financial shortfalls halted progress on the new laws.

All Connecticut Criminal Convictions Online for Public Search!

All criminal and traffic convictions in Connecticut are now posted online for free and easy access.

Criminal records have always been public records, but in the past it's been something of a bureaucratic challenge for most people to dig them up. But know we are entering an era where this kind of information is quickly and instantly available.

It is now easy to imagine a day in the very near future when a Google search will instantly show your criminal conviction for anyone doing a search on your name.

A criminal conviction in Connecticut will not just follow you around for the rest of your life, but can brand you for all to see.

Now more than ever, you need an experienced criminal defense lawyer to defend you in court. You will want an attorney who will do everything possible to try to avoid a "life sentence" to your online existence.

Now is the only time you can do anything about it. Once you plead guilty, it is too late.