Tucson DUI & Criminal Defense Blog

In a unanimous decision, Dobson et. al. v. McClennen (CV-14-0313-PR) issued Friday Nov. 20th, the Arizona Supreme Court (Bales, J.), held that persons driving after legally smoking medical marijuana are nevertheless “presumed to be under the influence” under Arizona law.

Approximately 2,400 asylum-seeking women and their children are being denied access to vital legal aid by U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), while being held in a detention center in Dilly, Texas.

A rural Alabama judge is facing criticism, and an ethics complaint, for telling a courtroom full of defendants, many indigent, facing unpaid fines: “If you do not have any money and you don’t want to go to jail, consider giving blood today and give me back your receipt.”

In a landmark decision, Dimaya v. Lynch a divided panel, relying on recent U.S. Supreme Court precedent, held that burglary under California law is not a “crime of violence” for immigration purposes; moreover 18 USC §16(b) which provides the federal definition of “crime of violence” is unconstitutionally vague.

In an effort to reduce overcrowding and provide relief for drug offenders who received harsh sentences the Justice Department announced it will release 6,000 federal inmates early from prison between October 3 and November 2.

A recent federal lawsuit brings into sharp relief what many Republicans and anti-illegal immigration groups call the “anchor babies” problem.

In Maria Isabel Perales Serna, et al. v. Texas Department of State Health Services, Vital Statistics Unit, et al., Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid challenged Dallas County’s policy of denying birth certificates to United States citizen children, whose parents are “illegal aliens.”

Although in the most recent ruling, on October 2, the district court declined to immediately enjoin Dallas County’s behavior at issue, the trial court expressed, “grave concern” for a policy that denies U.S. citizen children their most basic identification document, a birth certificate. The judge set the matter for further hearings. In the meantime the Dallas County policy will remain.

This week on October, 20 2015, in a 54 to 45 vote, the Senate blocked S. 2146, the Stop Sanctuary Policies and Protect Americans Act, from advancing to the Senate floor. If passed, the bill would have limited grants to cities that do not comply with detainers issued by DHS and increase penalties for individual who illegally reenter the United States. Furthermore, funding would have been denied to those cities deemed “sanctuary jurisdictions” where local law enforcement, among other things, did not check immigration status upon arrest.

On October 7th, 2015 Senator David Vitter introduced new legislation, the Stop Sanctuary Policies and Protect Americans Act. The precatory comments frame the legislative purpose as “ [to] hold sanctuary jurisdictions accountable for defying Federal law, to increase penalties for individuals who illegally reenter the United States after being removed

According to an article published in the New York Times on September 30th, rampant misconduct on the part of the Orange County district attorney’s office has come under scrutiny by California judge, Thomas Goethals.

The cost of prisoner phone calls is not just high, but in some cases, outrageous. the Federal Communications Commission is finally poised to set a ceiling on inmate phone call charges.