Alberto R. Gonzales, Attorney General v. Luis Alexander Duenas-alvarez (549 U.S. 183)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided January 17, 2007 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 549 U.S. 183 · 127 S. Ct. 815
- Decided
- January 17, 2007
- Term
- October Term 2006
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Breyer
- Issue area
- Civil Rights
- Disposition
- Vacated and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Justice Breyer delivered the opinion of the Court. Immigration law provides for removal from the United States of an alien convicted of “a theft offense (including receipt of stolen property) ... for which the term of imprisonment [is] at least one year.” 8 U. S. C. § 1101(a)(43)(G) (emphasis added; footnote omitted); § 1227(a)(2)(A). The question here is whether the term “theft offense” in this federal statute includes the crime of “aiding and abetting” a theft offense. We hold that it does. And we vacate a Ninth Circuit determination to the contrary. I The Immigration and Nationality Act, 66 Stat. 163, as amended, 8 U. S. C. § 1101 et seq. (2000 ed. and Supp. IV), lists a set of offenses, conviction for any one of which subjects certain aliens to removal from the United States, § 1227(a). In determining whether a conviction (say, a conviction for violating a state criminal law that forbids the taking of property without permission) falls within the scope of a listed offense (e. g., “theft offense”), the lower courts uniformly have applied the approach this Court set forth in Taylor v. United States, 495 U. S. 575 (1990). E. g., Soliman v. Gonzales, 419 F. 3d 276, 284 (CA4 2005); Abimbola v. Ashcroft, 378 F. 3d 173, 176-177 (CA2 2004); Huerta-Guevara v. Ashcroft, 321 F. 3d 883, 886-888 (CA9 2003); Hernandez-Mancilla v. INS, 246 F. 3d 1002, 1008-1009 (CA7 2001). Taylor…
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