The newest double issue of Federal Sentencing Reporter, “Managing Collateral Consequences in the Information Age,” touches on the topic of post-sentencing collateral consequences and restoration of rights.

Below is the Introduction from the Editor’s Observations piece, “Forgiving, Forgetting, and Forgoing: Legislative Experiments in Restoring Rights and Status” (citations omitted).

The long-awaited revision of the sentencing articles of the Model Penal Code makes clear that discussions about sentencing reform must extend to the collateral consequences of arrest and conviction. From now on, it will no longer be acceptable to address collateral consequences solely or even primarily as a matter of public safety in the immediate context of post-incarceration reentry. Rather, the larger criminal justice agenda must include a strategy for dealing with long-term legal and social discrimination based on criminal record as a matter of efficiency and fairness, a strategy in which courts must play a central role. The articles and primary materials in this Issue, which emerged from a Roundtable conference sponsored by The American Law Institute (ALI) and the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) in January 2018, provide a range of perspectives and experiences that will be useful in developing that strategy going forward. While their immediate focus is the legislative process, they also illuminate how collateral consequences affect civil and criminal practitioners, judges, and scholars. The Roundtable did not produce a specific set of recommendations, but a consensus emerged from its discussion around certain basic principles that should prove useful to all those concerned with legislative and judicial management of the problem of collateral consequences.

The complete Table of Contents for this FSR Issue is available here.

ABOUT THE JOURNAL

Federal Sentencing Reporter explores in detail the complex sector of sentencing law, practice and theory. Along with the presentation of new ideas and diverse viewpoints on existing legislation and sentencing guidelines, the journal examines questions of sentencing policy and the practical application of modern sentencing reforms. FSR aspires to be more than a law review by sometimes curating important primary materials so that its issues can often serve as an invaluable and enduring resource concerning legal changes and debates in the field of sentencing. Published five times annually, each issue is organized around a central topic or theme and will feature articles, cases and other primary materials written by judges, prosecutors and defense attorneys, probation officers, scholars, and members of sentencing commissions. Federal Sentencing Reporter often covers local, state and even international sentencing issues as well as federal sentencing developments, making it a must-read for anyone interested in any aspect of sentencing practice and theory or criminal justice systems more generally.