Opinion ID: 236617
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: First Count.

Text: 3 We turn to the case made against the defendant under the first count, namely, his failure to register under the 1940 statute. Here is the provision: 4 '(a) It shall be the duty of every alien now or hereafter in the United States, who (1) is fourteen years of age or older, (2) has not been registered and fingerprinted under section 451 of this title, and (3) remains in the United States for thirty days or longer, to apply for registration and to be fingerprinted before the expiration of such thirty days.' 54 Stat. 673. 5 It is not disputed that the defendant came within the terms of this statute and it is not disputed that he did not register in accordance with it. 6 In defense he urges two points. 7 First he says that the statute of limitation has run. The offense, it is argued, was completed December 27, 1940, which was the date fixed in the regulations for compliance with the requirements of the statute. The offense being completed at that time, he says, the three year statute began to run from that date and he is now immune from prosecution. The statute did not say, he says further, that the offense was a continuing one and the regulations made no provision looking to that effect. He concedes that if the regulations had done so his argument would not be well founded. This is conceding a pretty wide effect to regulations but we do not pass on the point one way or the other. 8 Dead against the appellant's contention upon this phase of the case is United States v. Franklin, 7 Cir., 1951, 188 F.2d 182. It is true, as defendant says, that the court in that case had many points before it and the limitation point came up only after trial. Nevertheless, the decision is there and from a court of co-ordinate jurisdiction. We are not going to pass upon the question whether we agree with the Seventh Circuit or whether we do not because we think that the second point urged by the appellant is conclusive in his favor. 9 This argument has to do with the effect of the Act of 1952. This Act also has a provision for registration of aliens almost exactly like the provision in the 1940 statute. It also has a general repealer clause. Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, § 403, 66 Stat. 163, 279-280, 1952. Then there is a savings clause which provides as follows: 10 'Nothing contained in this Act, unless otherwise specifically provided therein, shall be construed    to affect any prosecution    or any status, condition    act, thing, liability, obligation, or matter, civil or criminal, done or existing, at the time this Act shall take effect'. Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, § 405, 66 Stat. 163, 280, 8 U.S.C.A. § 1101, note. 11 The government urges that this savings clause preserves to it the power to prosecute those who failed to obey the 1940 statute even though the 1940 statute has been superseded by the 1952 Act. The defendant says this is not the case. The Act is a very broad one and the savings clause could apply to ever so many things in the statute but should not be applied to save prosecutions for failing to register under the earlier enactment. We think the defendant is right. 12 The purpose of the registration provisions in the 1952 statute, like that of 1940, is to get a record of aliens in the country together with a means of identifying them. The House committee report to the 1952 statute makes this comment: 13 'The bill incorporates in substance the provisions of the Alien Registration Act, 1940, relating to the registration of aliens. These provisions are set forth in chapter 7 of the bill. In general, the provisions have been modified in some respects to require, so far as practicable, the registration and fingerprinting of all aliens in the country and to assist in the enforcement of those provisions.' 2 U.S.Code Cong. & Ad. News 1723 (1952). 14 On the theory advanced by the government we think this policy would be defeated. If an alien who comes to register under the 1952 Act is thereupon to be prosecuted for not having registered before under the earlier statute, we think a pretty effective means has been provided for scaring away from the registrar's office anybody who through neglect, inadvertence or otherwise had previously failed to register. A criminal statute may, in some cases, be intended to act as a deterrent to prohibited conduct. Here we do not have conduct prohibited on the part of the alien; the purpose is to get him to do something affirmatively, namely, to come and register himself. He is subject to sanctions not if he acts, but if he fails to act. To get the 1952 statute to accomplish its purpose we think it must be construed to offer amnesty to those who had not registered before in order that they may now come in and register just as this defendant was advised by his counsel to do and as he tried to do. 15 Furthermore, to interpret the statute otherwise may get us into questions under the Fifth Amendment which are to be avoided if possible. When a man comes to register he is asked to fill out a form which gives facts, among other things, about his arrival in the United States, when and where; in what capacity he came, when he arrived in this country and how long he has lived here. If he does not supply the information he presumably will not be registered. Then he has violated the Act of 1952. If he does supply the information he supplies all the facts which are necessary to open up prosecution for failure to register under the Act of 1940. We do not have to come to the conclusion whether this is a violation of rights under the Fifth Amendment or not. Instead, we refrain from giving the statute a construction which would raise such a problem. 16 We have no authority to guide us on this question. 1 Neither side has supplied us with any clause in legislative history or otherwise which bears directly on it and we have, ourselves, nothing to offer except the section of the Committee report already quoted. We do feel pretty clear, however, that our interpretation of the statute is the one which will do best to make it work. 17 The judgment will be reversed on count one. 18