FBI warning: Extremists want to drive our school buses
The FBI stirred up a firestorm this month by issuing a bulletin to police warning that suspected members of extremist groups had signed up as school bus drivers. Naturally, this got immediate media attention. The FBI then held a press conference during which they appeared to be playing down the risk. A spokesman said, "Parents and children have nothing to fear" and "There are no threats, no plots and no history leading us to believe there is any reason for concern." They added that most drivers were seeking jobs for legitimate reasons. However, the complete text of the bulletin was [...]
Medical background checks and the OIG exclusions list
Certain professions require more specialized screening than the traditional background check. Medical providers fall into this category. In this post we explore the medical exclusions database provided by the U.S. Office of the Inspector General (OIG), and how it is used for medical employment screening. The OIG exclusions list is a powerful tool established by Congress to "prevent certain individuals and businesses from participating in Federally-funded health care programs". Specifically, the Federal government will not pay for any items furnished, ordered, or prescribed by an excluded person or business. Violations of this policy can be quite costly, at $10,000 per [...]
The dilemma of volunteer background checks
The Red Cross recently made a public relations error. In the wake of fraudulent activity connected with Hurricane Katrina, they decided to implement a background check for all of their volunteers. Their background check release form, however, went beyond the standard waiver to examine criminal records. It included permission to pull credit reports as well. Not surprisingly, many people felt that this was very intrusive and the Red Cross ultimately removed references to credit reports from its release form. How did the Red Cross make such a mistake? Apparently they had been considering using background checks since 2004. Like many [...]
Background checks, custody battles, and Anna Nicole Smith
Since Anna Nicole Smith's death, a firestorm has broken out over her seemingly drug-related death, and custody of her child. Where there is money, there are lawyers, and many allegations of criminal activity have been made. In the latest round, the social services department has ordered a background check on Anna's mother as well as two former boyfriends, all of them laying claim to the wealthy baby. Anna Nicole Smith spent much of her life in court, and it seems the pattern is likely to continue for her child. Smith was known to associate with some interesting characters, so the [...]
Green is for sex offender
Pity the poor sex offender. They have to register their address, can't live near schools and playgrounds, and their names are available for all to see at the national sex offender registry. And now, things are about to get worse. Ohio is considering a bill that would require sex offenders to put flourescent pink license plates on their cars. Apparently, this is not as original as I first thought. Drunk drivers in many states are required to have special colors on their license plates as well. But Ohio would be the first to have them for this particular type of [...]
Keeping the world safe for internet dating
Overlawyered.com recently described a New Jersey bill which would require internet dating sites to post prominent notices regarding criminal background checks for their members. The sites are required to post in 12-point type whether or not they have done a background check on their users. If the site has run the criminal checks, they are then required to post numerous disclaimers that it doesn't really mean anything because their background checks are seriously flawed. Either way, not meant to give a potential dater a warm and fuzzy feeling. It is a little amusing to see how this is turning out, [...]