Summary: Collateral Consequences

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Collateral Consequences Alaska Natives are over-represented in the criminal justice system, Alaska is identified as having the nations highest statutory and regulatory barriers to successful reentry for convicted of criminal offenses. This is not exclusive to Alaska, it is a national problem. There is an abundance of information and empirical evidence is clear: offenders who complete their sentence seldom, if at all, actually stop paying for their offenses (UAA Justice Center, 2013). They, and their families are the ones who continually pay in several different ways, ranging from meager employment opportunities, ruled out for public food and housing assistance and benefits, including becoming ineligible to adopt or become a foster parent. …show more content…
Alaska’s unfortunate ranking is determined by statutes and regulations that create impediments to making achieving success in reintegration in seven areas: employment, public housing, public assistance, drivers licenses, eligibility for foster or adoptive parenting, voting, and third party access to criminal records. These barriers are called collateral consequences of a conviction and are institutionally created and have nothing directly related to the crimes that individuals have been convicted. An example of collateral consequences is the administration of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or more commonly known as “food stamps” in the state (Alaska Justice Forum 2014). Alaskans convicted of felony drug charges, return home to their family and communities unable to receive this nutritional …show more content…
(UAA Justice Center, 2013). A letter written to the National Inventory of the Collateral Consequences of Conviction (NICCC) Project, the senators clearly recognized some of Alaska’s statutes and regulations that are not sensibly related to the improvement or promotion of public safety (Alaska Justice Forum 2014). An observation was noted by the senators in a March 23, 2013, letter that the project director at the time, Margret Love noted that the laws in question may have the unintended result of impeding a former offender’s ability to find employment and housing that can support and shelter their families. This letter contained important policy indications for lawmakers because worthwhile employment, and healthy family relationships are two consistently shown to lower the risk that those released will reoffend. Under a senator participant bipartisan legislative work group composed of four senators, are working to advance an Omnibus Crime bill intended to help reduce criminal recidivism in Alaska by getting rid of some of the barriers to discover stable employment and secure housing (Alaska Justice Forum