Professor Chin Quoted in New York Times on Federal Court Decision

Professor Gabriel "Jack" Chin is quoted in a New York Times article on an opinion by Judge Frederic Block of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York that calls for courts to pay more attention to the collateral consequences of felony convictions, which can include denial of government benefits, ineligibility for public housing, suspension of student loans, revocation or suspension of driver's licenses, and other measures that may create barriers to the ex-convicts' efforts to reintegrate into society.

"This is by some distance the most careful and thorough judicial examination" of collateral consequences in sentencing," said Chin, who has written extensively on the issue. "It's going to generate debate on a critical issue in the criminal justice system -- the ability of people convicted of crimes to get on with their lives."

Judge Block's opinion cites research by Professor Chin, and also references the Uniform Collateral Consequences of Conviction Act as well as the American Bar Association Standards on Collateral Consequences and Discretionary Disqualification, projects for which Chin served as reporter.

Gabriel "Jack" Chin, Martin Luther King, Jr. Professor of Law at King Hall, is a prolific and much-cited criminal and immigration law scholar whose work has addressed many of the most pressing social issues of our time.