The Dobbs Wire: Showdown at the Supreme Court — Esquivel-Quintana v. Sessions

February 27, 2017 FAC Contributor #1 0 Comments min read

Showdown at the Supreme Court: Feb. 27 the US Supreme Court will hear arguments in a case known as Esquivel-Quintana v. Sessions. Underage, consensual sex is at issue; criminal statutes, immigration policy and sexual civil liberties collide. When Juan Esquivel-Quintana was 20 and living in California he had sex with his 16-year-old girlfriend. Alas, this was illegal in California; he was convicted, punished, and “paid the price.” All was fine until he moved to Michigan and suddenly things took a turn for the worse–Esquivel-Quintana was deported to Mexico. Although he was a lawful permanent resident of the US with a green card and had already been punished, federal immigration law allows deportation when there has been a serious criminal conviction. The court will hear lots of argument as to whether this offense qualifies as serious. There’s a bigger question at the heart of this case – how much punishment for sex? That California conviction…same conduct would not even be a crime in *43* other states. Detroit’s public radio station, WDET, has a report with the many twists and turns of this case and includes audio. Also below are links to the legal papers and other material. Good luck to Juan Esquivel-Quintana and his legal team led by Jeffrey L. Fisher of Stanford Law School’s Supreme Court Litigation Clinic, and Michael Karlin. –Bill Dobbs, The Dobbs Wire

WDET Radio News | Feb. 24, 2017

Michigan Man’s Case Heads to U.S. Supreme Court [story with AUDIO]

Conflicting state criminal laws lead to man’s deportation from Michigan and a court challenge.

By Sandra Svoboda

When Mexican-born Juan Esquivel-Quintana was 20 and living legally in California, he dated a 16 year old. Their sexual relationship would be legal in most states and under federal law, but in California the age of consent is 18, and because he was more than three years older than his girlfriend, the case could be handled as a felony. Esquivel-Quintana was prosecuted and served a 90-day jail sentence, according to court records.

His record was not a problem with immigration authorities because of an earlier appellate court decision in California that applied to people like him in West Coast states. Judges there declared that his specific crime under state law did not qualify for deportation under federal immigration law. But when Esquivel-Quintana moved to Michigan, the immigration and federal courts saw it differently, and in 2013 he was deported to Mexico.

The Esquivel-Quintana case has national implications, depending on how the justices rule. But for Esquivel-Quintana himself, the issue is intensely personal: it’s whether he will be able to return to the United States as a legal, permanent resident, the status he’s always had, says his Ann Arbor attorney Mike Carlin. MORE:

http://wdet.org/posts/2017/02/24/84755-crimmigration-michigan-mans-case-heads-to-us-supreme-court/

SCOTUSblog | Feb. 21, 2017

Argument preview: Removal of an immigrant for “sexual abuse of a minor”

By Kevin Johnson

http://www.scotusblog.com/2017/02/argument-preview-removal-immigrant-sexual-abuse-minor/

ISSUE BEFORE THE US SUPREME COURT

BACKGROUND: Under federal law, the Model Penal Code, and the laws of forty-three states and the District of Columbia, consensual sexual intercourse between a twenty-one-year-old and someone almost eighteen is legal. Seven states have statutes criminalizing such conduct.

THE QUESTION PRESENTED TO COURT: Whether a conviction under one of those seven state statutes constitutes the “aggravated felony” of “sexual abuse of a minor” under 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43) (A) of the Immigration and Nationality Act – and therefore constitutes grounds for mandatory removal.

https://www.supremecourt.gov/qp/16-00054qp.pdf

CASE INFORMATION