Collateral Consequences and Felony Convictions Essay ⋆ Criminal Justice Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

Persons convicted of felony offenses are subject to both criminal penalties and civil penalties, referred to as “collateral consequences.” Collateral consequences have severe implications for convicts that impact them during incarceration and then upon release from prison back to the community. Legislation that subjects felons, convicts, and ex-convicts to penalties that are not specified in sentencing raises ethical questions. These additional penalties are intended to obstruct readjustment and thus contribute to parole failure, future criminal behavior, and threats to public safety. Collateral consequences create a class of semi citizens that may be charged with a felony for voting. Depending upon state law, they may be denied the right to vote in jail before and after conviction, in prison, on probation or parole, and in some states for the rest of their lives.

Ethics of Legislation

Federal and state laws create collateral consequences, often in answer to calls for increased public safety but with little regard to research findings. These penalties are typically the direct result of “tough on crime” campaigns of the early 21st century that saw a trend toward legislative attempts to extend punishment of certain kinds of offenders beyond time served.

Collateral consequences are not referenced at court sentencing and thus are not part of the sentencing record. Critics question the justice of ignoring the discretion of the sentencing judge, who knows the specifics of each criminal case, by legislating an overlay of extrajudicial sanctions.

There are literally hundreds of consequences that apply to the felony conviction. The application of collateral consequences outside the sentencing process has every appearance of subverting the process by removing the application of consequence from the purview of the sentencing authority. The judicial sentence is a consequence of consideration of mitigating and aggravating factors. Collateral consequences play no part in the sentencing process because they are predetermined and broadly applied.

Collateral Consequences of Prison

Collateral consequences are not required to be explained to convicts during confinement. Further, given the legislative language that is used to describe collateral consequences, official documents would be unintelligible for many convicts. Convicts are expected to prepare for their return to society during their time in prison, but ignorance of these consequences hinders that preparation. Many prison systems administer risk and needs assessments to determine placement of prisoners in housing and programs. Collateral consequences are not considered in risk and needs assessments because they are not included in the sentencing record, and the convict lacks awareness of their impact on re-entry. Collateral consequences are not a factor in the development of reentry plans based on risk and needs assessments.

Collateral consequences are problematic not only for the convict or ex-convict but also for correctional operations. That is, they conflict with the goals of the criminal justice system and complicate the efforts of judges, parole boards, probation officers, and other providers to effect correctional goals. For example, the lack of formal education is widely recognized as a cause of failure following prison, yet convicts are denied PELL grants and federal student loans with which to continue their education.

Collateral consequences jeopardize successful readjustment upon return to society and impinge on the intent of court outcomes. Some of those penalties include exclusion from public housing, restriction from licenses and bonding, and other penalties that compromise the ex-convict’s ability to re-establish him or herself in society.

Legal Rights

The invisibility of collateral consequences results in unawareness of rights lost by conviction. Essentially, accused persons are not advised of the jeopardy (additional penalties) of conviction. Ex-convicts, depending upon the state, are denied basic rights of citizenship, such as voting, holding public office, or applications for restoration of rights including expungement of sentences. Generally, there are few remedies for these losses. Where such rights are automatically restored there is no notice given, and the ex-convict remains ignorant of them. The wholesale denial of rights negates such judicial principles as proportionality (the relationship of the sentenced imposed to the crime) or individualizing the sentence. The debt is never paid. The denial of rights and their restoration are contrary to the expressed goals of modern corrections and re-entry processes. As such they become lifelong disabilities for ex-convicts.

Perpetuating Failure

Employment, housing, and societal acceptance are critical if ex-convicts are to manage their reintegration into society. Crucial to gaining employment is the possession of credentials that specify proficiency and skill. Employment is a requirement of parole. Unfortunately, access to criminal records and even the specifics of offenses are readily available on the Internet. There is broad public access to criminal records (extending beyond the termination of the sentence) that effectively results in the rejection of applications before an individual can be considered. What began as selective exclusion from positions that had relevance to a specific occupation are now applied comprehensively. In effect, public access to criminal records on the Internet has created an “electronic panopticon” that is used to discriminate against felons and ex-convicts.

Felons and ex-cons are legally shunned. Men and women with felony records suffer lifetime discrimination that eliminates opportunities in society. The use of Internet-based criminal records is used to deny housing, credit, and admission to job training programs, technical colleges, and universities. Obtaining employment is difficult if not impossible. The unemployment rate of exconvicts is twice that of the general population, and even higher for members of minority ethnic and racial groups.

Collateral consequences are often overwhelming for the ex-convict without a job, who lacks an education, deals with addiction, needs public assistance, and has problems with family reunification. They render ex-convicts homeless and unable to reunite with families because of public housing exclusions. They represent daunting impediments to successful re-entry. Impossible financial burdens from fines and other automatic penalties are imposed on ex-convicts that realistically cannot be paid. Collateral consequences prolong indefinite correctional supervision, and create what Stephen C. Richards and Richard S. Jones describe as a “perpetual incarceration machine” that shuffles prisoners to prison, then to the streets, and returns them to prison. Education that would contribute to increased employment is not obtainable. The consequences disenfranchise ex-convicts from previous occupations because they can no longer restore licenses or be appropriately bonded. The consequences subject ex-convicts to a life of poverty, living under bridges, in tents, government-supplied trailers, and on monitors. The creation of registries of ex-convicts results in public shaming, and in the worst cases, assaults.

Collateral consequences have questionable value as crime deterrents. Their role in promoting public safety is doubtful, but they are a contributing factor to social disruption, causing a fiscal and humanitarian burden for society.

Bibliography:

Petersilia, Joan. When Prisoners Come Home: Parole and Prisoner Reentry. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.
Richards, Stephen C. “A Convict Perspective on Community Punishment: Further Lessons from the Darkness of Prison.” In Cutting the Edge: Current Perspectives in Radical/Critical Criminology and Criminal Justice, J. I. Ross, ed. 2nd ed. Edison, NJ: Transaction, 2009.
Richards, Stephen. C. and Richard S. Jones. “Perpetual Incarceration Machine: Structural Impediments to Post-Prison Success.” The Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, v.13/1 (1997).
Tramontano, Christine. A Practitioner’s Guide to Collateral Consequences of Conviction. New York: Justice Action Center, New York Law School, 2006. www.nyls.edu/pdfs/capstone050603.pdf (Accessed June 2013).
Travis Jeremy. But They All Come Back: Facing the Challenges of Prisoner Re-Entry. Washington, DC: Urban Institute Press, 2005.

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