On Dec. 22, 2011, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) announced that the consequences of conviction " specific legal barriers, generalized discrimination, and social stigma " have become more numerous and severe, more public, and more permanent. The legal mechanisms relied on in the past to restore rights and status " pardon, expungement, certificates of good conduct " have atrophied or become ineffective, with the result that a significant percentage of the American public is permanently consigned to second class citizenship. As a result, it has created a Task Force on Restoration of Rights and Status After Conviction. For more information, see http://www.criminaljustice.org/criminaldefense.aspx?id=23270