Court Opinion

ID: 9482238
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 08:44:20.172014+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:48:51.329149
License: Public Domain

BOWNES, Senior Circuit Judge
(dissenting).
The court’s opinion is based upon the assumption that judicial recommendations against deportation (“JRAD”) are not a substantive part of the criminal sentencing procedure. My statutory analysis leads me to conclude otherwise. The crux of the case turns on whether section 505 of the Immigration Act of 1990 (“1990 Act”), Pub.L. No. 101-649, Title V, section 505, 104 Stat. 4978, 5050 (1990), eliminating JRADs,1 is penal or civil in nature. I find that the statutory purpose and legislative history of the Immigration Act of 1917 (“1917 Act”), Ch. 29, § 19, 39 Stat. 874, 889 (1917), enacting JRADs, along with the procedural mechanisms for enforcing JRADs, establish the penal nature of JRADs. It follows, therefore, that the retroactive command of section 505 of the 1990 Act, repealing JRADs, violates the ex post facto clause. Because Ingrid Bodre’s motion for a JRAD was pending before section 505 went into effect,2 I would find that the *36district court was authorized, pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1251(b),3 to issue her a JRAD as a result of her conviction of a section 1251(a)(4) crime.4
Statutory Analysis
In determining whether legislation violates the ex post facto prohibition, we follow the three-prong test delineated by the Supreme Court. We look to see if the legislation is 1) penal in nature, Calder v. Bull, 3 U.S. (3 Dall.) 386, 1 L.Ed. 648 (1798); 2) retrospective, Miller v. Florida, 482 U.S. 423, 430, 107 S.Ct. 2446, 2451, 96 L.Ed.2d 351 (1987); and 3) disadvantages the offender affected by it. Id. In engaging in a statutory analysis involving deportation, we construe any doubts of Congress’ intent in favor of the petitioner.5 Because we are dealing with the repeal of the JRAD provision, and not of the deportation provision, we examine the 1917 legislation that enacted JRADs to determine whether Congress intended JRADs to be penal in nature. Once we have made this inquiry, we then examine whether section 505(b) of the 1990 Act violates the ex post facto prohibition. This is an inquiry which the majority failed to make.
Penal in Nature
The question of whether the law is essentially criminal or civil in nature is “one of statutory construction.” United States v. One Assortment of 89 Firearms, 465 U.S. 354, 362, 104 S.Ct. 1099, 1105, 79 L.Ed.2d 361 (1984). The Supreme Court blazed a path for our inquiry.
First, we have set out to determine whether Congress, in establishing the penalizing mechanism, indicated either expressly or impliedly a preference for one label or the other. See One Lot Emerald Cut Stones v. United States, supra [409 U.S. 232], at 236-237 [93 S.Ct. 489, 492-493, 34 L.Ed.2d 438 (1972)]. Second, where Congress has indicated an intention to establish a civil penalty, we have inquired further whether the statutory scheme was so punitive either in purpose or effect as to negate that intention. See Flemming v. Nestor, 363 U.S. 603, 617-621 [80 S.Ct. 1367, 1376-1378, 4 L.Ed.2d 1435] (1960).
Id. at 362-63, 104 S.Ct. at 1105 (quoting United States v. Ward, 448 U.S. 242, 248, 100 S.Ct. 2636, 2641, 65 L.Ed.2d 742 (1980)). To answer this question, we must look first to the purpose of the statute, then to the legislative history, and third, to the procedural mechanisms established by Congress *37to enforce the provision. Id. at 362-64, 104 S.Ct. at 1105.
There can be no doubt that deportation proceedings are civil in nature. See, e.g., Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Lopez-Mendoza, 468 U.S. 1032, 1038, 104 S.Ct. 3479, 3483, 82 L.Ed.2d 778 (1984); Harisiades v. Shaughnessy, 342 U.S. 580, 594, 72 S.Ct. 512, 521, 96 L.Ed. 586 (1952); Bugajewitz v. Adams, 228 U.S. 585, 591, 33 5.Ct. 607, 608, 57 L.Ed. 978 (1913); Fong Yue Ting v. United States, 149 U.S. 698, 730, 13 S.Ct. 1016, 1028, 37 L.Ed. 905 (1893). But contrary to the court’s opinion, I think that the question should not focus on the nature of a deportation proceeding. The question, instead, should focus on the nature of a JRAD proceeding. In examining the nature and effects of a JRAD proceeding, I can only conclude that JRADs fall well within the ambit of criminal sentencing proceedings.
