FamilyMan
Fidelis ad Mortem
First, in many state's it is illegal to ask about arrests as opposed to convictions in job applications, with certain exceptions of course. It doesn't mean it doesn't appear on applications.
My GL, does not ask about arrest or charges in our petition. Why does yours ask? There could be very many reasons why...
Do you remember OJ Simpson? He was very publicly charged and arrested with a felony... and he was found not guilty in a court of law. Would you sign OJ's petition in light of his trial, after all, he was found not guilty... maybe you would, maybe you wouldn't.
OJ was later found liable for wrongful death in civil court. How about now, would you sign his petition? I mean, he was found liable for wrongful death, sure, but he was found not-guilty of the criminal charges.
Criminal court requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt for a conviction, whereas civil courts require only a preponderance of evidence for a judgement against the defendant.
Yes, law enforcement does make mistakes from time to time, and I am sure the wrong person, somewhere, at sometime, has been arrested and charged with a felony he had not part in. But in the real world, other things happen too. People get charged with a felony, and then work out a plea deal with the prosecutor to only plead to a lesser included misdemeanor charge. This works out for all parties. The defendant doesn't have to go to court and risk a conviction at the felony level (and if his attorney is advising him to take the plea deal, it's likely because the attorney is fairly certain that his client will be convicted) and the prosecutor doesn't have to spend 100's of hours prepping for a trial. This doesn't mean that the person who was charged with a felony originally didn't in fact commit the felony, only that he was not convicted of it.
In any case, I think that a "yes" answer to "arrested or charged" and a "no" answer to "convicted" would result in a little bit more digging by the investigatory committee. ICs have given unfavorable reports on candidates with misdemeanor records (and no felonies), and unfavorable reports on people with clean criminal records too. Remember, the petition is a screening tool, another tool we use when searching for more light on the candidate.
My GL, does not ask about arrest or charges in our petition. Why does yours ask? There could be very many reasons why...
Do you remember OJ Simpson? He was very publicly charged and arrested with a felony... and he was found not guilty in a court of law. Would you sign OJ's petition in light of his trial, after all, he was found not guilty... maybe you would, maybe you wouldn't.
OJ was later found liable for wrongful death in civil court. How about now, would you sign his petition? I mean, he was found liable for wrongful death, sure, but he was found not-guilty of the criminal charges.
Criminal court requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt for a conviction, whereas civil courts require only a preponderance of evidence for a judgement against the defendant.
Yes, law enforcement does make mistakes from time to time, and I am sure the wrong person, somewhere, at sometime, has been arrested and charged with a felony he had not part in. But in the real world, other things happen too. People get charged with a felony, and then work out a plea deal with the prosecutor to only plead to a lesser included misdemeanor charge. This works out for all parties. The defendant doesn't have to go to court and risk a conviction at the felony level (and if his attorney is advising him to take the plea deal, it's likely because the attorney is fairly certain that his client will be convicted) and the prosecutor doesn't have to spend 100's of hours prepping for a trial. This doesn't mean that the person who was charged with a felony originally didn't in fact commit the felony, only that he was not convicted of it.
In any case, I think that a "yes" answer to "arrested or charged" and a "no" answer to "convicted" would result in a little bit more digging by the investigatory committee. ICs have given unfavorable reports on candidates with misdemeanor records (and no felonies), and unfavorable reports on people with clean criminal records too. Remember, the petition is a screening tool, another tool we use when searching for more light on the candidate.
I will ask the reason for the question being there on the petition but I think you may have already given the reasons.