Sentencing: US Supreme Court Rules for Immigrants in Drug Possession Deportation Case
In a decision issued Tuesday, the US Supreme Court made it easier for some immigrants convicted of drug possession under state laws to avoid deportation. Under the Immigration and Naturalization Act, immigrants convicted of an aggravated felony face mandatory deportation. In this case, the court held that even if a conviction for drug possession is considered a felony under state law, if it is not considered a felony under the federal Controlled Substances Act, it cannot be an aggravated felony for immigration purposes.
The ruling came in the case of Lopez v. Gonzalez. Jose Antonio Lopez, who was born in Mexico, was a 16-year legal permanent resident of the US with a wife and children and a family business when he was arrested in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and charged with aiding and abetting cocaine possession. Under South Dakota law, that's a felony. Lopez pled guilty and was sentenced to five years in state prison. Upon finishing his prison sentence, he was deported to Mexico in January 2006.
Lopez appealed his deportation by an Immigration and Naturalization Service judge, but in a 2005 opinion, the US 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis denied him. The Supreme Court agreed to hear the case, and now Lopez has a chance to come back to his new home in the US.
The ruling came on an 8-1 vote, with Justice Clarence Thomas alone in the dissent.
The Bush administration argued that Congress left the door open to counting such offenses as aggravated felonies, but Justice David Souter, who wrote the opinion, and the court weren't buying it. In a passage where he accused the government of "incoherence," Souter added that "the government's way... would often turn simple possession into trafficking, just what the English language tells us not to expect and that result makes us very wary of the government's position."
With some 12 million permanent resident immigrants living in the country, the Lopez ruling is likely to affect thousands of immigrants with minor drug-related convictions.
how can u be so prujuduce
Comment posted by Anonymous on Wed, 01/10/2007 - 4:16pmwhat if u were rasied here all your life then one big mess up and have to leave the country your rasied in
annalynn guthrie
Comment posted by Anonymous on Wed, 01/10/2007 - 11:07ammy name is annalynn guthrie and i was deported to the phillipens after found charges (possion of controlled subtanse class c) was considered an aggravatted felony in ins laws. i was adopted at the age of four years old by an american man who served the u.s. military an my mother a native of the philipens. i was brought to the states at the age of four and lived there for 25 years and was deported november 7 2006. my parents still reside in joplin missouri along with my 4 amercan citizen kids ages 11,9,4,and 1 years old. i have a feanci who also lives in missouri helping taking care of my kids wiyh my parents. please help me my fathers name is (terry l. guthrie) #14177827743
my email ad# asiaana_guthrie@yahoo.com
p.s. i am very lost without my family and i can servive here because i dont speak the languge i was raised like an american so i speak and think like an american
P.S TO ANNALYNN GUTHRIE IS WRONG
Comment posted by Anonymous on Wed, 01/10/2007 - 11:13amP. S. I AM VERY LOST WITHOUT MY FAMILY AND CAN NOT SERVIVE HERE BECAUSE I DONT SPEAK THE LANGUGE, I WAS RAISED LIKE AN AMERICAN SO I SPEAK AND THINK LIKE AN AMERICAN.......
PLEASE SOMEONE HELP ME....... I MISS MY LOVE ONES
DEPORTED
Comment posted by Anonymous on Thu, 08/07/2008 - 12:27pmI Was deported in 2002 now is 2008 my felony was two b flonies both cases runing at the same time the judge wanted to give me 6 month in rokis island new york but i left the court room cause i wanted to hire anothe lawyer the 1 lawyer promise me provation so when i heard the judge news i panic and left so when i when back with a new lawyer the judge was mad abset that i left his court room so he decided to make my case a felony case and send me to upstate runing both case as b felonies runing together 1 to 3 years in prison so i took the shook program and when i was to finish imigration pick me up and place in a facility for deportation bufalo federal prison so when i so the judge by video in the shook program i said to the judge i wanted mu¿y own will my deportation i was not going to fight my case with out being able to get bail they wanted me to stay incarcelated trew the hall case i couldnt take one extra day in prison so now im in my country and i wich to go back i think i paid the price i was cought with 30 small bags with cocain each bag probably weight 0.3 grams it is nothing they intent of sale can i fight this case or not
my e-mail jorge_13g@hotmail.com
Home
Comment posted by Anonymous on Fri, 12/08/2006 - 6:12pmIn this ruling by the Supreme Court on deporting a naturalize citizen of the United States is outlandish. I would not be appauled at all if those immigrants, which are in this country committing crimes and all that is done is to deport them back to Mexico. After, awhile, they will return and then are continued sent back, to return again and again.