February 7th, 2011
When a word is worth a thousand pictures
Virginia is having a bit of an immigration kniption right now. The current battleground is over whether defendants who were never advised that a guilty plea could result in deportation can challenge their convictions after the 21-day period following the verdict when they have an appeal as of right (that means they can file an appeal without asking for permission from any court). I suggest reading this Washington Post article as background.
Here’s the short version – the US Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in Padilla v. Kentucky in October 2009 that it was a constitutional violation for a defendant to not be advised that a guilty plea could lead to deportation. In that case, the defendant, who had been legally present in the US for 40 years but never established citizenship was convicted on a guilty plea and subsequently deportation proceedings were brought against him. In the two VA cases mentioned in that article, pretty much exactly the same thing happened, with a twist – the deportation proceedings were only brought when the two applied for citizenship. So following the ruling in Padilla, they tried to get the convictions thrown out.
Except they didn’t. What they did was try to get the sentences reduced, not outright overturned. They did this by filing for two different writs (orders), the writ of coram vorbis (meaning “error before us”) and the writ of audita querela, essentially arguing that had the court known of their status as legally-present non-citizens, they would have imposed lesser sentences that would not have be an impediment to gaining citizenship later. The trial courts agreed, and reduced the sentences (which had originally been 12 months, all suspended so that neither spent time in jail) by 1 day and 5 days respectively. Sentences of less than one year do not trigger deportation proceedings, so this would have the effect of ending those proceedings.
However, the Commonwealth of Virginia, in its infinite wisdom, appealed the trial court orders to the Virginia Supreme Court. The Virginia Supreme Court summarily held that the writ of coram vorbis was not a remedy for ineffective assistance of counsel (the technical term for when your lawyer royally screws up), but in doing so seems to have very creatively interpreted its own prior case law on the coram vorbis. The relevant quote from prior case law is that coram vorbis is an appropriate remedy when there was “an error of fact not apparent on the record, not attributable to the applicant’s negligence, and which if known by the court would have prevented rendition of the judgment.” Dobie v Commonwealth, 198 Va. at 769, 96 S.E.2d at 752.
The court decided that the word “prevented” meant that the error of fact, if known, would have rendered the trial court incapable of rendering the judgment as it did. Actually, the court emphasized “prevented rendition,” but as “rendition” really just means “rendering” or “handing down,” the key word has to be “prevented.” Nowhere in that quote can I find the wording the Virginia Supreme Court imputes to it. Common usage of the term “prevented” suggests that many things can “prevent” us from acting a certain way, including our own morals. For example, “I wanted to punch that jack@$$ in the mouth, but my oath of non-violence prevented me from doing it.” That sentence does not imply that I am physically incapable of punching that jack@$$ in the mouth.
So because the Virginia Supreme Court interpreted “prevent” in this way, the defendants, who plead guilty only on the advice of their attorneys to avoid jail time, and who are now following proper established procedures to apply to become citizens, are left without a remedy despite the US Supreme Court having clearly ruled that what happened to them is unconstitutional. As in, it violates the United States Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land. Except, apparently, in Virginia, where there is no available remedy for violations of the rights afforded by the supreme law of the land.
Why is this word worth a thousand pictures? Simple – if left intact, the interpretation of this word will prevent a thousand pictures from being taken. Pictures with family, with coworkers, at citizenship ceremonies, on drivers’ licenses, at 4th of July barbecues, at birthday parties, on passports and at countless other events that we all consider to be part of the American Dream. All will not be taken if the Virginia Supreme Court’s ruling stands, because after a violation of constitutional protections, two legal non-citizen residents dared to follow the proper procedures for applying to become citizens. Shame on them.
August 16th, 2010
Biking
I’m going to have to find a better way to keep track of this at some point, but for now I’ll just update this post with links to the routes we bike around Arlington.
Sunday, June 6th, 2010 – this one was a little shorter, since we didn’t do that weirdness on the Custis Trail northeast of where we turned around (the B marker), but Google Maps wouldn’t let me show exactly the route we took.
Saturday, August 14th, 2010 – it’s been a while, but this night-time ride was our longest yet! 7.7mi to Crystal City Metro by way of Gravelly Point, and we got a fantastic video of a plane coming in overhead for a landing.
July 25th, 2010
Lotto with a Laugh
If you’ve never read through Powerball’s FAQs, you’re missing out. Seriously. I made my weekly donation to Virginia’s public school system, and unlike weeks past, actually won a couple bucks in the process (a couple. Not lots. 4, to be precise). I wanted to check to see where I could claim my giant jar of pennies, so I opened up Powerball’s FAQ page and started scrolling through the usual stuff… What are the ways to win, what does it cost, how do I know if I won. Then, for kicks, I read Can I Buy Powerball Tickets Through The Internet? and discovered that at this point in creating (or updating) the FAQs, someone got cheeky. I’ll let you peruse, but as a teaser, here’s an excerpt from Is There A Secret To Improve Your Chances of Winning Powerball?:
“First, we need to cover some things that don’t work. Swinging a live chicken above your head while wishing for the future numbers does NOT work. There is no improvement to be had by swinging a dead chicken. Although I have not tested it, swinging a bucket of extra crispy is not likely to work either.”