1. Statutory Purpose
Congress enacted JRADs in 1917 to provide judges with sole and absolute control over the deportation of defendants whom they convict of crimes of moral turpitude. This is clear from the plain meaning of the statutory language itself.
That the provision of this section respecting the deportation of aliens convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude shall not apply to one ... if the court, or judge thereof, sentencing such alien for such crime shall, at the time of imposing judgment or passing sentence or within thirty days thereafter ... make a recommendation to the Secretary of Labor that such alien shall not be deported in pursuance of this Act.
Ch. 29, § 19, 39 Stat. 874, 890 (emphasis added).6 The language granting judges the authority to issue JRADs uses the mandatory word “shall;” it gives absolute discretion to the sentencing judge. As the Second Circuit, in Janvier v. United States, 793 F.2d 449 (1986) observed, the fact that the sentencing court has absolute authority over JRADs “indicates that the § 1251(b) process was intended to have at least a close relationship to sentencing.” Id. at 452.
The Janvier court examined the role of JRADs in criminal proceedings and held that the Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel7 applies to the request for a JRAD. In reaching its conclusion, the Janvier court found that “the [JRAD] is part of the sentencing process, a critical stage of the prosecution to which the Sixth Amendment safeguards are applicable.” Id. at 455. The court pointed specifically to the binding nature of the JRAD and to the fact that the criminal sentencing judge alone was empowered to grant it.
The confiding of such absolute discretion in the sentencing judge tends to support the view that the recommendation is part of the sentencing, for it is a normal part of the judicial function in sentencing to decide what penalty, within the statutory limits provided, shall be imposed on the convicted defendant in the circumstances of his case.
Id. at 452.
As the Janvier court explained, JRADs are distinguishable from deportation proceedings because of their nexus to the criminal sentencing process. This nexus specifically flows from the authority Congress vested in the criminal sentencing judge to issue JRADs. Janvier, 793 F.2d at 451-55. In contrast, the cases in which the Supreme Court has held that the ex post facto clause did not apply to deportation proceedings were cases involving deportation grounds, over which the sentenc*38ing judge had no authority.8 This is different from the instant case because it involves the application of an ex post facto law to JRADs, which are part of the criminal sentencing process, and not grounds for deportation.
The Tenth Circuit,9 in Trench v. Immigration and Naturalization Service, 788 F.2d 181 (10th Cir.), cert. denied, 479 U.S. 961, 107 S.Ct. 457, 93 L.Ed.2d 403 (1986), held that the appellant who challenged the lack of counsel at his deportation hearing on, inter alia, the ground that an attorney could have applied for a JRAD, could not collaterally attack the legitimacy of his state criminal convictions in the deportation proceedings. Id. at 184. The court found that the immigration court “was not authorized to evaluate the validity of petitioner’s state court convictions.” Id. This is because of the distinction in roles and authority between a criminal court, which has the authority to determine JRADs, and an immigration court, which has the authority over the deportation proceedings. Restrictions against the application of the ex post facto clause in deportation proceedings are therefore, inapplicable to JRADs.
It is beyond cavil that Congress has plenary authority over immigration matters.10 Congress, in enacting the JRAD provision, delegated absolute discretion11 to sentencing judges over the deportation of certain defendants. Judges presiding over criminal trials are not immigration judges and, for the most part, are not well-versed in immigration law. This congressional grant of absolute power over issuing JRADs to the criminal judiciary strongly suggests that Congress viewed JRADs as part of a defendant’s criminal sentencing proceeding. Had Congress intended JRADs to be part of the deportation proceeding, it could have done so by keeping the sole discretionary powers over deportation matters in the hands of the immigration authorities. That Congress chose otherwise demonstrates that it intended JRADs to be part of the criminal system, and not of the immigration and deportation system. See Janvier, 793 F.2d at 452.
