NCJ Number
118390
Date Published
1983
Length
43 pages
Annotation
The computerization of juvenile court records is placing new pressures on the juvenile justice system to find ways of controlling what information is kept and who has access to it.
Abstract
The Institute of Judicial Administration (IJA) and the American Bar Association (ABA) have promulgated juvenile justice standards, one of which deals with the individual's right of privacy. U.S. Supreme Court decisions have ruled that an individual may not assert a constitutional right of privacy with respect to records held by third parties, even if the content of those records reveals highly personal and sensitive matters. Thus deprived of a constitutional basis for regulating information systems confidentiality, privacy advocates have placed their hopes in legislatures. Significant achievements in privacy issues have been attained at the State level, despite growing political obstacles. Nine States have privacy acts, modeled roughly on the Federal statute, which regulate State government data banks. Various States have passed statutes protecting insurance, employment, bank, and tax records; restricting the use of polygraphs; giving patients access to their medical records; and protecting automated criminal history record systems. Developments in computer technology, however, have outstripped some of the protective strategies embodied in the IJA-ABA standards for juvenile records. Further, certain implementation and enforcement methods proposed in the standards have not developed as expected, and automation has changed juvenile agency record systems in ways that may affect the relationship between juvenile agencies and their clients. Specific IJA-ABA standards for juvenile court records are appended. 57 references.