Do you want things that children do to follow them for the rest of their lives?

Well, no. Are there names of minors in this database? I thought the US had a mechanism to prevent that, or at least to petition to have records of minors removed or anonymized.

Yes. The mechanisms are shit. Many of these cases are juvenile cases with a note saying the case is sealed, along with full details of the charge, name, and outcome.

Edit: wow, plus family court stuff like a four year custody dispute, kids being adopted, etc

"The US" has 39,044 distinct local governments and municipalities and they all do their procedural nuances differently and to varying efficacy and different points in time! :D

I don't know what culture you come from, but in the US and UK and similarly influenced cultures justice being seen to be done and recorded is a pretty important principle and mechanism against overreach of the state.

I agree. But it's worth noting that the UK has recently enacted the Right to be Forgotten Law, which plays into this discussion.

Of course, once data is replicated and distributed around, it's very hard to put the genie back into the bottle.

There are significant limits to that, such as juvenile courts.

The following itself is not the issue right?

they weren't secret and were available for public perusal and judgement until the designated time

secret courts have cases that are secret from the beginning