The other day, I decided to browse online for a friend of mine's suspected criminal record. It's a long story, and the details would probably bore you all, so I'll skip to the part where I discovered that it's really hard to find a "free" court case record search. I searched for Court case+free+[name removed] in just about every combination that I could think of, but just when I thought I was about to see the person's criminal history, BAM - "please enter your credit card information for further results."

Sure, I wanted to know whether or not this person had a crazy criminal mind, but I wasn't about to pay for it. That would make me pretty crazy myself. A few days went by, then I heard about this site. If you want to know about a Missourian's criminal history, this site will give you a few details about the ones that they didn't get fixed. (You know, pay $200 and it's suddenly a non-moving violation.)

Anyway, it turns out that this acquaintance of mine is a felon - literally. She pleaded guilty to credit card fraud, which means that every time she applies for a new job and they ask if you have committed any serious crimes against the U.S. government, she checks the "yes" box. Yikes.

I don't know about you all, but it certainly surprised me. I mean, she doesn't seem like the criminal type, which made me wonder who else I know might not be as innocent as they appear. I then proceeded to spend way too much time finding out who I knew that had traffic tickets, alcohol violations and more. I even have a couple of friends who check this before going on dates with new guys to see their prior marital status.

It does kind-of freak me out that anyone can type in anyone's name find out such personal information (which makes me start to wonder if I should be promoting this...), but it is nice to know if your friends or acquaintances have committed any serious crimes.

Know anyone who has been in the clinker?