The top priority for a person who is facing a felony conviction has to be getting a defense prepared. Many people think in terms of only the penalties that the court will impose upon conviction. What they don’t necessarily realize is that there are other things to worry about that can come with a felony conviction.
Some people who have a felony charge pending don’t realize the depth of the penalties that they will have to endure because of a conviction. Being labeled as a felon has some very serious effects that can carry over into different parts of your life.
Supporting yourself might be difficult
You might notice that finding a job is a challenge because you have a felony conviction. While some employers will look past the conviction, others are unable to do so because of set rules and the nature of the job. For example, a school district can’t overlook the convictions in order to hire someone because of the laws and guidelines that come with working with children. Positions working with the elderly, jobs dealing with people’s financial information and medical careers might also be off limits after a felony conviction.
On top of landing a job, you might have trouble finding a place to live. Some landlords do background checks before renting out a property. Even some trailer parks do this before renting out a lot to a person who has one’s own mobile home. You might find that you are limited to properties that are in less desirable areas, especially when the conviction is still new.
Social implications of a felony conviction
There are also social implications that come with a felony conviction. If you are on parole or probation, you won’t be able to consume alcohol and you might be limited in where you can go and whom you can go with. These community monitoring programs often come with restrictions about being around other felons or in certain places, such as nightclubs.
You might also find that your circle of friends gets smaller when you have a felony conviction. Some people might walk away from you because of your criminal history. This may even happen because you are unable to do the things you used to do because of the financial restrictions that you may experience while having to pay for fines and fees.
There are a lot of different thoughts about these lifelong consequences of a felony conviction. Many people think that this is unfair to people who have already completed their criminal sentence, but there aren’t protections to prevent these life sentences from occurring. One of the best ways that you can handle these is to try to fight back against the felony charges.