Deportation and DUI - Supreme Court

Deportation for Drunk Drivers Limited by U.S. Supreme Court

Nov. 9 (Bloomberg) -- A drunken-driving accident doesn't necessarily provide grounds for U.S. immigration officials to deport an alien, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled.

The justices unanimously overturned a federal appeals court decision that Josue Leocal could be deported to his native Haiti. The court said Leocal's conviction for a 2000 drunken-driving accident in Florida doesn't qualify as a "crime of violence," a status that would authorize deportation.

The opinion was written by Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, who hasn't been at the court since his Oct. 25 announcement that he is being treated for thyroid cancer. Justice John Paul Stevens, who presided as the court heard arguments in two cases today, said Rehnquist would take part in the cases by reviewing legal briefs and argument transcripts.

In the drunken-driving case, Rehnquist said the Florida law under which Leocal was convicted requires only that prosecutors prove negligence, not that they show recklessness or an intent to injure someone. Rehnquist said that didn't fit the category of "violent, active crimes" that Congress sought to punish through the deportation law.

"Drunk driving is a nationwide problem, as evidenced by the efforts of legislatures to prohibit such conduct and impose appropriate penalties," Rehnquist wrote. "But this fact does not warrant our shoehorning it into statutory sections where it does not fit."

The accident injured two people. Leocal pleaded guilty to two counts of causing serious bodily injury while driving under the influence of alcohol. He was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison.

The case is Leocal v. Ashcroft, 03-583.

Last Updated: November 9, 2004 12:26 EST