A court does not circumvent federal law by vacating a deportable sentence, to impose a non-deportable equivalent sentence, when informed of the immigration consequences. State v. Quintero-Morelos, 133 Wn. App. 591, ___, 2006 Wash. App. LEXIS 1301 (June 22, 2006) ("We simply are not prepared to hold that a state sentencing judge exercising traditional sentencing discretionary authority runs afoul of the Supremacy Clause by imposing a sentence of one day less than a year to avoid the defendant's deportation by federal authorities. The judge here is not circumventing federal law. He is simply acknowledging the obvious; federal law has the potential to influence the actual punishment visited upon a criminal defendant in state court. E.g., State v. Jamison, 105 Wn. App. 572, 591, 20 P.3d 1010 (2001). State court judges often make decisions mindful of federal implications. See, e.g., In re Marriage of Glass, 67 Wn. App. 378, 391-392, 835 P.2d 1054 (1992) (considering adverse [federal] tax consequences when adjusting [state] maintenance award).").

jurisdiction: 
Lower Courts of Ninth Circuit

 

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