Part Two: Collateral Consequences of Criminal Convictions
In our last post we discussed employment consequences. This post looks at the other places a criminal conviction can follow a person: family court, housing, firearm rights, immigration, education, public benefits, professional licensing, and the public court record.
One area that people don’t often think of when dealing with a criminal conviction is the impact that the conviction will have on their family. Many times family members have a variety of reactions when they learn that a loved one has been charged with a crime, ranging from fear all the way to anger. It can also cause significant hardship on a family when a member of their family is incarcerated and unable to work. Depending on the nature of the crime, families of an individual who have been convicted of certain crimes often feel embarrassed or unsure with how to cope with a loved one’s criminal conviction. Beyond the person charged or convicted of a crime, the conviction can cause immense stress and anxiety for family members uncertain as to what the outcome of the case may be.
Once a person has been convicted of a crime, the long-term consequences can have an impact on the family unit as a whole. Specifically, when child custody and placement is at issue in a divorce, criminal convictions are often utilized in arguing for placement with one parent versus the other. Any information about a criminal conviction is easily accessed given that it is public record. Information has become even more accessible to the general public with the use of the Wisconsin Circuit Court Access Page (often referred to as CCAP). Often the type of conviction can be of further harm in a family court setting, for example with a battery conviction, it can be argued that a person may have violent tendencies. That is why it is essential to have an experienced attorney involved when you have been charged with a crime, in order to mitigate not only the criminal penalties but the collateral civil consequences that flow from a criminal conviction as well.
If you or someone you know has been charged with a crime please contact one of the lawyers at our office in Racine, Wisconsin.
Other consequences that should be checked before plea
- Family court and placement. Domestic violence, child-endangerment, drug, firearm, OWI, and disorderly-conduct convictions may become evidence in custody and placement disputes.
- Housing. Landlords, public-housing authorities, and subsidized-housing programs may treat drug, violence, firearm, and sex-offense convictions differently.
- Firearm rights. Felony convictions and certain domestic-violence outcomes can affect state and federal firearm rights. See guns and weapons charges.
- Immigration. Non-citizens should never plead without immigration review. See criminal convictions and immigration consequences.
- Driver’s license and CDL. Drug convictions, OWI, reckless driving, hit-and-run, and CDL serious violations can create separate DOT consequences. See traffic violations.
- Public court records. CCAP, Wisconsin DOJ criminal-history records, FBI records, and private background-check databases are different systems. Expungement does not erase all of them. See Wisconsin expungement.