Reevaluating The Adjudication Of Crimes Involving Moral Turpitude

Authors

Colleen Muñoz

Author Details

Colleen Muñoz, J.D., Lewis & Clark Law School.

First Page

325

Abstract

Criminalizing immigration status has tainted the lives of permanent residents in the United States for years. A minor misdemeanor conviction imposes the threat of extreme penalties for noncitizens and their continued residence in the United States. Specifically, a conviction of a crime involving moral turpitude can prevent a noncitizen from seeking admission, threaten deportation proceedings, and jeopardize his or her ability to naturalize as a United States citizen. Crimes involving moral turpitude remain undefined in the Immigration and Nationality Act, causing courts to adjudicate the crimes arbitrarily.

In the absence of statutory or administrative direction, jurisdictions across the United States generally employ a two-step categorical approach to analyze the definition of moral turpitude and to adjudicate the associated crimes. First, the court identifies the requisite elements of the state statutory conviction. Second, the court compares the state statutory elements of the conviction to the generic federal crime. A crime of moral turpitude is determined if all state statutory elements are a categorical match to the generic federal counterpart.

The employed categorical approach appears facially determinable. Yet criminal convictions for similar crimes continue to elicit varying immigration consequences due to the swing of the political pendulum. Attorneys general introduce loopholes into the traditional two-step categorical approach effectively altering the outcome of a conviction which would otherwise not be considered a crime involving moral turpitude. This Note describes the traditional categorical approach and explores the modifications proposed, exercised, or rejected as the approach continues to evolve. Finally, this Note proposes a solution to adjudicate crimes involving moral turpitude.

Recommended Citation

Colleen Muñoz, Reevaluating The Adjudication Of Crimes Involving Moral Turpitude, 24 Lewis & Clark L. Rev. 325 (2020).
Available at: https://lawcommons.lclark.edu/lclr/vol24/iss1/9