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RAPSHEETLOGO

Millions of New Yorkers are stuck with mistakes
on their criminal records that they didn’t create.
Fixing them is their own problem.

arrests

The Rap-Sheet Trap: Mistaken Arrest Records Haunt Millions

CUNY investigative team | March 3, 2015

New York’s law enforcement system is great at arresting people, but lousy at keeping track of how the records of those encounters are handled.

arrests

The Rap-Sheet Trap: The 7-Year Quest to Fix 1 Skewed Sheet

Laura Bult and Rosa Goldensohn | March 3, 2015

Kevin Cleare marched from a police precinct to district attorneys’ offices to courthouses in an effort to clear up mistakes that had somehow burrowed deep into his criminal record history.

arrests

The Rap-Sheet Trap: One Man Vs. a Multitude of Errors

Briana Duggan | March 3, 2015

One of every two people at Rikers Island has mistakes on their record. Frank Murphy is working to correct them, one by one.

arrests

The Rap-Sheet Trap: Legislature Falls Down on Fixes

Rebecca Bratek and Terence Cullen | March 3, 2015

In Albany, only a handful of legislators have tried to get government to fix its own mistakes.

Investigations

The Rap-Sheet Trap: A Q&A on Rap Sheets

CUNY investigative team | March 3, 2015

Millions of New Yorkers have mistakes on their criminal “rap sheets” that are extraordinarily difficult to fix. But what is a RAP-sheet? Who gets to see it? How do you see yours?

Criminal Justice

The Rap-Sheet Trap: A Resource Guide

CUNY investigative team | March 3, 2015

These organizations offer help and advice to people fighting a bad rap sheet:

THE JOB BOARD

Related

The stories in this series were reported by Sarah Barrett, Melanie Bencosme, Rebecca Bratek, Laura Bult, Terence Cullen, Briana Duggan, Erica Edwards, Natalie Fertig, Frank Green, Rosa Goldensohn, Victoria Johnson, Caroline Lewis and Rikki Reyna. The project was conducted in a class on urban investigative reporting at the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism taught by Errol Louis and Tom Robbins who served as editors with assistance by Jack D’Isidoro.

City Limits uses investigative journalism through the prism of New York City to identify urban problems, examine their causes, explore solutions, and equip communities to take action.

Founded in 1976 in the midst of New York’s fiscal crisis, City Limits exists to inform democracy and equip citizens to create a more just city. The organization is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit funded by foundation support, ad sponsorship and donations from readers.

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