A Different Approach to "Collateral" Consequences of a Conviction

In recent years North Carolina has made several reforms in the field of collateral consequences, expanding opportunities for expunctions of convictions, authorizing courts to issue certificates of relief to limit collateral consequences, and requiring that licensing agencies consider whether a nexus exists between applicants’ criminal conduct and their prospective duties, among other factors. See G.S. 93B-8.1. The changes are helpful but incremental. Our most recent criminal justice class challenged the extensive reliance on collateral consequences in the U.S., the effectiveness of current remedies, and ultimately barriers to reintegration into society of people who have previously been convicted of a crime. I had the good fortune of meeting Dr. Alessandro Corda and recruiting him to co-teach the class. Dr. Corda (left) teaches law at Queen’s University in Belfast and specializes in, among other things, the collateral consequences of a conviction. He is both a European scholar and American lawyer, with a Ph.D. in Criminal law and Penal Policy from the University of Pavia in Italy, an LL.M. from NYU School of law, and experience as an adjunct law professor at the University of Minnesota Law School. See more about his work here. We began the conversation with the magnitude of collateral consequences in the U.S. They reach into virtually every aspect of a person’s life, including employment, housing, education, and civic rights such as the right to vote. Estimates peg the number of collateral consequences under federal and state law at approximately 45,000. This number represents de jure consequences only—those imposed by [...]