Brief of <I>Amici Curiae</I> Criminal and Immigration Law Professors, Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights Coalition, Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, and Western Kentucky Refugee Mutual Assistance Society, Inc. In Support of Petitioner

Abstract

This is a brief of amici curiae criminal and immigration law professors et al. in support of certiorari petition in Padilla v. Kentucky, 130 S. Ct. 1473 (2010) (08-651). This brief discusses the history, doctrinal, and policy issues involved in the lower federal and state courts’ interpretation of the Sixth Amendment’s guarantee of effective assistance of counsel in relationship to the immigration consequences of a criminal conviction. It also discusses the historical relationship between immigration and criminal law and the impact it has had on noncitizen immigrants that are involved in the criminal justice system. Because of the intertwined relationship that immigration and criminal law have had over the last thirty years, large circuit splits have occurred on this issue. Therefore, in this brief, amici curiae requests that the court grant certiorari on the case in order to resolve the circuit splits and answer the question as to whether there is a duty under the Sixth Amendment to advise as to the immigration consequences of a criminal conviction.