This bifurcation of roles between the criminal judiciary and immigration courts is reasonable because the Immigration and Naturalization Service (“I.N.S.”) lacks criminal sanctioning powers. Congress looked to the criminal court system for such powers; thereby creating a direct nexus between JRADs and the criminal sentencing proceedings. Deportation may occur without any reference to the criminal court system. The issuance of a JRAD, however, depends upon the existence of the criminal court system, and in particular, the criminal sentencing process. The purpose of a JRAD is to permit the sentencing judge to mitigate the applicable criminal punishment.12 Congress vested the sentencing judge with such authority because it is the judge who is most familiar with the facts of the case and therefore, best equipped to determine whether a JRAD should be issued for the particular defendant before him/her.13
The integral relationship between the criminal sentencing procedure and JRADs means that JRADs are part of the criminal sentencing process and not of the deportation process.
2. Legislative History
I agree with the Janvier court that the legislative history demonstrates conclusive*39ly that Congress, in drafting the 1917 Act, intended JRADs to be part of the criminal sentencing process. Janvier, 793 F.2d at 453-55. The House debate reveals that Congress intended to delineate separate spheres of authority between the Secretary of Labor, in his immigration powers, and the courts, in its criminal sentencing powers.
The representatives, for example, discussed who should have the authority to determine if an “alien” is advocating or teaching anarchy. The question was asked why courts should not be vested with such authority.14 The House decided that the power to determine the advocacy or teaching of anarchy should be vested in the Secretary of Labor. 53 Cong.Rec. 5165-5172.
Congress, on the other hand, felt that the sentencing judge should have sole authority over JRAD determinations.
Mr. Sabath. I believe that we ought not be so hard upon a man who at some time, without thinking and without really knowing it is an offense, does something which may be designated technically as a crime involving moral turpitude.... I do not think we should be too harsh on an unfortunate man of that kind. We may very likely have cases where a man has married within five years after his arrival in this country. He may have married an American woman and may have children. What will become of his wife and his children if he is deported? Mr. Mann. [Your concern] is taken care of by the provision in the bill which forbids deportation if the judge who enters the sentence does not desire to have a man deported.... Take a case such as [Mr. Sabath] has cited. Is it not almost certain that the judge would recommend that the man be not deported, and in that case he would not be deported?
53 Cong.Rec. 5169. The above discussion reveals that Congress, in enacting the JRAD provision, intended that it apply in cases similar to the instant one. Bodre has an infant son who is an American citizen by birth, fathered by the codefendant, Beato-Rodriguez. The sentencing judge issued a JRAD for Beato-Rodriguez, who was the orehestrator of the crime. It appears from the record that Bodre had difficulties obtaining immigration counsel and did not apply for a JRAD until November 26,1990. While her motion for a JRAD was pending, the Act went into effect, three days after she applied for a JRAD.
Furthermore, the thirty day framework for the issuance of a JRAD shows that Congress intended the JRAD to be part of the criminal sentencing proceedings. The House rejected an amendment to permit the recommendation to be made “at any time” after sentencing. Congress chose to have the sentencing judge make the decision. The reasons stated were that the sentencing judge is the one most familiar with the case and the facts are fresh in his/her mind during the time of sentencing. Representative Hayes, for example, stated:
