There’s a lot at stake when you’re charged with a criminal offense. After all, a conviction can strip of your freedom, leading to long-term incarceration that rips you away from your family members, friends and the life that you’ve worked hard to build. But the damage can be even more far reaching than that.
And you need to know the full extent of the consequences of conviction so that you know how best to approach your case. So, in the rest of this blog we’ll touch on some of the most significant collateral consequences of conviction to give you a clearer sense of what you’re up against.
The long-lasting consequences of criminal conviction
Jail time isn’t the only potential penalty you’ll face if convicted of a criminal offense. You could also be subjected to the following ramifications:
- Employment woes: A criminal conviction will haunt your record for a long time to come unless you can get the conviction expunged at some point. Therefore, if you’ve been convicted of a felony, then your potential employers are going to see criminal history when they run a background check. This will make it much more difficult for you to secure the employment you want. And if you have a job at the time of your conviction, there’s a good chance that you’re going to be fired.
- Child custody issues: After being charged with a crime, your child’s other parent may use the underlying facts against you in a custody case. Their aim here will be to reduce the amount of contact you have with your child, maybe even attempting to eliminate that contact altogether. A conviction will make it even more difficult to stop this from happening.
- Driver’s license suspension or revocation: If your criminal charges are related to driving, then a conviction will likely result in the loss of your driving privileges, even if on a temporary basis. This can render it difficult to get to work, visit your family members and friends, and even do something as simple as go to the grocery store. This can make your life much more difficult.
- Professional license suspension or revocation: A criminal conviction can also wreak havoc on a career that requires professional licensure. Lawyers, healthcare professionals and mental health providers can all suffer license suspension or revocation for criminal wrongdoing. If that happens to you, then your career can come to a screeching halt, and your professional reputation can be significantly tarnished.
- Prohibition on firearms possession: Some criminal offenses, specifically those related to violent offenses, will prohibit you from owning a firearm if you’re convicted. This strips you of a Constitutional right.
- Housing concerns: Although landlords aren’t allowed to discriminate against you, many often stray from prohibitions on denying rental applications based on criminal history. So, a criminal conviction, especially for a high-level felony, could lead to housing issues, leaving you struggling to find a desirable place to live.
Use a strong criminal defense to avoid collateral consequences of criminal conviction
We don’t point out these ripple effects of a criminal conviction to scare you, but rather to inform you so that you know what’s at stake in your criminal case. If you want to avoid these harsh outcomes, then you need to be diligent and aggressively in building your criminal defense.
Depending on the facts of your case, you might be able to suppress evidence, attack witness credibility or provide an alibi that destroys the prosecution’s case. If you want to learn more about how to build an effective criminal defense for your case, then now is the time to fully inform yourself and secure any additional support you deem necessary.