Conviction is the act or judicial process of declaring that a criminal defendant is guilty of an offense. It may result from a guilty plea or a finding of guilt at trial, or it may be inferred from the defendant’s conduct or other evidence. A conviction may result in a sentence that includes incarceration, community service or a fine. In some jurisdictions, a conviction can also affect the offender’s eligibility for certain jobs or professional licenses or impact their ability to travel to other countries.
Innocent people are convicted of crimes they didn’t commit, resulting in miscarriages of justice that have devastating consequences for their lives and families. Innocent convictions often occur when forensic lab workers make errors, or when overworked defense lawyers fail to thoroughly test the prosecution’s case or argue effectively in court. For example, EJI won the release of Anthony Ray Hinton, who spent 30 years on Alabama’s death row after an erroneous bullet match, and Beniah Dandridge, who spent 20 years in prison for murdering a young girl.
Whether a person’s crime is minor or serious, having a conviction on record can burden them for the rest of their lives. A hodgepodge of state and federal restrictions can limit employment, housing, access to public benefits, jury duty and even the right to vote. Many of these restrictions disproportionately impact people of color and low-income communities. This Article traces early efforts to identify and track offenders and their convictions; discusses the evolution of the use of prior convictions in aggravating punishment; examines how contemporary repeat offender penalties fall short of punishing goals and contribute to the racially lopsided profile of today’s sentencing; and critiques potential justifications for the “real offense” exception to the rule in Apprendi v. New Jersey.