About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

34 Immigr. & Nat'lity L. Rev. 597 (2013)
The Plea-Bargain Crisis for Noncitizens in Misdemeanor Court

handle is hein.journals/inlr34 and id is 611 raw text is: THE PLEA-BARGAIN CRISIS FOR NONCITIZENS IN MISDEMEANOR COURT Jason A. Cadet This Article considers three factors contributing to a plea-bargain crisis for noncitizens charged with misdemeanors: 1) the expansion of deportation laws to include very minor offenses with little opportunity for discretionary relief from removal; 2) the integration of federal immigration enforcement programs with the criminal justice system; and 3) the institutional norms in non-federal lower criminal courts, where little attention is paid to evidence or individual equities and where bail and other process costs generally outweigh perceived incentives to fight charges. The Article contends that these factors increase the likelihood that a noncitizen's low-level conviction will not reliably indicate guilt or will be the product of unchecked constitutional rights violations. Unwarranted convictions, many of which trigger deportation and other negative immigration consequences, undermine the integrity of both criminal justice and deportation systems. The Article also argues that, contrary to the Supreme Court's assumption in Padilla v. Kentucky, lawful permanent resident defendants are often unable to effectively negotiate for immigration-safe dispositions in the low-level cases where the rift between the underlying criminal conduct and the deportation outcome is largest. The Article's analysis suggests that reforms at both federal and state levels remain critical to address the disproportional immigration consequences of minor convictions and the plea-bargain crisis for noncitizens in misdemeanor court. t Assistant Professor, University of Georgia Law School. For helpful comments and conversations at various stages of this project, thanks to Rachel Barkow, Stacy Caplow, C~sar Cuauhtemoc Garcia Herndndez, Liz Keyes, Issa Kohler-Hausmann, Kevin Lapp, Nancy Morawetz, Mark Noferi, Jenny Roberts, my colleagues in the Lawyering Colloquium at New York University Law School, and participants at the Immigration Law Teachers Conference at Hofstra Law School (2012) and the Scholarship and Teacher Development Workshop at Albany Law School (2013). The Article also benefited from presentations to the law faculties at University of Georgia, University of New Mexico, and University of Denver. Much gratitude to the attorneys who shared their practice experience in misdemeanor court, especially Jocelyn Simonson, Violeta Chapin, and Jennifer Friedman. Annie Mathews, Anthony Ruiz, and Robyn Lim provided terrific research support. 1751 Originally published in 34 CARDOZO L. REv. 1751 (2013). Used by permission.

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most