When you get arrested and convicted for assault, you may worry about the consequences that your case will have on your reputation and future. Specifically, you may wonder how an assault conviction can affect your record and how your record may change your personal and professional life.
Understanding Criminal Records
A criminal record refers to the official record that the courts and law enforcement agencies have regarding a person’s arrests and convictions. A criminal record can contain a list of a person’s convictions, charges, and court cases, including the dates and locations where they occurred. In some cases, criminal records may become publicly accessible, allowing commercial background check services to include an individual’s criminal records as part of their background check report.
While criminal arrests and charges may create a negative impression, the presence of an assault conviction on an individual’s criminal record can have serious consequences on various aspects of a person’s life. This is due to the collateral effects of a conviction required by law and the social stigma of having committed a violent offense.
Employment and Professional Consequences
Many employers conduct background checks on prospective employees to see whether they have committed serious criminal offenses that the employer considers disqualifying. Employers may not want to hire someone who has committed assault due to worries that they might present a threat in the workplace.
Assault convictions can also make it challenging to pursue professional licensing, such as law, nursing, educational licenses, or licenses required by the Minnesota Department of Human Services. This is because standards of conduct for many professions require license holders to demonstrate “good moral character,” which may lead licensing boards to deny applications of individuals with assault convictions on their criminal records.
Housing and Public Benefits
Landlords may also conduct background checks on prospective tenants, including checking their criminal records. They may not want to rent to someone with a violent history who might pose a risk to other tenants. Additionally, individuals who rely on government housing assistance programs may also lose eligibility for benefits due to certain convictions, including some assault offenses.
Unfortunately, the stigma of an assault conviction can limit where you live due to many landlords not wanting to rent to people with violent offenses on their records. As a result, you may find yourself limited to renting in less desirable neighborhoods where tenant screening places less of an emphasis on applicants’ criminal records.
Immigration and Travel Implications
For non-citizens, an assault conviction can jeopardize their immigration status, result in the denial of green card or citizenship applications, and potentially subject them to deportation. However, U.S. citizens with assault convictions may also face legal difficulties if they wish to travel abroad, as other countries may decline to issue visas to individuals with violent criminal convictions on their records.
Firearm Rights and Other Civil Liberties
Felony assault convictions can also result in the loss of the right to own or possess firearms. Individuals also lose their voting rights while incarcerated for a felony assault conviction, although they may have their rights restored upon release from prison.
Can You Expunge or Seal a Record of an Assault Conviction?
In Minnesota, you maybe able to apply to expunge a misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor assault conviction from your record, which seals the conviction from public view and prevents it from appearing in background checks.