Published on: Friday, October 13, 2017

On October 12, the Collateral Consequences Resource Center  (CCRC) released its 50-state report to expungement and restoration of rights titled Forgiving and Forgetting In American Justice.  Millions of Americans who have a criminal record are subject to collateral consequences, such as legal and regulatory sanctions that limit or prohibit them from accessing employment, occupational licensing, housing, voting, education, and other opportunities.  CCRC’s new report aims to catalogue and analyze the various forms of relief from collateral consequences of conviction in all 50 states.  The report organizes relief provisions into six categories: (1) executive pardon; (2) judicial record-closing; (3) deferred adjudication; (4) certificates of relief; (5) fair employment and licensing law; and (6) restoration of voting rights.  Detailed information about different forms of relief in each state, including legal citations, are provided in the report and its appendices.

CCRC’s  announcement notes that up-to-date and in-depth discussions of law and policy addresses mechanisms of relief from collateral consequences of conviction are available at Restoration of Rights.   Defender Services provides program materials to help attorneys educate judges about the “invisible punishment” of collateral consequences.