The troubling overcriminalization of American life has been a frequent topic on this blog, but this Jack Chin/Balkanization post explores an underappreciated cost of the overcriminalization policy – the collateral consequences of a criminal conviction:

Conviction and punishment, it is said, are the ways defendants “pay their debt to society.” But it turns out that criminal conviction is a debt that can never be paid. In every state and under federal law, there are hundreds of collateral consequences that apply automatically or on a discretionary basis, to people convicted of crimes. Most of these apply for life, apply based on convictions from other jurisdictions, and can never be removed, or can be relieved only through virtually unavailable methods like a pardon from the President. The rise of computer databases means that factual disclosure of convictions is inescapable.

These collateral consequences, depending on the crime, include such things as deportation for non-citizens, ineligibility for public benefits, and government licenses, permits, and public employment, ineligibility for private employment requiring security clearances or contact with vulnerable populations like children and the elderly, loss of civil rights like voting, office-holding and jury service, and loss of parental rights or ability to adopt or be a foster parent.

These collateral consequences are particularly harsh on the young, many of whom believe that they will never be able to overcome the adverse impact of a youthful indiscretion.

In short, the collateral consequences of our federal, state and local governments’ overcriminalization policy inhibits hope. How does that make sense?