Severe delays in background check processing are causing trouble across California, floundering job and housing applications while making it harder for employers and landlords to screen for criminal records.
The situation stems from a state appeals court ruling more than three years ago that industry experts said prevented background screeners and any court researchers from using birth dates or driver’s license information to narrow searches when investigating a person’s criminal history. Result range.
The 2021 decision in All of Us or None of Us v. Hamrick stemmed from a case brought by criminal justice reform advocates who have long argued that background checks lead to discrimination against formerly incarcerated people.
A 4th District Court of Appeal panel ruled that the Riverside County Superior Court website allowed users to enter their birth dates and driver’s license numbers when searching for criminal records, violating a state court rule that says such information should be excluded. From a court “index” accessible “electronically” to the public.
“After considering the text, history, and purpose of the rule,” the justices concluded that state courts should limit the public’s search criteria, effectively eliminating the use of date of birth and driver’s license number.
Industry experts say these PINs have long been used to match individuals to their records, and without them it would be nearly impossible to conduct searches involving common names.
“This is an unprecedented interpretation,” said Melissa Sorenson, executive director of the Professional Background Screening Association. “Every court is trying to figure out how to comply.”
Delays are particularly severe in Los Angeles County, where background check companies receive about 100,000 screening requests each month.
“Right now, Los Angeles County is an example of what’s unsustainable,” Sorensen said.
Sorensen said residents who share a name or a long history in the area may have to wait months or even years for background checks to be completed, if they are even possible at all.
Since the 2021 appeal ruling was handed down, the court will need time to adjust. Los Angeles Superior Court announce its changess In February.
“For example, what the background filter can do is plug in Jose Rodriguez, because it’s a relatively common name in Los Angeles, so you can get hundreds to thousands of results,” Sorenson said. “We cannot filter based on any other identifier.”
Los Angeles Superior Court said the date of birth is included in court files.
“These restrictions require background investigators to seek information about common individuals and visit the court where the court file is located to determine whether the information they obtain in an electronic criminal record search applies to the person they are questioning,” the court said in an electronic letter. in the mail.
The court limits the number of case files that any court can retrieve for a petitioner to five per day. For names with thousands of results, it is impractical to check every entity file.
At the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center, the county’s busiest criminal clerk’s office, additional court services assistants have been assigned to assist with document viewing requests. The court said the current waiting time for withdrawing multiple documents at once is three to five days.
In a message seen by The Times, background check company Sterling sent a notice to customers earlier this year explaining the situation.
“With this change, it will become more difficult to accurately identify individuals during background checks in Los Angeles County courts,” the company said. “Delays in criminal examinations in Los Angeles County are expected to increase. … Some searches are being closed because they cannot be performed.
Sterling did not respond to a request for comment. On a Reddit online forum, Los Angeles residents common concerns Their background checks were not completed in a timely manner.
“Sterling can’t get this done!” one user wrote. Another netizen said: “Very anxious. I have been unemployed for a month now.”
In 2022, Governor Gavin Newsom Veto Senate Bill 1262which would allow forensic researchers to search for individuals using their date of birth without making that date public.
“This bill would overturn a 2021 appeals court ruling and current court rules that strike a fair balance between public access to court records, public safety, and individuals’ constitutional rights to privacy,” Newsom wrote after closing the bill. “
The nonprofit Legal Services for Prisoners with Children argued for a veto, saying the bill “is sponsored by commercial background check companies … without regard to the interests of formerly incarcerated or convicted persons.”
Eric Sapp, staff attorney for the Oakland-based organization, noted that when background checks are authorized and required by law, local authorities have an obligation to provide relevant information and ensure compliance.
“There is no need for background check companies to intervene in these situations,” he said.
“We absolutely believe that background checks are overused and often useless for the purposes for which they are used,” he said. “Criminal background checks as they currently exist may not be a viable model in the near future.”
Joshua Kim, lead attorney for the plaintiffs in the Hamrick case, said he was not aware of housing and job applications being blocked but said any such problems were the fault of the background check industry, not courts that follow the law. ‘s fault.
“If in fact there are delays in people’s housing and employment opportunities because the background check companies are unable to complete their work, then that could create another legal liability for them,” he said.
Thirty-seven states have adopted so-called “ban the box” policies that prohibit inquiries into a job applicant’s criminal history before making an offer of employment, but many employers still seek to vet job applicants, especially those required to work with vulnerable populations. Work population may involve access to sensitive information.
“The fundamental question we’ve been asking in the reentry legal community is whether background checks are effective in screening out dangerous workers,” King said.
But some Angelenos are frustrated by the current state of affairs.
South Pasadena mother Erin Chang waited months for approval to work as a summer camp aide for her disabled son. A background check must pass before the state can pay for the assistant, Zhang said.
Although the check cleared before camp began, Zhang had to pay for the aide out of her own pocket and said she would seek reimbursement.
“Training camp ends next week, but we haven’t solved it yet,” Zhang said. “The explanation they gave was that she had a common name and there was a backlog.”
Outside of Los Angeles, other counties are making similar changes to comply with court rules. San Luis Obispo County announced last month it was changing the date of birth and driver’s license information in court search engines, and Orange County is rumored to do the same soon, said Sorenson of the background check trade group.
“This is not just a Los Angeles County problem,” she said. “If an employer has a candidate with California history, they may have to turn to other candidates.”
