Get a criminal record for anything and suddenly you can't get leases, many loans, or jobs any more. Even pending criminal cases show up on your record, forget about presumption of innocence. And they don't go away ever. Get in one fist fight, picked up for public intoxication, caught with drugs, that can be the end of your life basically.

I have a drug related misdemeanor from when I was 19. Even though I went to college and make great money now, I basically had to sublet off-the-record my entire adult life until my wife and I bought a house together (some banks don't do background checks for home loans). A life like that is fragile, I'd sometimes have to scramble to find a new place to stay with only a few day's notice and I've spent quite a few nights in my car.