They're including everything from traffic violations to felonies. I guess it wouldn't be as interesting of a statistic if they explained what it actually was.
> between 70 million and 100 million Americans, or as many as one in three American adults—have some type of criminal record. Many have been convicted of only minor offenses, such as misdemeanors—and many only have arrests that never led to a conviction.
Regardless, at some point every one of those parents was hauled before a judge by armed agents of the State and deprived of life, liberty or property. That's a psychologically scarring experience. The helplessness that one feels once in the judicial system is not something I'd wish on half of the population.
Traffic violations now count as "criminal record"? According to what definition of "criminal"?
I mean, I'm not saying you're wrong, but this is so intuitively wrong that I wonder if you (or the article) is using a non-standard definition of "criminal". If not, is this a change? Has it always been defined this way?
There are two types of crimes: criminal and civil. In most states, traffic violations are covered by criminal law. This is why many forms that ask about a criminal record say 'excluding traffic violations', or something to that effect.
> There are two types of crimes: criminal and civil.
Nope, "crimes" are by definition "criminal".
> In most states, traffic violations are covered by criminal law.
That's...complicated. Minor traffic offenses (often styled as "infractions") are treated in so.e ways as if they were crimes, but are generally not technically criminal (they neither have the kinds of penalties that require them to be crimes nor afford the procedural protections that are constitutionally required for criminal charges.)
Kind of. Speeding tickets are generally under criminal law. However, they are in a procedural limbo where they are treated in many respects as civil. There is a concern that things like speeding cameras would not hold up under criminal law if they were significantly challenged, but to my knowledge, that has not happened at a high enough level yet.
1. I guess this is the origin of "lies, damn lies, and statistics". You can manipulate statistics to paint any picture you want, really.
2. They're probably pulling the information from the number of people who have an FBI number or an SID number. You get one of those if you've ever been so much as charged, regardless of whether or not you get convicted. Here's an example of a source that cares whether or not you even have such a number: when I legally changed my name a few years ago, my court petition had a section that said "Have you ever been charged with a Class A or B misdemeanor or a felony? [] Yes [] No. If yes -- write your FBI or SID numbers, if known: FBI #_______ SID#_______"
OK, but then my question becomes "are traffic violations class A or B misdemeanors"? IANAL, but I think that in almost all cases the answer is "no". You don't get 3 months in jail for speeding (unless there's been a total miscarriage of justice, or unless there was more involved than just the speeding).
