A Valuable Lopez Resource

The New York State Defenders Association Immigrant Defense Project has several practice advisories available here regarding the Supreme Court's decision last week in Lopez v. Gonzalez. This one looks particularly helpful: Defending Immigrants With Prior Drug Possession Convictions in Illegal Entry/Reentry Cases - The Impact of Lopez v. Gonzalez. It not only explains why the Lopez decision applies to criminal cases (echoing commentary here, here, and here), but it also lays out arguments that you can make in different scenarios, such as:

• What if my client has more than one prior state drug conviction?
• What if my client has been convicted of a state drug offense that covers both conduct that would be a felony under federal law and conduct that would not be a felony under federal law?
• What if my client has been convicted of a state drug offense that covers conduct that is not even punishable under federal law?
• What if my client has been convicted of a state drug offense that appears to be one that would be a felony under federal law, but my client's record of conviction does not establish that the drug involved is one listed in the federal controlled substance schedules?

Link via Bender's Immigration Bulletin.