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Legal Blog

Tags >> Criminal Law

As most people are aware there are a lot of concerns about social media with issues of privacy and concerns about who you and your children might be “friending”.   In today’s legal climate there are a lot of legal risks associated with the internet that people are not aware of.  It is a fairly common practice for school resource police officers to troll social media for students who might be on YouTube, Facebook, My Space and other social media tools, to monitor their activities.  In some cases they have taken out criminal complaints if what they found on the social media appears to be a crime.

I just recently had one case in which the school resource officer went as far as charging my client along with a friend of his with the eavesdropping statute for essentially taking a video of another party, supposedly without that other party’s permission.  You do see charges whether it is an assault or minor in possession or other crimes that can be viewed. 

In addition, it is a common practice among probation officers to look for the probationers and their friends on social media networks to see if there are any posting or pictures showing in violations of their probation.  This might include minor in possession of alcohol or talking about it or marijuana or other questioning activities.  I have been in court where I have seen children who have ended up being committed to DYS or the house of corrections based on what was posted on the social media networks.


There are a lot of misconceptions about criminal records in MA.  There is for all practical purposes no expunging of records in MA.  CWOF, not guilty, dismissals and the like do continue to appear on your CORI and CARI.  There are different levels of people who can have access to your records and  who will be able to see both the adult and juvenile record.  How you resolve a case impacts issues related to employment, housing, firearms, immigration, schooling and a hots of other issues.  You need to realize this when focusing on resolving a case now.  

 There are different ways to seal your adult and juvenile records in different circumstance.  They can potentially be done through the commissioner of probation who has strict requirements to satisfy and the courts.  If considering sealing your record make sure that you get a copy of your record before seeking to have it sealed.  Some out of state employers will require to see you record if if sealed.  In addition, sealing your record can hurt in terms of immigration purposes.  However, sealing your record may significantly help with some employment, housing and other issues.  If your record is sealed most people accessing your record will see that you have no record.  You should consult an attorney before taking any of these steps.