The Right To Be Forgotten: The Current Rolls Out Process To Remove Names From Dated Stories On Minor Crimes

Today, the Current is launching a “Right To Be Forgotten” initiative. What does that mean?

Here’s the background. Every week, the Current covers the criminal cases brought before the Nantucket District Court, and we publish everything without fear or favor, with the exception of minor motor vehicle offenses. We do this because criminal justice is important, and reporting how our local courts handle criminal cases provides transparency and accountability. It can also reveal trends and uncover instances when justice is not served.

For criminal defendants, these stories can often follow them long after their cases have been resolved, even years after they have served their probation or jail time. Some people refer to this as the “Google stain.” Their mistakes continue to haunt them long after the fact, affecting job opportunities and personal relationships.

At the Current, we sympathize with how difficult that can be, which is why today we are implementing a “Right To Be Forgotten” policy. A one-time mistake should not negatively impact someone for the rest of their life. This policy will allow individuals charged with minor crimes and identified in our weekly court reports to request that their name be removed from the published story and that it be deindexed from Google searches and other search engines.

To facilitate these requests and remove our own judgment from the process, we will utilize a long-established court process called “expungement” that individuals use to clear their criminal records. Those who have reached their final criminal case disposition, successfully completed any probation and/or jail time, and can provide proof of expungement will be eligible to have their names removed from our published stories. Violent and sexual offenders will not be eligible to request a retraction, nor will elected and public officials, or celebrities. There may be other considerations that would lead us to decide to preserve stories in certain cases.

The Current will continue to cover Nantucket District Court and Nantucket Superior Court as we always have.

Requests under this new initiative may be emailed to our court reporter David Creed at davidcreed@n-magazine.com