Academic

Collateral Consequences: Phiadelphia Judge Unseated Over 1984 Conviction

By Dan Filler

When we talk about the collateral consequences of conviction - sometimes known as civil disabilities - we rarely are able to see the costs to someone who actually does put her life together.  (Mostly, these consequences function to stop people from becoming highly successful.)  Yesterday, the Pennsylvania State Supreme Court removed Philadelphia Municipal Judge Deborah Griffin  from the bench because of her 1984 federal conviction for using a false Social Security number.  Using this number, she had successfully applied for credit.  (Interestingly, she paid her bills on these fraudulently obtained cards.)  Subsequently, she attended law school at the University of Missouri and later became a member of the Pennsylvania bar.  (Apparently, she failed to disclose this conviction on her PA bar application. ) 

The Court's decision made sense under the law (which forbids those committed of infamous crimes from serving on the bench).  And there are some very good reasons to expect the highest standards from the judiciary.  But it is also true that Griffin's story is quite complicated.  Since the mid-1980's, she seems to have readically turned her life around.  None of this may excuse her offense, but closer scrutiny of her case suggests - as is so often the case - that not all criminal acts have identical moral culpability.  Unfortunately, collateral sanctions provisions - which also include things like felon disenfranchisement, loss of the right to live in public housing, and loss of the ability to get various forms of professional licenses - rarely account for the details of an offender's offense. 

Here, at least, it's easy to see the justification for the sanctions.  But, for example, if she were stripped of the right to be a hair dresser or cab driver - sanctions she probably faces to this day in many jurisdictions - I'd have serious doubts.  This is why many collateral sanctions should only be imposed after a full hearing.  Whether or not we formally call them punishment, that's what they are.  And they should be treated as such.

Full post as published by The Faculty Lounge on May 07, 2008 (boomark / email).