Here is the full text of the opinion in Padilla v. Kentucky. This weekend, I will be doing some lawerly work and putting out a short cheat sheet (to the extent such a think exists in the legal realm) on some things criminal attorneys need to be aware of when representing immigrants.
One thing to note is that immigrants are not only those who paid a coyote to run them across the border. The phrase ‘immigrant’ includes people who have been here their entire lives, are documented and as legal as any citizen, but without all the rights, privileges and immunities of citizens. This is a tough thing to grasp for a lot of people, that its not the undocumented aliens that are at risk – they are ALWAYS at risk- but the ones who have green cards and feel entitled to stay here.
This case is getting a lot of play and there is a whole lot of discussions that are taking place around it, what the effect of it really will be won’t be known for quite some time. But, its not a hard opinion to read and really, what else do you have to do today?
