Prosecutors, Guilty Pleas, and Collateral Legal Consequences

Abstract

Abstract This chapter examines a practical problem arising from the proliferation of collateral legal consequences (CLCs). Courts have recently suggested that defendants considering guilty pleas have a right to be notified not only about the range of formal sentences they are likely to face, but also about additional legal consequences that are likely to follow from a guilty plea. This chapter examines who should bear the central responsibility for ensuring that defendants are properly informed about the range of CLCs they may face. Most assume that this responsibility falls to defense counsel. This chapter argues, instead, that the central responsibility for providing defendants access to relevant information about CLCs should fall to prosecutors. Shifting this burden from defense counsel to prosecutors is justifiable in principle and would have desirable implications in practice.