# Pugin v. Garland

Note: Where it is feasible, a syllabus (headnote) will be released, as is being done in connection with this case, at the time the opinion is issued. The syllabus constitutes no part of the opinion of the Court but has been prepared by the Reporter of Decisions for the convenience of the reader. See United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co., 200 U. S. 321, 337.
SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
Syllabus
PUGIN v. GARLAND, ATTORNEY GENERAL CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 22–23. Argued April 17, 2023—Decided June 22, 2023
In two immigration proceedings, noncitizens Fernando Cordero-Garcia and Jean Francois Pugin were determined removable from the United States on the ground that they had convictions for aggravated felonies—namely, offenses “relating to obstruction of justice.” See 8 U. S. C. §§1101(a)(43)(S), 1227(a)(2)(A)(iii). On appeal, the Ninth Circuit concluded that Cordero-Garcia’s state conviction for dissuading a witness from reporting a crime did not constitute an offense “relating to obstruction of justice” because the state offense did not require that an investigation or proceeding be pending. By contrast, the Fourth Circuit concluded that Pugin’s state conviction for accessory after the fact constituted an offense “relating to obstruction of justice” even if the state offense did not require that an investigation or proceeding be pending.
Pugin’s and Cordero-Garcia’s contrary arguments lack merit. First, even if a specific prohibition in 18 U. S. C. §1503(a) requires that an investigation or proceeding be pending, Congress defined offenses under §1101(a)(43)(S) more broadly. Second, the historical record does not support the claim that obstruction of justice requires that an investigation or proceeding be pending. Third, reading §1101(a)(43)(S) to cover offenses that do not require a pending investigation or proceeding may create some redundancy, but the better overall reading of a statute sometimes contains some redundancy. Fourth, resort to the rule of lenity has no place here because the traditional tools of statutory interpretation show that an offense “relating to obstruction of justice” does not require that an investigation or proceeding be pending. Pp. 3–10.
No. 22–23, 19 F. 4th 437, affirmed; No. 22–331, 44 F. 4th 1181, reversed and remanded.
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