Overview of Court’s Decision on Cal. Penal Code §136.1(b)(1) Violation
In a decision on June 27, 2024, a court ruled on the case of Cordero-Garcia v. Garland. The court found that a conviction under California Penal Code §136.1(b)(1) is an aggravated felony. This California law criminalizes stopping someone from reporting a crime. The court held that it is an “offense relating to obstruction of justice” under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).
The Categorical Approach
This case used the “categorical approach” in immigration law. This method compares a state criminal conviction to a federal deportable offense. The court only looks at the elements of the state law. It does not look at the specific facts of the crime. The court asks if the state law fits the federal definition. In this case, it was a match for an “aggravated felony.”
The petitioner, Fernando Cordero-Garcia, was convicted of violating California Penal Code §136.1(b)(1). This law makes it a crime to stop a victim or witness from reporting a crime to law enforcement.
Aggravated Felony Consequences
An aggravated felony has serious consequences for a noncitizen. It leads to mandatory deportation. It also bars a person from seeking most forms of immigration relief. This includes asylum and cancellation of removal. This is true even if the state crime is a misdemeanor, as long as the sentence is one year or more. The “obstruction of justice” clause in the INA is a broad term that covers many crimes.
The Court’s Decision
The main question was whether the California law was a categorical match for the federal aggravated felony. The U.S. Supreme Court had previously addressed this in the case of Pugin v. Garland. In that case, the Supreme Court said that an offense can be “obstruction of justice” even if no official proceeding is ongoing. Threatening a witness to prevent a crime from being reported is enough.
The court in Cordero-Garcia built on this precedent. It found that the California statute was a categorical match. The court said that “conduct geared toward impeding a person from reporting a crime” perfectly fit the definition. The court’s decision confirms that state laws protecting the justice system are considered aggravated felonies under federal law.
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