When the alien is before the judge charged with a crime and the time for sentence comes, necessarily the question of whether he shall be deported or not must be presented to the court, and when all the facts are before him, and after both sides have been heard by the court, that is the time when that important matter should be decided.
53 Cong.Rec. 5171.
The legislative history supports Bodre’s contention that Congress intended JRADs to be part of the criminal sentencing process.
3. Procedural Mechanisms
The judge presiding over the criminal trial of a defendant subject to deportation on section 1251(a)(4) grounds, engages in the same process and considers the same factors as in regular criminal sentencing. JRADs are only available from the sentencing judge, as part of the criminal sentencing process. Immigration authorities cannot issue JRADs. It is the judge who *40presides over the criminal trial and sentencing of a defendant who determines whether to issue a JRAD to that same defendant.
The thirty day framework for JRAD determinations makes it highly likely that the same judge who sentenced the defendant will also be the judge who determines the issuance of a JRAD. The thirty day limit also means that the determination of a JRAD will be sufficiently close in time to the criminal trial to allow the judge to weigh the factors and facts of the criminal trial in JRAD determinations. See Janvier, 793 F.2d at 452-58.
The judge’s power to issue a JRAD is similar to the power to impose criminal punishment in that they are both triggered by the defendant’s conviction — not by the defendant's deportability. The JRAD decision, like the sentencing decision itself, is based on the judge’s view of the appropriate punishment for the conviction.
Effects of JRAD
I agree with the majority that we must examine the substantive effects of the issuance of JRADs and not be misled by mere shadows. My examination of the substantive effects of JRADs leads me to respectfully disagree with the court’s holding that JRADs are civil in nature.
First, it is the content of the applicable provision and not the form that determines whether an ex post facto law applies. Weaver v. Graham, 450 U.S. 24, 31 n. 15, 101 S.Ct. 960, 965 n. 15, 67 L.Ed.2d 17 (1981). The enactment of section 505 as part of an immigration statute does not change its penal character.15 We must examine how it operates.
The penal nature of section 505 is confirmed by its penal consequences. The majority notes that JRADs have deportation consequences and therefore, constitute part of the deportation proceedings. But as the majority also notes, the issuance of a JRAD may not necessarily bar the deportation of the defendant.16 The defendant’s deportability may serve as a consideration in the sentencing judge’s JRAD determination, but it is not the only factor.
The Supreme Court has recognized that the prospect of a JRAD is “a significant factor entering into ... the defendant’s decision to plea.” Weaver v. Graham, 450 U.S. at 32, 101 S.Ct. at 966. It, therefore, is a factor in the sentence imposed. By offering protection against deportation consequences of certain convictions, JRADs had a direct impact on the criminal plea bargaining and sentencing process. With the repeal of JRADs, many alien defendants may feel compelled to reject plea offers because of the certain deportation consequences. It is not unrealistic to believe that many defendants will plead guilty to more serious crimes with longer sentences without deportation consequences, rather than plead guilty to lesser crimes with shorter sentences, which carry deportation consequences. Thus, the repeal of JRADs carries with it penal consequences.
The court in its opinion focuses only on the effects of JRADs and ignores the statutory analysis established by the Supreme Court to be used in examining ex post facto questions. In following the requisite statutory analysis, I am led to the conclusion that Congress intended JRADs to be penal in nature. This means that the 1990 Act’s retrospective repeal of JRADs violates the ex post facto clause. For this reason, I would remand to the district court for its *41determination on the merits of issuing a JRAD to Bodre.
I respectfully dissent.

