Ex-offenders, even after they have served their sentences, may find that they are deprived of many important civil and constitutional rights and commonly accepted privileges of citizenship. For years after a person has been discharged or completed a prison term, a conviction may curtail certain rights, and may bar him/her from holding political office, obtaining a professional license or serving as a juror. Despite ACLU objection, the courts have upheld some, but not all, of these “civil disabilities.”
ACLU-TN’s Ex-Offenders Resource Sheet reviews voting rights and other government restrictions.