Answer:
For many people convicted of crime, the greatest effect will not
be imprisonment, but being marked as a criminal and subjected
to collateral consequences. Consequences can include loss of
civil rights, public benefits, and ineligibility for employment,
licenses, and permits. The United States, the 50 states, and their
agencies and subdivisions impose collateral consequences—often
applicable for life—based on convictions from any jurisdiction.
Collateral consequences are so numerous and scattered as to be
virtually uncountable. In recent years, the American Law Institute,
American Bar Association, and Uniform Law Commission all
have proposed reforms. Collateral consequences should be: (1)
collected and published, so that defendants, lawyers, judges and
policymakers can know what they are; (2) incorporated into
counseling, plea bargaining, sentencing and other aspects of
the criminal process; (3) subject to relief so that individuals can
pursue law-abiding lives, and regain equal status; and (4) limited
to those that evidence shows reasonably promote public safety.