From StarTribune.com: In the future, a new state law will limit public access to nonviolent crime records for 16- and 17-year-olds. It’s part of a comprehensive legislative effort to get offenders … past a permanent roadblock that often leads back to a jail cell.
“Over time, juvenile delinquency records have become the Facebook of court records,” said retired Anoka County District Judge Michael Roith. “Every misstep by a child was immediately put on the Internet. The data pendulum is starting to swing the other way.”
Minnesota is one of a small number of states that make juvenile criminal records public at the point when someone is charged. …
The problem with this level of availability of records is that an employer or landlord may skim and find the initial charges but not review the entire file for the case’s final disposition, said Mark Haase, vice president of the Council on Crime and Justice. That organization led the drive for the new legislation.