ABA Commission Collaborates with D.C. Public Defender Service
in Listing Federal Collateral Consequences of Felony Convictions

Tool for Judges, Prosecutors, Defenders and Policy-Makers

Chicago, Jan. 30, 2009—The American Bar Association Commission on Effective Criminal Sanctions has collaborated with the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia to compile a study of the collateral consequences of conviction under federal laws and regulations.  A report on the data, "Internal Exile:  The Collateral Consequences of Criminal Conviction in Federal Law," was published today.
 
Collateral consequences are penalties and disabilities that are imposed on convicted persons, often automatically, in addition to a sentence imposed by a court.  Those that arise under federal law apply to both federal and state offenders.
 
“This study will provide an invaluable resource for lawyers practicing in criminal courts, and help people charged with crimes to understand the broad range of consequences they may face,”  said Anthony A. Joseph of Birmingham, Ala., chair of the ABA Criminal Justice Section.  “It will also help policy-makers decide which penalties are reasonable and appropriate responses to public safety concerns, and which are not."
 
The ABA called on state legislatures to inventory collateral consequences in their criminal codes when it adopted Collateral Sanctions and Discretionary Disqualification of Convicted Persons as part of ABA Standards for Criminal Justice in 2003, and several states have prepared studies of their own collateral sanctions.  But there is no standard format or method for compiling those analyses.  Additionally, the Court Security Act directs the National Institute of Justice to survey collateral consequences in each federal jurisdiction.  The new compilation, the final project of the ABA commission, offers a model for such surveys, said Joseph.  The report does not represent ABA policy or make recommendations, but simply compiles information.
 
The study lists sanctions related to civic participation, such as voting and jury service; community service, including a range of issues such as military enlistment, working in programs that sponsor foreign exchange students, and participation in such programs as AmeriCorps or Senior Corps; and federal employment.  It catalogues penalties related to federal licensure and procurement, such as work in schools, the transportation industry, commodities, broadcasting; farm labor contracting; investment advising; dispensing controlled substances; advising employee benefit programs; writing insurance or originating loans; and providing care for vulnerable populations.  It identifies federal benefit programs from which felons are excluded, such as working in federal and designated state health care programs, federal procurement, defense contracting, or receiving grants, contracts, professional licenses or commercial licenses.  It lists possible consequences under federal grants to states for foster care and adoption assistance and host families for foreign exchange students or au pairs.  It addresses such federal benefit programs as Social Security, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, food stamps, federal student aid, public housing, veterans’ benefits, government employee benefits and access to passports.  Additionally, it includes registration and notification requirements, such as federal guidelines for state sex offender registration programs; restrictions on federal firearms privileges and immigration consequences.  An appendix focuses on consequences for felony drug convictions while another charts automatic versus discretionary sanctions and a third provides links to relevant statute language.
 
The compilation was produced by Kelly Poff Salzmann, former community reentry program coordinator for PDS, with support from Margaret Colgate Love, director of the ABA commission, and James D. Berry Jr. of the D.C. service.  They note that laws and regulations on collateral consequences frequently change, and many covered areas, such as immigration law, are highly complex, suggesting the study may be most useful to alert people that an issue exists. 
 
They also point out that some sanctions are an automatic consequence of a conviction, while others are discretionary, and that some jurisdictions provide means to avoid or mitigate federal consequences for people with state convictions.  For people with federal convictions, a presidential pardon may be the only remedy. The report documents only federal laws and regulations, not consequences contained in state laws and regulations, or state applications of consequences relating to federal benefit programs, such as access to welfare, food stamps and public housing.

With more than 400,000 members, the American Bar Association is the largest voluntary professional membership organization in the world.  As the national voice of the legal profession, the ABA works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, provides continuing legal education, and works to build public understanding around the world of the importance of the rule of law.

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