# Can a felon renounce their citizenship? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 19, 2015, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-felon-renounce-their-citizenship/720368 "2015-05-19T15:37:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-felon-renounce-their-citizenship/720368/21 "2015-05-20T01:39:52Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Doesn’t it all depend on whether the felon’s not engaged in his employment? Ah, but he may still be maturing his felonious little plans! ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-felon-renounce-their-citizenship/720368/22 "2015-05-20T03:41:01Z")
> [@UDS](#): > > Having the bank account reported enables them to know where the earnings are located - which is outside the US. They still won’t be able to seize the earnings. Not true in practise. The US threatens sanctions against foreign banks that don’t cooperate with seizing funds from US citizens abroad, and no banks can afford to have that happen so they back down. He would have a much better chance of getting away with having his funds unseized after renouncing citizenship, because the US would have a much harder time finding which bank accounts were his. ---
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2015, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-felon-renounce-their-citizenship/720368/23 "2015-05-21T12:09:21Z")
> [@UDS](#): > > In this case, I don’t think it’s a problem for the felon to have his overseas bank account reported to the US. Since the fact that he has published and distributed a best-selling book will be public knowledge, they already know he has “Son of Sam” earnings. Having the bank account reported enables them to know where the earnings are located - which is outside the US. They still won’t be able to seize the earnings. Or they could just skip all the legal rigmarole and freeze his accounts for supporting terrorism. One nameless treasury official and the money is stuck forever. Not perfect from the Gov’t side, but much easier. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2015, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-felon-renounce-their-citizenship/720368/24 "2015-05-21T12:52:08Z")
Wouldn’t it depend on if the US flag in the courtroom has a yellow fringe or not? ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2015, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-felon-renounce-their-citizenship/720368/25 "2015-05-21T17:53:21Z")
Many overseas banks are simply giving their US customers the boot - simpler to not have any, rather than risk being found in violation of US rules. One nameless bureaucrat in Washington could decide the bank filled out its reports wrong, then any transactions they do are subject to 30% penalty until they can sort out he mess a few months or years later IIRC - i.e. now they might as well not be doing any banking with the USA. For the OP, I don’t see where “felon” matters, other than the difficulty getting into a foreign country. Of course, if already a dual citizen, less hassle. AFAIK only Canada and the USA share police databases, so I’m not sure how likely it is that other countries might know about his criminal past. I don’t think a paroled felon can get a passport(?) or leave the country legally, so the sentence would have to be done. The problem, as alluded to, is that any commercial activity with US entities is liable to be seized for judgements - Son of Sam, private lawsuits like OJ-Goldbergs, etc. Since most of the big movie money and a large book market exists in the USA, our felon will be forgoing a significant market to avoid seizure. I’m not sure if a judgement against the felon, decided in the USA, default or contested, could be enforced overseas. IIRC there’s the precedent that libel judgements from the UK (where the are much easier to win) will not typically be accepted by US courts. Real judgements (“you bought the yacht, you owe the money”) typically are. Not sure where Son of Sam type rulings fall. Depends on the local courts. Move to a country where justice is for sale. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2015, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-felon-renounce-their-citizenship/720368/26 "2015-05-21T20:09:13Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > But the laws would certainly apply to non-citizens doing business here in the United States. Business like selling books and such. > > Suppose a guy from Tanzania comes to the United States, murders a dude, serves 20 years and gets released. He then heads back to Tanzania, where he writes a book titled “How I murdered an American dude”. > > If he sells that book in Tanzania, then nothing happens. If he sells that book in the United States, if there was a law against profiting from your crimes, then American courts could order the profits from his book that he earned in America to be turned over. The fact that he’s not an American citizen and isn’t living in the United States is irrelevant. True, but if he transfers any of those assets back to the USA, they can be seized. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2015, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-felon-renounce-their-citizenship/720368/27 "2015-05-23T08:18:21Z")
I thought the main issue was that you couldn’t really just revoke your U.S. citizenship–at least, not without some other citizenship to fall back on. And, even then, you’d need to do it off of U.S. soil. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-felon-renounce-their-citizenship/720368.md?page=1)