The state’s elected officials are right to ask the Department of Corrections to slow down on its plan to publish an online list of all state prison inmates and probationers.

The department was scheduled to publish the list of approximately 10,000 names in about two months. Many states already maintain such a list as an aide to police and also for the benefit of crime victims who want to know the status of a person convicted in their case.

That seems like a reasonable idea and one — in concept only — that we support.

This is already public information, if you have the time and know-how to get it. But many people don’t and an online, searchable site would be a convenient way for police and the public to find out what they already have a right — and often a need — to know.

But, like a lot of such internet “advances,” there could be unintended consequences. That’s what Gov. John Baldacci and the key legislators are worried about and they want a chance to ask questions and have a say in when and how this happens.

Associate Commissioner of Corrections Denise Lord said that the list would include the names of persons serving time or on probation for the full range of criminal offenses, but that names would be deleted after probation is served. The information would include name, birth date, offense, sentence, projected release date and a physical description — all already public information. This registry would not include the home addresses of the offenders, which should quiet some of the critics.

The system would enable police to find out immediately whether a suspect is on probation, eliminating the current delays, Lord told The Associated Press. That ought to be a help to police and a benefit to public safety.

The Maine Civil Liberties Union has raised objections, including concerns that such a registry would damage rehabilitation and reintegration into society and whether it should include those who

pose little harm to society.
That’s the sort of question that can and, we assume, would be raised if the Legislature takes up this issue, and we hope they do.

The Department of Corrections is likely on to something good with this online registry, but as much as we believe in making public information easily and widely available, we also believe in a democratic process that lets the public and its representatives have a say in such important matters.