The looming damage caused by some criminal convictions

If you’re facing criminal charges as a college student, then you’re probably afraid of how the allegations against you are going to affect your future. That’s a legitimate worry, and one that you need to take seriously. While jail, prison, and fines are all very real possibilities if you end up convicted, there are other, perhaps longer lasting, implications that you’ll want to try to avoid as much as possible.

The effects of a criminal conviction

A lot of the damage caused by a criminal conviction is hard to see when you’re confronted with the immediacy of incarceration. So, make sure that you take the time to realize these effects and what you can do to avoid them:

• Employment: A criminal conviction could derail your career before it even gets started. This is because most employers conduct criminal background checks, and they usually ask applicants if they’ve ever been convicted of a crime.
• Housing: Many landlords want to ensure that they’re providing safe premises for their tenants. This means that they, too, often ask if an applicant has been convicted of a felony offense and, if so, the landlord may deny a lease application. This can leave you with limited options.
• College admissions: If you’re hoping to move on to graduate school in the near future, then you may face an uphill battle if you have a conviction on your record.
• Driving privileges: Depending on the specific charges that you’re faced with, you could end up seeing your driver’s license suspended or revoked. This can wreak havoc on nearly every aspect of your life.
• Family: While criminal charges and a conviction can hurt your relationship with your family, it can also have legal implications if you have a child. Your child’s other parent could use your criminal record to try to limit your contact with your child, which could be harmful to your and your child’s wellbeing.

Be aggressive in defending your future

We know that these potential penalties can be scary and overwhelming. We bring them to your attention not to paralyze you with fear, but rather to stress the importance of building a strong criminal defense case that seeks to protect your interests as fully as possible. If you’d like to learn more about how to go about building that kind of criminal defense, then now is the time to be proactive in educating yourself and reaching out for the help that you may need.