CORI critics blast lack of accountability

Howard Manly

The unauthorized leak of state Senator Dianne Wilkerson’s son’s arrest record is under investigation by the Boston Police Department and the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office.

The Boston police department confirmed the investigation last week and has not reported any new developments on its probe. The release of Cornel Mills’ criminal arrest record was published in the Boston Globe on Nov. 11 and touched off a wave of criticism of the lack of enforcement and prosecution of law enforcement officials who disclose supposedly private information to the public.

“Because there is absolutely no accountability in the system, it’s imperative that the Criminal History Systems Board hold the police departments accountable,” said Lisa Thurau-Gray, managing director of Suffolk University’s Juvenile Justice Center. “Unfortunately, the CHSB’s efforts have not been adequate.”

Despite recent efforts to reform the access and public dissemination of individual criminal histories, enforcement of existing laws — and subsequent prosecution — has seldom received much attention. Close observers of CORI reform can only recall a handful of cases involving the prosecution of those in violation.

“These leaks should be prosecutable,” said City Councilor Stephen Murphy, one of the leaders of CORI reform, “especially considering that we are talking about an individual’s civil rights. What would be ironic about this is if we catch someone abusing the system, convict them, and then have the CORI come back and bite them.”

State laws call for a year imprisonment in a state house of correction and/or a $5,000 fine to willfully request, obtain or seek to obtain criminal background information under false pretenses. It’s also a crime to willfully communicate or seek to communicate such information to any agency or person not authorized to receive criminal background reports.

The CHSB can also require civil fines not to exceed the amount of $500 for each willful violation.

CHSB Executive Director Barry J. LaCroix, said that his office has investigated 10 complaints in the last year and have 12 additional cases pending review. LaCroix would not comment on any specific investigations.

As it is now, more than 10,000 agencies, including law enforcement, schools, day care centers, home health aides, youth athletic coaches, and municipal government entities, have access to CORI reports. More than 100,000 requests are processed every month.

As such, the system is rife with abuse. In an April letter to LaCroix, Thurau-Gray admonished the CHSB for its failure to ensure proper adherence to CORI laws. “In one case,” the letter stated, “a patrol supervisor… regularly released CORI information to citizens and a police officer in drug rehabilitation. This information was distributed for illegal purposes including ascertaining the home address of an attractive woman, checking for outstanding warrants for comrades in drug rehab and to enforce payment on a bill for another officer’s relative.

Because the CHSB failed to initiate proceedings against the officer, Thurau-Gray argued, “An arbitrator concluded that the officer’s repeated violations of CORI law could not have been that offensive and he significantly reduced the disciplinary action taken against the officer.”

“There is no affirmative effort to initiate spot-checking, no proposed regular review of listings or logs about where CORI has been disseminated, and no checks on how computer terminal access is maintained to ensure confidentiality,” Thurau-Gray wrote.

Of particular concern is the dissemination of information on juveniles. While it is debatable whether public housing officials should have access to such information, legal advocates suggest that such reports often determine whether a family can lose their housing.

“Once the information is out, the damage is done,” said Mia Kim, a staff attorney with the Legal Assistance Corporation of Central Massachusetts. “We have to be able to hold people responsible because there are too many gaps in the system.”

In the case of Wilkerson’s son, now 31 years old, none of his arrests led to any convictions. Suffolk County District Attorney Dan Conley told the Boston Globe that he was aware of Mill’s arrest record and, more importantly, Mill was honest and upfront.

Conley recently hired Mills to work as a civilian homicide investigator. During a press conference last week, Wilkerson lashed out at the media.

“Particularly egregious about the article is that my son has no convictions, is not a public official and the only newsworthy fact about the story was that he was my son,” Wilkerson said. “But the damage is done and I’m asking you all to back off my children. And my family.”