Civil death (Latin: civiliter mortuus)[1] is a term that refers to the loss of all or

almost all civil rights by a person due to a conviction for a felony or due to an act by the
government of a country that results in the loss of civil rights. It is usually inflicted on
persons convicted of crimes against the state or adults determined by a court to be legally
incompetent because of mental disability.[2]
WIKKIPEDIA:

In medieval Europe, felons lost all civil rights upon their conviction. This civil death
often led to actual death, since anyone could kill and injure a felon with impunity.[3] In the
old German Empire, a person declared civilly dead was called "vogelfrei" ("free as a
bird") and could even be killed since they were completely outside the law.[4]
Historically outlawry, that is, declaring a person as an outlaw, was a common form of
civil death.[4]
In the US, the disenfranchisement of felons[5] has been called a form of civil death, as has
being subjected to collateral consequences in general.[6] see also loss of rights due to
felony conviction.
Edition of 1905. NEW INTERNATIONAL ENCYCLOPEDIA

CIVIL DEATH (Lat. mors civilis). The status of a living person who is deprived by law
of his legal and civil rights.
The term is of feudal origin, and was introduced into the English law after the Norman
Conquest. At that time civil death was one of the consequences of treason, banishment
from the realm, abjuration of the realm (by which a criminal escaped other punishment
by leaving the country forever), felony, and the act of entering upon a monastic life as a
monk or nun; and in all of these cases, except felony, there was a total extinction of all
civil rights, including loss of real and personal property, as if the person were physically
dead. To avoid the effect of this, conveyances frequently made grants of estates for the
natural life of a person; and this phrase is used to-day in creating life estates, although
the original reason for inserting the word natural has ceased. Treason and abjuration of
the realm involved forfeiture of property to the Crown as a penalty; but one taking
monastic vows could make a will and appoint an executor to administer his estate.
In the United States, generally, civil death can occur only as the result of a sentence of
imprisonment for life; but the doctrine is modified, so that there is only a partial
extinction of the convict's rights, as in the New York statute providing that a sentence of
life imprisonment shall operate as an absolute divorce of the felon from wife or husband;
and in no case does his property descend to his heirs, as under the early law of England.
The English law has also been greatly modified by statutes and decisions. For an
annotation on civil death in the United States, consult Davis vs. Laning, 18 Law Rep.
Annot., 1882.
In some of the countries of Europe, the ancient doctrine is still applied in cases of persons
entering a monastic life. See ATTAINDER; FORFEITURE; OUTLAWRY