. Section 505(b) of the Act states that the repeal-er applies to “convictions entered before, on, or after" November 29, 1990. Pub.L. No. 101-649, Title V, § 505(b), 104 Stat. 5050 (1990) (emphasis added).

. Bodre filed her motion for a JRAD on November 26, 1990. The repeal of JRADs took effect three days later.

. Subsection 1251(b) states:
The provisions of subsection (a)(4) of this section respecting the deportation of an alien convicted of a crime or crimes shall not apply ... if the court sentencing such alien for such crime shall make, at the time of first imposing judgment or passing sentence, or within thirty days thereafter, a recommendation to the Attorney General that such alien not be deported.... The provisions of this subsection shall not apply in the case of any alien who is charged with being deportable from the United States under subsection (a)(ll) of this section.
The U.S. Government claims that subsection 1251(b) would not apply to convictions of aggravated felonies under subsection (a)(4)(B). This contention contravenes the straightforward reading of subsection 1251(b), which states that JRADs apply to crimes falling under subsection (a)(4), under which subparagraph (a)(4)(B) does.

. Bodre's conviction of conspiracy to distribute heroin and distribution of heroin, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 846 and 841(a)(1), subjected her to deportation under the "aggravated felony" provision of section 1251(a)(4), which states: (a) General classes
Any alien in the United States ... shall, upon the order of the Attorney General, be deported, who—
(4) is convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude committed within five years after entry and either sentenced to confinement or confined therefor in a prison or corrective institution, for a year or more, or who at any time after entry is convicted of two crimes involving moral turpitude, not arising out of a single scheme of criminal misconduct, regardless of whether confined therefor and regardless of whether the convictions were in a single trial; or (B) is convicted of an aggravated felony at any time after entry.

. Fong Haw Tan v. Phelan, 333 U.S. 6, 10, 68 S.Ct. 374, 376, 92 L.Ed. 433 (1948). See also Pacheco v. Immigration and Naturalization Service, 546 F.2d 448, 449 (1st Cir.1976), cert. denied, 430 U.S. 985, 97 S.Ct. 1683, 52 L.Ed.2d 380 (1977).

. This provision has been codified as 8 U.S.C. § 1251(b).

. It is well-settled that the Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel applies only to critical stages of criminal prosecutions. See Evitts v. Lucey, 469 U.S. 387, 395-96, 105 S.Ct. 830, 835-36, 83 L.Ed.2d 821 (1985). We have also held that the right to effective assistance of counsel does not apply in deportation proceedings. Lozada v. Immigration and Naturalization Service, 857 F.2d 10, 13 (1st Cir.1988) ("Because deportation proceedings are deemed to be civil, rather than criminal in nature, petitioners have no constitutional right to counsel under the Sixth Amendment.”) Id.

. See, e.g., Marcello v. Bonds, 349 U.S. 302, 75 S.Ct. 757, 99 L.Ed. 1107 (1955); Galvan v. Press, 347 U.S. 522, 74 S.Ct. 737, 98 L.Ed. 911 (1954); Harisiades, 342 U.S. 580, 72 S.Ct. 512, 96 L.Ed. 586; Mahler v. Eby, 264 U.S. 32, 44 S.Ct. 283, 68 L.Ed. 549 (1924); Bugajewitz, 228 U.S. 585, 33 S.Ct. 607.

. The Ninth Circuit ruled that the 1990 Act made any issues regarding the issuing of JRADs moot. United States v. Murphey, 931 F.2d 606 (1991). The decision did not address any ex post facto concerns.

. See, e.g., Fong Yue Ting v. United States, 149 U.S. 698, 13 S.Ct. 1016, 37 L.Ed. 905 (1893); United States ex rel. Knauff v. Shaughnessy, 338 U.S. 537, 70 S.Ct. 309, 94 L.Ed. 317 (1950).

. Although JRADs are termed recommendations, they are absolutely binding. Thus, the grant of a JRAD absolutely bars the use of the conviction as a ground of deportation under section 1251(a)(4). Pacheco, 546 F.2d at 452.

. See 53 Cong. Rec. 5169 (March 30, 1916).

. See 53 Cong.Rec. at 5171.

. The discussion on the provision against advocacy or teaching of anarchy states: "Mr. London. Who shall determine the fact? Mr. Burnett. The immigration authorities. Mr. London. Why not say a court of competent authority." 53 Cong.Rec. at 5165.

. Indeed, many sections of the INA are explicitly criminal. See, e.g., 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1), (2) (criminal penalties for smuggling, transporting, or harboring aliens); 8 U.S.C. § 1325 (criminal penalties for illegal entry); 8 U.S.C. § 1324a(f) (criminal penalties for employment of aliens); 8 U.S.C. § 1326 (criminal penalties for reentering after deportation).

. JRADs apply only to convictions of section 1251(a)(4) crimes, but not to section 1251(a)(ll) crimes. While Bodre is also deportable on section 1251(a)(ll) grounds for a narcotics conviction, the two deportation grounds carry substantially different consequences. For example, if deported for an aggravated felony conviction, Bodre would be ineligible for reentry into the United States for twenty years. On the other hand, deportation on other grounds would subject her only to a five year bar. 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(6)(B).