NCJ Number
175089
Journal
Corrections Today Volume: 60 Issue: 5 Dated: August 1998 Pages: 68-70-72
Date Published
1998
Length
4 pages
Annotation
A State-by-State survey published by the Department of Justice Office of the Pardon Attorney in 1992 and updated in 1996 focuses on the civil disabilities of convicted felons and provides information on their losses of civil rights and occupational opportunities.
Abstract
The survey focuses mainly on felony convictions and covers only a limited number of disabilities. It contains an entry for each State and the District of Columbia regarding three core civil rights (voting, holding State office, and sitting on a State jury), examples of occupational disabilities, and whether the State has a sex offender registration law. Separate sections in each entry discuss the State's methods for restoring rights lost as a result of conviction and the loss and restoration of State firearms privileges. The survey also includes a chapter on federally imposed disabilities and Federal procedures for restoring rights lost as a result of conviction. Many disabilities are imposed by State law, even for Federal convictions and that States vary regarding whether and how long disabilities are imposed. The determination of whether a disability or restoration procedure applies in various circumstances may raise issues of interpretation. The law changed considerably between the two surveys. Laws imposing disabilities reflect a struggle between the competing interests of clarity and flexibility, punishment and rehabilitation, and protection of the community and reintegration of the offender into society.