Leocal v. Ashcroft, 543 US 1 (2004), states that aliens may not be deported after being found guilty of DUI if a DUI law that defines violations does not contain the element's mens rea or vice versa allows confidence only because of negligence.
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Josue Leocal is a Haitian citizen who has been a legitimate permanent resident of the United States since 1987. In 2000, he was convicted in Florida for driving under influence (DUI). Then the process was instituted to deport Leocal, and an immigration judge concluded that LeCal's DUI beliefs were "violent crimes" and were therefore a serious crime under the Immigration and Citizenship Act. Due to his belief in a worsening crime, Leocal was ordered to be deported in October 2001. The Immigration Appeals Board confirmed this decision, and Leocal requested a review at the Eleventh Circuit. In an unpublished opinion, the Eleventh Element concluded that DUI's beliefs were "compounded crimes", and therefore have no jurisdiction to review the legitimacy of deportation orders. The US Supreme Court agreed to review the case.
Maps Leocal v. Ashcroft
Court Opinion
Under the Immigration and Citizenship Act, any foreigner convicted of a serious crime is deported and may be deported on the orders of the Attorney General. A "seriously aggravated crime" includes any crime classified under federal law as "violent crime". And "violent crime," in turn, is whatever the crime is
(A) having as an element of use, use of, or threatening the use of physical force against another person or property, or (b) is a crime and that, by its very nature, involves a substantial risk that physical forces against persons or property of others may be used in committing an offense.
To determine whether DUI Leocal's belief qualifies as "violent crime," the Court examines elements of the legal definition of crime rather than certain facts.
Under Florida law, it is a third-rate crime for anyone who operates the vehicle under the influence and, "by reason of such an operation, the cause [e]... [s] injures the bodily injury of another person." This law does not have elements of mens rea - does not require the defendant to have a certain level to commit a crime. In Florida, DUI does not require planned or threatened physical effort; if the DUI is to qualify as a violent crime, it must be so qualified as it involves the use physical strength. "The most natural use of" physical force "implies a higher level of intent than negligent or just accidental behavior." Likewise, DUI does not require a "big risk" that physical force will be used. In addition, the fact that in other parts of the Immigration and Nationality Act, Congress explicitly distinguishes between DUI crimes and "violent crimes" that support the Court's conclusion that Florida DUI laws are not "violent crimes" because they do not require proof of a particular mental state , and thus criminalized only negligent behavior.
See also
- List of US Supreme Court cases, volume 543
- List of US Supreme Court cases
External links
- Text of opinion, LII, Cornell University
- Text of opinion, findlaw.com
- Multimedia links, OYEZ project
- Transcript of spoken arguments
- Brief of Leocal as Applicant
- Government Summary as Respondent
- Amicus brief from ACLU
- Suggestions for applying Leokal from the American Immigration Law Foundation
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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