SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
PADILLA v. KENTUCKY

certiorari to the supreme court of kentucky

No. 08?651. Argued October 13, 2009 — Decided March 31, 2010

The Supreme Court issued a decision on March 31, 2010, protecting the right to counsel for noncitizens charged with committing a crime. The Court held that criminal defense lawyers must inform noncitizen clients of any deportation consequences for a particular crime if they enter a guilty plea. The case, Padilla v. Kentucky, involved a Vietnam War veteran who was a lawful permanent resident of the United States. LPRs may still face deportation in certain circumstances, including convictions for certain crimes. The Court recognized that current immigration laws impose harsh and mandatory deportation consequences onto criminal convictions.

Padilla alleged his criminal defense lawyer told him not to worry about the immigration consequences of pleading guilty to a crime, but advice was wrong. In fact, the guilty plea made Mr. Padilla subject to mandatory deportation from the United States. The state of Kentucky said that Mr. Padilla had no right to withdraw his plea when he learned of the deportation consequence. The landmark decision reversed the Kentucky court, but more importantly rejected the position adopted by several courts that a noncitizen is protected only from "affirmative misadvice" and not from a lawyer's failure to provide any advice about the immigration consequences of a plea.

Get the pdf version of the decision here.

New York Law Journal article about the decision.