Legal Question in Constitutional Law in Tennessee

legal rights violation

A former student of mine got caught up in a criminal situation involving her boyfriend making a drug deal from her home. She was not home at the time, claims no previous knowledge of his activities and tested negative for drugs in her system. She was charged in the matter and a hearing is pending. Meanwhile she is looking for work. All prospective employers have run criminal background checks and have found this charge in the system, causing them to refuse her employment. My question is regarding the legality of this practice of including indictments in the records provided in these background checks. I recently served as a juror on a criminal trail and can vividly recall the Judge's strong words regarding a person's innocence until convicted. We were ordered not to view the indictment itsself as any type of evidence of guilt. I see a double standard here and am wondering if this young woman's rights are being violated.


Asked on 3/15/07, 2:19 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Edward Hoffman Law Offices of Edward A. Hoffman

Re: legal rights violation

Only the finder of fact at trial (whether a jury or the judge) is required to presume that the defendant is innocent, and even then only in the course of their duties as factfinders. It would make little sense to require employers who know an applicant is charged with a crime to pretend they don't know, let alone to presume that the applicant is innocent.

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Answered on 3/15/07, 4:13 pm


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