Catholics for the abolishment of "Freedom of Information Legislation"

[markomalley]

I hate the freedom of information act.

It causes millions of impoverished minorities and ex-cons to be held down and suppressed by those in power. Are there any other Catholics like me who want to abolish this stupid act.

First of all, the Freedom of Information Act has absolutely nothing to do with your criminal record. FOIA applies to the Executive Branch of the Federal Government. It does not apply to the courts nor does it apply to any state government (I am assuming that your trial and conviction happened in a state court,not a federal court).

Secondly, your right to a public trial is a very precious right, up there with the right to confront your accuser and the right to have an attorney. You should be very thankful of those rights. If you didn’t have those rights, there would be nothing to stop the government from coming to get you in the middle of the night, convicting you of a crime with evidence that you are not even able to see, and to whisk you off to a prison and keep you incommunicado for as long as they like.

Part of your trial being a public trial is having the court records available for examination by the public.

Is there a downside…sure. Prospective employers are members of the public and so have a right to know if you have been convicted of a crime.

I won’t support you in trying to take the right of a public trial away from me. Sorry.

As for your specific situation: did your employer ask you in your job application if you’d been convicted of a DUI in the (insert time period here)? Did they ask you in your job application if you’d been convicted of any crime in the (insert time period here)?

If they didn’t and you didn’t lie about your conviction, you might have a case for a wrongful termination. (If they hired you either knowing about the conviction or not bothering to ask about it then they screwed up and you shouldn’t be penalized…unless you gave them some job-related cause to take action)

On the other hand, if you lied about it on your job application, then that would be your problem, wouldn’t it?

 

[TEPO]

In December of 2008 I was passing by a corner in Chandler, Arizona. Many day laborers. My cousin asked “How much?” There was not one in that dozen willing to work for under $20/hour. There is work out there but you are tied to your union, for better or worse. I bet that corner is going to be empty soon.

As far as the FOIA, I am glad that I can find out information on people that I do not give my trust to right away. Un-Christian, maybe, but I am not easily taken advantage of either. That is where my definition of liberty differs from yours. I like the program telling me who is on the opposing team. Your in my prayers. Been there and done that too by the way and became better because of the lumps. Thank God I never killed anyone, especially a family like I have now; I would have blown my brains out.

Peace, Graubo

Oh, you mean those Mexicans downtown by the courthouse in Chandler…? Yeh, I know that area very well…

But one other question… Would you also be glad if you could find out informaion on peoples MEDICAL records as well…? I mean heck, since the govornment might someday soon control those “records” as well, maybe employers might want to know who has AIDS, or hepatitis, or the clap…?

Oh sure, I mean we want to know who on the opposing team has bloodborrne pathogens that could potentially kill us, right…? We would’nt want those types of people working for us now would we…?

 

[TEPO]

First of all, the Freedom of Information Act has absolutely nothing to do with your criminal record. FOIA applies to the Executive Branch of the Federal Government. It does not apply to the courts nor does it apply to any state government (I am assuming that your trial and conviction happened in a state court,not a federal court).

Secondly, your right to a public trial is a very precious right, up there with the right to confront your accuser and the right to have an attorney. You should be very thankful of those rights. If you didn’t have those rights, there would be nothing to stop the government from coming to get you in the middle of the night, convicting you of a crime with evidence that you are not even able to see, and to whisk you off to a prison and keep you incommunicado for as long as they like.

Part of your trial being a public trial is having the court records available for examination by the public.

Is there a downside…sure. Prospective employers are members of the public and so have a right to know if you have been convicted of a crime.

I won’t support you in trying to take the right of a public trial away from me. Sorry.

Well, I guess I do agree that a public trial is a good thing, only because the people can keep an eye on big brother if he decides to become unruly… Then we have our right to organize and bear arms if he gets really unruly… :hey_bud: npatrol: Oops, did I write that out-loud…?

Anyways, I still think that it is unfair that people get their throats stepped on and held down by those who run the show… I still think that’s why those on welfare are kept on welfare, and the unemployed stay unemployed… I just wish there was a way to stop this unfairness. It dosent need to be all one way or the other… There has to be some middle ground - dosent there…?

As for your specific situation: did your employer ask you in your job application if you’d been convicted of a DUI in the (insert time period here)? Did they ask you in your job application if you’d been convicted of any crime in the (insert time period here)?

If they didn’t and you didn’t lie about your conviction, you might have a case for a wrongful termination. (If they hired you either knowing about the conviction or not bothering to ask about it then they screwed up and you shouldn’t be penalized…unless you gave them some job-related cause to take action)

On the other hand, if you lied about it on your job application, then that would be your problem, wouldn’t it?

No, the employer never asked whether I had a DUI at all… Very basic application and no, I did’nt lie.

But on the bright side, I took another call today for a contractor that I used to work for, and I think I might just have a chance.

(if I stop posting for a while, you will know things went well)

 

[TEPO]

First of all, I doubt you ever gave this a second thought until it happened to you. Right?

Your statement is sad but true…

Someday soon I will forget about this mission and carry on with my own life continuing where I left off… But at least I’ll be able to say I did all that I could when I could.

Hopefully soon I’ll be too busy to post here on CAF anymore.

 

[markomalley]

No, the employer never asked whether I had a DUI at all… Very basic application and no, I did’nt lie.

Well, there you go. Sounds almost like you might want to contact an attorney to see if there is an unlawful termination lawsuit.

(Having said that, it would be legitimate for the employer to put you in non-driving duty for a while, due to the DUI, but methinks he’d have to pay you the same)

But on the bright side, I took another call today for a contractor that I used to work for, and I think I might just have a chance.

(if I stop posting for a while, you will know things went well)

Of course, my above comments might be completely moot.

Congrats. Hope all goes well!!!

 

[St_Francis]

Your statement is sad but true…

Someday soon I will forget about this mission and carry on with my own life continuing where I left off… But at least I’ll be able to say I did all that I could when I could.

Hopefully soon I’ll be too busy to post here on CAF anymore.

Well, I do hope you find work, and that if you do you pray for others who are looking for work.

 

[Zatzat]

I got a DUI in my personal vehicle back in '08 and lost my job. I work on the high voltage lines so I need a CDL (commercial DL) to accept a job from the Union. Now that I finally got my CDL back, I’ve been fired because the employer told me that if I had a DUI in the past 5 years I cannot work…

So my career is put on hold for 5 years and I’m not even a trucker…

I mean if my Driving record was that bad, then they would not have given me my CDL back in the first place, right…

Especially after all the counseling and madd classes and defensive driving and 1 year suspension, and breathelizer device installed in my car, etc, etc, etc… I’ve jumped through enough hoops.

…you blame the government?

Don’t drink and drive.

Problem solved.

If you’re still not happy, move to a country where there are no laws against drinking and driving.

 

[Zatzat]

Liberty my friend, Liberty is the ability to find work… And because America continues to ignore it, is why we have inner-city crime rates out the roof, illegal immigration, and a load of other problems…

Wake-up…!

I’m glad that Americans, like Canadians, have the liberty to find out who has and who hasn’t got a criminal record when hiring employee’s and volunteers.

If I were a business owner and had 50 applications, where one person had a criminal record…I’d be very pleased to consider the other 49 applicants and be thankful that I was able to find out about the one prospective employee who ran afoul of the law.