Criminal defense lawyer explains why you should avoid using self-checkouts in stores

Carrie Jernigan, a criminal lawyer who goes by @carriejernigan on TikTok, went viral in 2022 after sharing things she would never do or encourage others to follow. Well, she said, she wouldn't use the self-checkout and asked people not to use it unless they want to end up in jail. As the video continued to gain traction, Jernigan posted another update, detailing why someone should stay away from self-checkout, and it's something you must hear. 

"There are currently three groups of people getting charged with shoplifting using self-checkout," Jernigan shared. The first group, she explained, comprises the ones who enter a shop with a real intention of stealing. "When self-checkout first started, it was a very basic theft approach," the lawyer said, explaining how people would use the self-scanner and pay for a few items while taking the rest for free. The second group is the one where people genuinely make a real mistake and forget to scan a few items. Now, the lawyer mentions that since the first group of people has already misused the self-checkout provision for so long, the big-box stores don't want to waste their resources on truly investigating if someone has purposely slipped in some items without scanning or if it's a planned theft. "They're just taking a 'tell it to a judge' approach," Jernigan said. Next, she talked about the third group of completely innocent people, basically those who didn't take anything at all. Jernigan said the big box stores began targeting consumers who legitimately purchased an item whenever they were short on inventory.

"So they will begin watching hours of video to see the last person who checked out with the Mario Lego set because they're two short. And, for some reason, they pinpoint that they think you did it," Jernigan added. Since these big box stores are renowned brands, they're often required to present very little evidence to get an affidavit for a warrant signed, and the charges could land someone in jail for a year. Even after innumerable challenges, if an accused somehow proves they are innocent, the process can be so time-consuming and also expensive, considering there's a lawyer involved. In fact, the Innocence Project claims that its innocent clients have spent over 4000 years in prison for crimes they didn’t commit, as of July 2025. For people who still find self-checkouts easy, the criminal lawyer posted another video on her page, sharing tips on how to stay safe while still accessing the automated billing counter. 

First, Jernigan said, always use self-checkout if you're planning to buy only a few items. Next, she asked everyone to pay using cards and keep the receipt in case they would later need to prove what they'd purchased and paid for. Last but not least, the lawyer asked people to be very mindful while scanning items. Jernigan said it's better if people can show the things to the camera at the store before scanning them individually. Meanwhile, reacting to the video, @rebel_honey commented, "I absolutely refuse to use self-checkout! They don’t pay me to do their job!" Similarly, a user who goes by @gamecockryan110 on TikTok said, "Stores shouldn't be so cheap to have self-checkout. I always refuse to use it and make them ring me up." @michellemarie shared, "I missed a scan at Walmart, and the computer blocked more scans and kept showing the video of me stealing until the worker could help me." @rheannonfae, said, "So they force us to do their job and then want to charge us when we were never trained… perfect."

You can follow LAWYER CARRIE (@carriejernigan1) for more legal-related issues.