Editorial Comment

• Author: Christopher Uggen
• DOI: 10.1177/1043986204271705
• Published date: 01 February 2005
• Date: 01 February 2005
• Subject Matter: Articles

10.1177/1043986204271705Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice / February 2005Uggen / EDITORIAL COMMENT

EDITORIAL COMMENT

This issue of the Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justiceaddresses the

collateral consequences of criminal sanctions. Such consequences are

wide-ranging, encompassing limitations on employment, education, hous-

ing, travel, immigration status, firearms ownership, political participation,

public assistance, and family rights, to name just a few.

In some cases, the collateral consequences of a criminal conviction may be

far more severe and enduring than the sanctions imposed at sentencing. For

example, legalimmigrants may be deported for relatively minor offenses and

permanently excluded from the United States. Similarly,workers may be for-

ever barred from their chosen occupations and parents may face formal ter-

mination of their parental rights. Nevertheless, despite the rapid growthof

such consequences and their likely effect on crime and reintegration, they

have only recently drawn sustained attention from criminologists (e.g.,

Mauer & Chesney-Lind, 2002; Uggen & Manza, 2002).

Each of the fivearticles in this issue creatively explores the scope, effect, or

meaning of collateral consequences. First, Patricia Harris and Kimberly

Keller consider the perspectives of employers as well as convictedoffenders

in their treatment of criminal background checks in employment decisions.

In the second article, Johnna Christian takes up the consequences for fami-

lies. She offers a rich qualitativeanalysis that provides a rare glimpse into the

lives of the wives, girlfriends, and relatives who “ride the bus” to visit male

prisoners.

The next two articles ask vital questions about how collateral conse-

quences are experienced by those subject to them. Because no group faces

greater stigma than sex offenders, such consequences play an especially

important role for those convictedof sex offenses.Jill Levenson and Leo Cot-

ter survey convictedsex offenders in Florida and Richard Tewksbury reports

on sex offender registration in Kentucky.Both articles show that community

notification practices are linked to stress, harassment, and extreme social iso-

lation for the offenders. Whatever their potential benefits to communities,

community notification thus presents important challenges for the effective

reintegration of the most stigmatized offenders.

The special issue concludes with Darren Wheelock’s overarching review

of the racial effect of collateral consequences. This article concludes the issue

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Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, Vol. 21 No. 1, February 2005 4-5

DOI: 10.1177/1043986204271705

© 2005 Sage Publications