Archive | collateral consequences

Senior Eastern District Judge Frederic Block issued a 42-page opinion in United States v. Nesbeth, 15-CR-18(FB),  calling for a close reexamination of the collateral consequences that follow felony convictions, the ways these consequences hamper rehabilitation efforts, and their inclusion as a factor in determining the appropriate sentence under 18 U.S.C. 3553(a).  (N.B. Ms. Nesbeth was represented by Amanda David and the Eastern District Office of the Federal Defenders of New York.)

Following a jury trial in the case, Judge Block imposed a one-year probationary sentence in a case with a guidelines range of 33-41 months.  He then issued the lengthy opinion because “sufficient attention has not been paid at sentencing” to the many automatic collateral consequences that flow from a defendant’s felony conviction.  Many of these consequences, he wrote, “serve no useful function other than to further punish criminal defendants after they have completed their court-imposed sentences” but their …