On September 5, 2014, the Ninth Circuit issued a very important decision, Torres-Valdivias v. Holder. The decision held that when seeking a discretionary benefit, an alien who committed a violent or dangerous crime will not receive that benefit except in extraordinary circumstances, such as those involving national security or foreign policy considerations, or cases in which an alien clearly demonstrates that the denial of status adjustment would result in exceptional and extremely unusual hardship. Moreover, depending on the gravity of…

British actor, comic, author, singer, et al., Russell Brand, who is also the husband of Katy Perry, has suffered eleven arrests according to media reports, I can find no information about the final disposition of these arrests, i.e., what he was actually convicted of. Media reports include two arrests for shoplifting and several marijuana arrests, including one for cultivating marijuana. Interviews of him also contain admissions to his having been a drug addict. Assuming some of the reported arrests led to…