Sealed records

[concerned1]

What is the name of your state?Montana

Please bear with me as I don't know where to go with this let alone explain my question.

As a juvenile, a person is punished for a crime by being placed in foster care. At the end of the "sentence", that record is sealed. What happens, if during the course of court proceedings for the foster home, the juvenile record is revealed and posted on the Internet? Can anything be done to those specific court records (which are posted on the Internet and "pop" when the person's name is put into a search engine) to recover the confidentiality of those sealed records? I don't know if anything can be done. The person is no longer a minor but I find this kind of disturbing. Where would one even start with something like this?

Thanks in advance!!

 

[CdwJava]

Are we talking about a web site where someone scanned the document in and pasted it? Or, are we talking about background search engines such as Lexis-Nexis or Merlin?

If the latter, it's possible because those sites annually purchase court records from states and counties and enter the data into their own systems. Since the records were open when they received them, the fact that they might later be "sealed" does not effect them because the documents they possessed were legally purchased and available. That information is then retrievable for a fee from those sites.

Many people are discovering that documents they thought had been sealed are retrievable via these systems. In fact, even law enforcement has found it to be a great information tool because we can retrieve documents that we might not otherwise be able to find due to court ordered sealing or expungement.

- Carl

 

[concerned1]

This is a court site where records from a lawsuit that finished and recorded in 1996 (6 years after the minor reached majority) are posted. When the paper is read, it looks like they intended to keep the persons identity confidential by using first name and last initial. Further through the paper, he is mentioned by full name, and offense. The lawsuit was over the amount of money the foster home thought they were contracted to receive and never did from the state. I'm not sure there is anything that can be done but it is worth checking out. Truly amazing what a search engine can pull up!!

 

[CdwJava]

Probably not much that CAN be done since it was a lawsuit and suits are public record for the most part.

- Carl

 

[concerned1]

So nothing can be done to protect the person who's records were sealed MANY years before? Would it be out in left field to ask the actual court to simply block the person's last name in that document? I appreciate your help!!

 

[CdwJava]

In most cases a record is not sealed automatically. A petition must be presented to the court requesting it. Additionally, this usually effects only those documents pertaining solely to the juvenile as a suspect in a criminal proceeding and not necessarily to every case ever involving the juvenile. Sealing or redacting those documents would likely take a seperate order.

- Carl

 

[concerned1]

I am assuming that the original was sealed as it doesn't come up on any background checks. I guess we just leave it as is though that seems unfair. I truly appreciate all your help in this matter!!