Monday, July 25, 2011

Ninth Circuit Overrules Lujan Exception

Last week, in an en banc decision, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals overrruled the court's previous decision in Lujan-Armendariz v. INS, 222 F.3d 728 (9th Cir. 2000) in extending the same equal protection afforded citizens under the Federal First Offender's Act (FFOA) to non-citizens when considering the immigration consequences of a simple first-time narcotics offense.

Prior to this ruling, in the Ninth Circuit, a non-citizen would not be deported for a simple, first-time narcotics offense, such as under the influence, paraphenalia, or a possession charge. This exception has now ended and any non-citizen will be subject to deportation for any narcotics conviction, even a Prop 36 offense in California.

The full text of the decision is below.

Nunez-Reyes v. Holder

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