Moncrieffe v. Holder

Background

Adrian Moncrieffe, a Jamaican man who came to the United States as a child, pleaded guilty in Georgia after police found 1.3 grams of marijuana in his car and he admitted possession with intent to distribute. Under Georgia law the court gave him probation and his charge can be expunged. The federal government sought to deport him, saying the conviction was an aggravated felony because federal law can punish distribution by up to five years; immigration authorities and the Fifth Circuit agreed and ordered removal.

Reasoning

The Court asked whether a state conviction counts as an aggravated felony when the same state crime can cover both small, unpaid sharing and larger, paid distribution. Using the standard comparison of the state offense to the federal law in the abstract, the Court held that because federal law treats small, unpaid sharing as a misdemeanor, a state conviction that does not necessarily show payment or more than a small amount cannot be treated as a federal felony. The Court found it improper to let immigration judges relitigate old facts to decide the point.

Real world impact

The decision means some people with low-level marijuana-distribution convictions will not automatically be labeled aggravated felons and may be eligible to seek discretionary relief such as asylum or cancellation of removal. It does not make those offenses lawful: they still make a noncitizen deportable as a controlled-substances offender, and immigration authorities retain discretion to deny relief.

Dissents or concurrances

Two Justices dissented, arguing the Court departed from the statute’s plain text and that the ruling could let serious traffickers avoid aggravated-felony treatment.