Felon - United States

United States

The reform of harsh felony laws that had originated in Great Britain was deemed "one of the first fruits of liberty" after the United States became independent.

In many parts of the United States, a convicted felon can face long-term legal consequences persisting after the end of their imprisonment. The status and designation as a "convicted felon" is considered permanent, and is not extinguished upon sentence completion even if parole, probation or early release was given. The status can only be cleared by a successful appeal or executive clemency. However, felons may apply for restoration of some rights after a certain period of time has passed.

The consequences convicted felons face in most states include:

  • Disenfranchisement (which is expressly permitted by the Fourteenth Amendment, as noted by the Supreme Court)
  • Exclusion from obtaining certain licenses, such as a visa, or professional licenses required in order to legally operate (making some vocations off-limits to felons)
  • Exclusion from purchase and possession of firearms, ammunition and body armor
  • Ineligibility for serving on a jury
  • Ineligibility for government assistance or welfare, including being barred from federally funded housing
  • Deportation (if the criminal is not a citizen)

Additionally, many job applications and rental applications ask about felony history, (with the exception of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts) and answering dishonestly on them can be grounds for rejecting the application, or termination if the lie is discovered after hire. This is because most bonding companies will not issue bonds to convicted felons, which effectively bars them from certain jobs. Additionally, most landlords will not rent to convicted felons due to the risk of legal liability if the renter commits another crime.

It is legal to discriminate against felons in hiring decisions as well as the decision to rent housing to a person, so felons can face barriers to finding both jobs and housing. A common term of parole is to avoid associating with other felons. In some neighborhoods with high rates of felony conviction, this creates a situation where many felons live with a constant threat of being arrested for violating parole.

Many banks will refuse service to convicted felons, and some states also consider a felony conviction to be grounds for an uncontested divorce.

In some states, restoration of those rights may depend on repayment of various fees associated with the felon's arrest, processing, and prison stay, such as restitution to their victims, or outstanding fines.

Read more about this topic:  Felon

Famous quotes related to united states:

    As a Tax-Paying Citizen of the United States I am entitled to a voice in Governmental affairs.... Having paid this unlawful Tax under written Protest for forty years, I am entitled to receive from the Treasury of ‘Uncle Sam’ the full amount of both Principal and Interest.
    Susan Pecker Fowler (1823–1911)

    In the United States the whites speak well of the Blacks but think bad about them, whereas the Blacks talk bad and think bad about the whites. Whites fear Blacks, because they have a bad conscience, and Blacks hate whites because they need not have a bad conscience.
    Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921–1990)

    The men the American people admire most extravagantly are the most daring liars; the men they detest most violently are those who try to tell them the truth. A Galileo could no more be elected President of the United States than he could be elected Pope of Rome. Both posts are reserved for men favored by God with an extraordinary genius for swathing the bitter facts of life in bandages of soft illusion.
    —H.L. (Henry Lewis)

    Some of the offers that have come to me would never have come if I had not been President. That means these people are trying to hire not Calvin Coolidge, but a former President of the United States. I can’t make that kind of use of the office.... I can’t do anything that might take away from the Presidency any of its dignity, or any of the faith people have in it.
    Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933)