DUI Attorneys - Home | Site Map
DUI Attorneys, DWI Lawyers
DUI, DWI, OUI, OWI, OUIL Attorneys, Drunk Driving Lawyers, Drinking and Driving
National Drunk Driving Law Firms

Case of the Week Archives for November - 2004

Supreme Court Overrules Deportation of Haitian Immigrant for Felony DUI Conviction

The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled in 2003 that Josue Leocal, a Haitian citizen with permanent citizenship rights in the United States, must be deported. He appealed to the United States Supreme Court, saying that a DUI was not a “violent crime”. The United States Supreme Court ruled that a 1988 federal law that made “violent crimes” deportable offenses was not intended to apply to impaired driving cases. The case, Leocal v. Ashcroft, 543 U.S. ____ (Case No. 03-583) was decided November 9th, 2004, and held that even a felony offender who had permanent status in the United States could not be sent out of America for being an “undesirable” alien. A word of caution should be considered here. The Court only decided how the federal law applied to this set of facts. A felony case involving vehicular manslaughter (homicide by vehicle) may be decided differently. Moreover, Congress has the power (if not the inclination) to change the law to add “persons charged with DUI” or such other categorization of driving while intoxicated felony [or misdemeanor] offenses. Hence, persons who lack full citizenship should not underestimate the possible future consequences of putting a drunken driving conviction on his or her criminal record.

See the full Leocal opinion below:

CLICK HERE to read more on this case.