Spotlight Announcement

1/27/2006: Minnesota Bill would Define and Catalog Collateral Sanctions

A bill under consideration in the Minnesota state legislature would define collateral sanctions for individuals convicted of crimes and require the creation of table cataloging and cross-referencing such sanctions across existing state statutes. The bill has been introduced in both the House (H.F. 734) and Senate (S.F. 607). The bill is sponsored in the House by Representatives Doug Meslow, Tony Cornish, John Lesch, and Ron Latz; the Senate version is sponsored by Senator Leo T. Foley.

As defined by the bill, a collateral sanction is a "legal penalty, disability, or disadvantage…that is imposed on a person automatically when that person is convicted of or found to have committed a crime, even if the sanction is not included in the sentence." Collateral sanctions do not include direct consequences of the crime, such as criminal fines, restitution, or incarceration. Common examples of collateral sanctions include, among others, restrictions on the following:

• Employment and occupational licensing;
• Driving privileges;
• Eligibility for public services or benefits;
• Property and civil rights and remedies.

The purpose of the bill is to provide a single reference for identifying the entire range of collateral sanctions that may be imposed upon individuals. This objective follows the standards for collateral sanctions legislation set forth by the American Bar Association (ABA) in 2003. The ABA also recommends that states:

• limit collateral sanctions imposed upon conviction to those that are specifically warranted by the conduct constituting a particular offense;
• prohibit certain collateral sanctions that, without justification, infringe on fundamental rights, or frustrate a convicted person's chances of successfully reentering society;
• provide the means by which information concerning the collateral sanctions that are applicable to a particular offense is readily available;
• require that the defendant is fully informed, before pleading guilty and at sentencing, of the collateral sanctions applicable to the offense(s) charged;
• require that the defendant is fully informed, before pleading guilty and at sentencing, of the collateral sanctions applicable to the offense(s) charged;
• provide a judicial or administrative mechanism for obtaining relief from collateral sanctions.

Additional Resources

• The Report of the Re-Entry Policy Council addresses collateral sanctions in a number of sections, including: the Epilogue to Part II: Integration into the Community; Policy Statement 24: Identification and Benefits; and several other policy statements relating to specific aspects of reentry. Collateral sanctions are also discussed in a previous Reentry Policy Online feature: "New Jersey Institute of Social Justice Convenes Symposium on Legal Barriers to Reentry."
• The Legal Action Center: "After Prison: Roadblocks to Reentry."
• Margaret Colgate Love: "Relief from the Collateral Consequences of a Criminal Conviction: A State-by-State Resource Guide." (to be published by William S. Hein & Co.; executive summary available online through the Sentencing Project.)
• American Bar Association: "Collateral Sanctions and Discretionary Disqualification of Convicted Persons."