Inequalities by Crime Type: The Cost of a Sex Offense Conviction

• In Event: “Navigating Reentry in a Life Course Framework”

Abstract

The criminal justice system treats individuals who have committed sexual offenses differently than virtually any other type of offender (Edwards & Hensley, 2001). Upon reentry and over the life course, individuals under criminal justice control are required to pay an array of fines and fees. Little is known about the economic costs of a sex offense conviction, though an emerging body of scholarship has identified legal financial obligations as a key feature of the contemporary criminal justice system (Harris, Evans, & Beckett, 2010), and have effects on reentry beyond financial hardship. The current study documents the financial obligations accrued by individuals convicted of sexual offenses, and estimates the tangible and intangible costs over time. We compare individuals convicted of sexual and non-sexual offenses to understand inequalities of punishment and consequence by crime type, and explore participant’s perceptions of legal financial obligations and subsequent effects on relationships with family, friends, and intimate partners. Results suggest that those convicted of sexual crimes incur greater economic and social burden, and these inequalities have implications for subsequent contact with the criminal justice system and may compound the collateral consequences of a felony conviction over the life course.

Authors

• Beth Huebner, University of Missouri -St. Louis

• Breanne Pleggenkuhle, Southern Illinois University Carbondale

• Kimberly Kras, University of Massachusetts Lowell