The Collateral Consequences Resource Center is a non-profit organization established in 2014 to promote public engagement on the myriad issues raised by the legal restrictions and societal stigma that burden people with a criminal record long after their criminal case is closed.  Situated at the intersection of the academic and advocacy communities, the Center provides a variety of research and practice materials aimed at legal and policy advocates, courts, scholars, lawmakers, and those most directly affected by criminal justice involvement.  It also provides news and commentary about this dynamic area of the law.

Through our Restoration of Rights Project (RRP) we describe and analyze the various laws and practices relating to criminal record relief in each U.S. jurisdiction.  In addition to these state-by-state profiles, a series of 50-state comparison charts and periodic reports on new enactments make it possible to see national patterns and emerging trends in official efforts to mitigate the adverse impact of a criminal record.

As an offshoot of the RRP work, we have begun consulting in support of state law reform efforts.  In 2020 we launched a project to study barriers to petition-based record clearing, which to date has resulted in several state-specific studies as well a 50-state survey of monetary barriers to record clearing.  Another 50-state survey of eligibility waiting periods is being prepared.  In 2021 we collaborated with the National Consumer Law Center on a study of monetary barriers to record clearing relief.  In 2019 we led a successful effort to develop a model law on access to and use of non-conviction records. In addition, we participate in court cases challenging specific collateral consequences, and engage with social media and journalists on these issues.

In 2021, we launched a project on “Fair Chance Lending” aimed at reducing criminal history restrictions in the lending policies of the U.S. Small Business Administration.  This project grew out of our research and advocacy around the restrictions imposed by the SBA on COVID-19 relief authorized by the CARES Act.

We welcome tips about relevant current developments—including judicial decisions and new legislation—as well as proposals for projects on topics related to collateral consequences and criminal records, and encourage submission of analytical pieces for posting on the CCRC website.  Contact us here.

 

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Board of Directors: 

Gabriel “Jack” Chin – Professor of Law at the UC Davis School of Law, Jack is one of the leading academic authorities on collateral consequences.  He served as reporter for the Uniform Collateral Consequences of Conviction Act, and the ABA Standards on Collateral Sanctions and Discretionary Disqualification. He currently also serves as a senior advisor to the County Attorney of Pima County, AZ.   

Nora V. Demleitner – Nora is President of St. John’s College in Annapolis, MD. Prior to assuming that position in 2021, Nora was Roy L. Steinheimer Jr. Professor of Law at Washington and Lee University School of Law, and served as the Dean of W&L Law from 2012-2015.  She has been writing about collateral consequences for more than 20 years, and is particularly interested in how the U.S. compares to European countries where criminal records issues are concerned.    

Roberta “Toni” Meyers Douglas – As Vice President of State Strategy & Reentry at the Legal Action Center she directsthe National H.I.R.E. Network project and co-leads the No Health = No Justice campaign. Toni’s work prioritizes achieving racial equity in justice and health care. She works directly with policymakers and advocates nationally to improve employment and other opportunities for people with arrest and conviction records. She also provides technical assistance on the policies associated with LAC’s report, After Prison: Roadblocks to Reentry (2004/2009). 

Margaret Colgate Love – Margaret co-founded CCRC in 2014, and has directed its work since that time. She created and regularly updates the Restoration of Rights Project (RRP) database of state restoration of rights mechanisms, and she has published numerous reports on based on RRP research, as well as analytical pieces on current criminal records issues. She is lead co-author of Collateral Consequences of Criminal Conviction: Law, Policy & Practice (NACDL/West, 4th ed. 2021-2022). Former U.S. Pardon Attorney (1990-1997), Margaret is a national authority on the president’s constitutional pardon power, and she represents applicants for federal executive clemency in her private practice in Washington, D.C. 

John Rubin – John is Albert Coates Professor of Public Law and Government at the University of North Carolina School of Government, where he teaches criminal law and is the director of indigent defense education.  He is the co-creator of North Carolina’s Collateral Consequences Assessment Tool (C-CAT) and author of the online guide Relief from a Criminal Conviction in North Carolina.

Kate Stith –  Kate is the Lafayette S. Foster Professor of Law at Yale Law School, where her teaching and research focus on criminal law and structural constitutional law. She is the author of Defining Federal Crimes (2d ed., 2018, with D. Richman) and Fear of Judging (1998, with J. Cabranes) and many articles on criminal sentencing and related areas. Kate previously served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York.

Board of Advisers: 

Sala Udin – Sala is a former Freedom Rider in the Mississippi Delta and current civil rights activist and community organizer in Pittsburgh.  Following a federal conviction in 1970 for transporting a rifle across state lines (for which he received a presidential pardon in 2016), Sala went on to serve on the Pittsburgh City Council for 11 years, as President of the Coro Center for Civic Leadership (Pittsburgh), and as co-founder of the August Wilson Center for African American Culture.  He now serves as an elected member of the Pittsburgh school board.

Staff: 

Margaret Love, Executive Director and Editor.

Liz Chadwick, Intern. Liz is a Senior at the University of Vermont who is interning with CCRC to assist in maintaining the Restoration of Rights Project. A political science major, Liz is pursuing an honors thesis on collateral consequences.  She recently published a commentary piece in the Vermont Digger on Vermont’s Uniform Collateral Consequences of Conviction Act.