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Race + Criminal Legal System: Collateral Consequences Part I

National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL)

(May 2021)
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In April 2021, NACDL held a two-part discussion on race and collateral consequences as part of the ongoing Race and the Criminal Legal System Discussion Series. As the series asserts, much like the Jim Crow Laws that relegated African Americans to a permanent and multi-generational underclass, collateral consequences stemming from criminal convictions have decimated entire communities. The vast array of consequences imposed on those with criminal records has hit communities of color the hardest, largely due to disproportionate policing and prosecutorial practices within the criminal legal system.

In Part I, panelists discussed how the collateral consequences of a conviction have become more numerous and severe, and how they disproportionately impact communities of color. The webinar, moderated by Cynthia W. Roseberry, Deputy Director for the National Policy Advocacy Department for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU); also features Rob DeLeon, Vice President of Programs for The Fortune SocietyDavid Singleton, Executive Director for the Ohio Justice & Policy Center, and Quintin Williams, Program Officer for the Gun Violence Prevention and Justice Reform Program at The Joyce Foundation.

Resources and speaker biographies for both webinars can be found on NACDL’s Race and the Criminal Legal System Discussion Series page, in addition to recordings of past webinars in the series exploring public defense and policing in relation to issues of race.  

Access Part II of the discussion, where panelists take a deep dive into how a past criminal conviction can impact an individual’s ability to participate in industries like the legal profession, the cannabis industry, and other business and entrepreneurship opportunities.

Resource Type
Webinars, Presentations, and Podcasts