The Reason Foundation recently published an insightful commentary piece discussing the impacts of Collateral Consequences on those convicted in criminal cases.
Penned by Senior Fellow Hanna Liebman Dershowitz, Collateral consequences in criminal cases function as invisible, perpetual punishments outlines how collateral consequences make communities unsafe, encourage recidivism, and prevent people from recovery and prosperity after a conviction.
These invisible punishments are never discussed at Sentencing by Prosecutors, Judges, or even defense counsel. Yet they are built into the legal system, preventing people from reintegrating into society through seemingly standard tasks such as securing housing, finding jobs, pursuing higher education, or participating in civic rights, like voting.
Harsher examples include parents not being able to volunteer at their child’s school, ineligibility for government benefits, or even being able to obtain student loans.
Double-jeopardy is the legal concept that an individual cannot be prosecuted twice for the same crime. Collateral consequences act as hidden, secondary prosecution.
]Read Hanna’s commentary here.
