Opinion ID: 1060889
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: civil disability statutes

Text: Virtually every jurisdiction subjects a convicted defendant not only to criminal punishment but also sanctions that restrict civil and proprietary rights. Special Project, The Collateral Consequences of a Criminal Conviction, 23 Vand. L.Rev. 929 (1970)(hereinafter Special Project). Such restrictions, or civil disabilities, date back to ancient Greece and Rome, when a criminal conviction rendered one infamous, and resulted in the loss of the right to vote, hold office, make speeches or assemble. The sanctions were viewed as retributive and deterrence measures imposed against those who committed crimes because they entailed the loss of rights most cherished by society. Civil disabilities were also imposed in early English common law in the form of attainder. A person convicted of treason or a felony, i.e., attained, was not only subjected to criminal punishment but also the loss of property, voting, and other civil rights. Id. at 941-944. In this country, civil disabilities continue to play a significant role in the criminal justice system and generally fall into one of two categories: civil death statutes and specific disability statutes. Civil death statutes are blanket provisions that deprive the criminal of [all] rights while he is serving a prison sentence for life or less than life. Special Project, supra, at 950. [2] As defined in Black's Law Dictionary, civil death is: [t]he state of a person who, though possessing natural life, has lost all civil rights and as to them is considered civilly dead... . In some states, some persons convicted of serious crimes are declared to be civilly dead which means that certain civil rights and privileges of the convicted offender including the right to vote, contract and sue and be sued are forfeited. Black's Law Dictionary 245 (6th ed. 1990); see also 21A Am.Jur.2d Criminal Law, § 1032 (1981 & Supp. 1997). In contrast, the other category  specific disability statutes  designate a particular civil disability that occurs upon the conviction and remains in effect throughout the defendant's life unless restored by a specific statutory procedure. Special Project, supra, at 951. A civil disability pursuant to such a statute may include the loss of the right to vote, hold office, serve as a juror, possess firearms, and the denial of professional or occupational licensing. Id. at 952. Like the vast majority of states, Tennessee does not have a civil death statute but rather a series of specific disability statutes. These include the loss of the right to vote, see Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-20-112; the loss of the right to hold public office, see Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-20-114; and the loss of the right to serve as a fiduciary, see Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-20-115. Persons convicted of certain violent criminal offenses are prohibited from carrying handguns. Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1307(b). The loss of these specific rights of citizenship may be restored pursuant to a statutory proceeding for restoration of citizenship set forth in Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 40-29-101  105. See also 21A Am.Jur.2d, supra, § 1032-1033. The Court of Appeals' majority rests its conclusion principally upon the proposition that a convicted felon is rendered infamous. Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-20-112. Although the statute does not define infamous or infamy, it has been defined as follows: Condition of being infamous. A qualification of a man's legal status produced by his conviction of an infamous crime and the consequent loss of honor and credit, which, at common law, rendered him incompetent as a witness, and by statute in some jurisdictions entails other disabilities. Black's Law Dictionary 777 (6th ed. 1990). [3] When Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-20-112 is read in its entirety, it is evident that it pertains to specific disabilities, that is, the loss of the right to vote and the retention of the right to testify: Upon conviction for any felony, it shall be the judgment of the court that the defendant be infamous and be immediately disqualified from exercising the right of suffrage. No person so convicted shall be disqualified to testify in any action, civil or criminal, by reason of having been convicted of any felony, and the fact of conviction for any felony may only be used as a reflection upon the person's credibility as a witness. Id. Obviously, there is nothing in this specific civil disability provision which pertains to the right of a convicted felon to seek access to public records under the Public Records Act. As a result of our analysis, it is apparent that Tennessee does not have a civil death statute, nor does it have a specific disability statute that prohibits a convicted felon from filing a petition under the Public Records Act. In addition, the limits of punishment are set by the Legislature and no punishment may imposed without statutory authority. See State v. Davis, 940 S.W.2d 558, 562 (Tenn. 1997). Accordingly, the Court of Appeals' majority erred in concluding that the convicted felon, Robin Cole, lacked standing to file an action to seek public records under the Public Records Act. [4]