Ninth Circuit en banc re-defines conviction based on facts not related to a conviction at all.

Sunday, June 10th, 2012

The gloves are off in the Ninth circuit again. This time in Planes v. Holder. On June 5, 2012, the court denied a petition for rehearing that featured a concurrence and a dissent, with each side pointing out how the other made egregious errors in its decision making. This is an Avengers versus Loki battle in public view (for free and without wearing 3D glasses).  The underlying case was decided on July 5, 2011.  

What if she was a foreigner?

Sunday, February 12th, 2012

Whitney Houston Superstar Whitney Houston was arrested at Keahole-Kona International Airport for possessing 15.2 grams of marijuana in January 2000. She apparently pled no contest in an arrangement that led ultimately to the expungement of her record.

The Ninth Circuit reverses its long-held precedent on the effectiveness of expungements of some drug crimes.

Sunday, July 17th, 2011

If I knew how to put a black box around a posting to signify a sad, dark day for non-citizens, I would do it for this posting as I write about a new decision, Nunez Reyes v. Holder, which overrules Lujan-Armendariz v. INS,  a decision that recognized state expungements of simple possession drug offenses so that the harsh immigration consequences of drug convictions would not apply to those with expungements. First, what are the “harsh consequences” of simple possession offenses?…

The Ninth Circuit Advantage is Waning

Sunday, July 25th, 2010

At immigration lawyer conferences, it is not unusual to hear attorneys speaking on the arcana of immigration law to comment on the Ninth Circuit. Those from it gloat about how the law is “better” there for foreigners and those not from it bemoan that they are not there. Quite often attorneys will call me from parts of the country outside of the Ninth Circuit asking if it would be advantageous for a client to move here. It sometimes is, or…