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Can you just publish someone's criminal record if you are making a documentary/tv program?

posted 7 months ago by Chomsky89 (437)
4 replies | jump to latest

Whether it is an actual crime or just a disappearance/death where crime might have taken place, you often get to know a lot about the lives of 4-5 named suspects. Sometimes the crimes mentioned are very different, like petty crime, but still mentioned because they live very close to the crime scene or was spotted at the crime scene.

If someone from Oregon stole a chocolate bar and later moved to Minnesota looking to rent a flat, could the landlord easily find this info online?

This was probably obvious, but I am not American of course.

[–] Luffy (1236) 7 months ago

You can, especially if you work for a major tabloid.

[–] WandererFromYs (2403) 7 months ago

Arrest records are public record, anyone can view them, and a lot of the info can even be found online.

In case of a tv show/documentary. They probably need to be sure that they are linking the right person to the crime.

[–] nyctc7 (44088) 7 months ago

I believe that it is an axiom in (American) law that truth is a defense to defamation. In other words if say something negative about a person (criminal record), and it's true, you are ok.

As to your second question about renting an apartment, there are screening services that landlords utilize to simultaneously run credit checks, criminal checks, and other records. Scroll down to "Why Does The Type Of Criminal Record Matter?" to see that petty theft should not be treated the same as murder.
https://rentprep.com/blog/tenant-screening-news/what-does-rental-background-check-show/

[–] DarthAckbar (2295) 7 months ago

all court records are publicly available here