By Hannah Geyer, January 25 2010
The American Bar Association (ABA) Criminal Justice Section's on-going effort to catalog the far-reaching effects of juvenile adjudications or convictions continues apace, with a large body of research already completed, and more data being collected every day.
What Are "Collateral Consequences?
"Collateral consequences" are adverse results stemming from an arrest, prosecution, or conviction, but are not part of the sentence.
For example, although a juvenile who was adjudicated delinquent at 14 may have completed her sentence, she may be unable to gain admission to a professional school later on in life, or have difficulty finding public housing. Often, collateral consequences can impact a juvenile's family members; depending on the child's offense, for example, an entire family may be evicted from public housing.
What is the Juvenile Collateral Consequences Project Doing?
We are attempting to document the ramifications of juvenile adjudication or conviction in every state by researching statutes and various agencies' policies regarding the effects of previous adjudications or convictions, in addition to conducting interviews with probation officers, judges, juvenile defenders, and other relevant individuals.
At the end of this project, we hope to have enough information to create, among other things:
- a searchable website where parents, children, and those involved in the juvenile justice system can easily find information relating to juvenile collateral consequences by state
- a book with a chapter on collateral consequences for all 50 states, D.C., and the federal system
- State-specific "Think It Over" cards detailing the effects of adjudications and convictions for distribution to juveniles
If you are interested in assisting with this on-going effort, please email me.
Hannah Geyer is a second-year law student at The George Washington University Law School in D.C., and is the Research Coordinator for the American Bar Association's Juvenile Collateral Consequences Project. She became interested in juvenile justice issues while interning at the ABA's Criminal Justice Section in the summer of 2009.
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Updated: February 08 2018