11/17/2004
The Supreme Court ruled that driving under the influence
of alcohol, even when serious bodily injury results, is not a "crime of
violence" for which an immigrant can be subject to automatic deportation.
The
unanimous opinion, written by Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, rejected an
interpretation of the law advanced by both the Bush and the Clinton
administrations. The decision opened the door for a Haitian immigrant who was
deported under that interpretation two years ago to return to his family in
Miami.
The
immigrant, Josue Leocal, was a lawful permanent resident who had lived in the
United States for 20 years when he was deported for having committed an
"aggravated felony" - driving while drunk, running a red light and
injuring two people. He pleaded guilty to violating Florida's drunken-driving
law and served two years in prison.
While
he was serving his sentence, the Immigration and Naturalization Service began
proceedings against him, and an immigration judge found him deportable. The
Board of Immigration Appeals upheld the order, as did the United States Court of
Appeals for the 11th Circuit, in Atlanta.
The
Supreme Court accepted Mr. Leocal's appeal, Leocal v. Ashcroft, No. 03-583,
because courts around the country had issued conflicting rulings on whether
drunken driving that results in injury or death fits within Congress's
definition of a "crime of violence."
In
1988, Congress made noncitizens subject to automatic deportation after
conviction for an "aggravated felony," defined to include crimes of
violence. Congress subsequently provided two basic definitions of "crime of
violence": an offense that includes "the use, attempted use or
threatened use of physical force" and any other felony that involves the
"substantial risk" that physical force "may be used."
Like most state drunken-driving
laws, the Florida statute does not require proof that the driver acted
intentionally, or had any particular mental state. The Bush administration told
the justices that the use of force need not be intentional to bring an offense
within the definition of a crime of violence. "When a drunk driver causes
serious bodily injury with his vehicle, he has necessarily used physical
force," the administration's brief maintained.
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