“Because I feel like I want to be heard, you know?:” Carceral citizenship and collateral consequences

Abstract

Joining a critical literature on carceral citizenship in the United States, this article represents one of the first academic efforts to ascertain the ideas of people with criminal records about “collateral consequences,” which are the civil restrictions often facing people with records. In 32 extended interviews with people visiting a reentry organization in New York City, a majority argued that people with conviction backgrounds should be eligible to vote and serve on juries, and most said they would like to be able to participate themselves. Interviewees did express intensely skeptical ideas, particularly about the police and employers, but this was a limited or bounded cynicism. Distrust and antagonism toward specific institutions existed alongside a strongly‐stated desire to engage in civic activity.