United States v. Cepeda-Rios, 530 F.3d 333, 335 and n.9 (5th Cir. Jun.4, 2008) (an alternative holding is binding precedent), citing Pruitt v. Levi Strauss & Co., 932 F.2d 458, 465 (5th Cir. 1991) ("This circuit follows the rule that alternative holdings are binding precedent and not obiter dictum."), abrogated on other grounds by Floors Unlimited, Inc., v. Fieldcrest Cannon, Inc., 55 F.3d 181, 185-86 (5th Cir. 1995); McLellan v. Miss. Power & Light Co., 545 F.2d 919, 925 n.21 (5th Cir.

United States v. Zuniga-Soto, 527 F.3d 1110 (10th Cir. Jun. 2, 2008) (Texas conviction for assault, in violation of Texas Penal Code 22.01(a)(1), is not categorically a crime of violence for illegal re-entry sentencing purposes because the statute includes reckless conduct).

Ramanauskas v. United States, 526 F.3d 1111 (8th Cir. Jun. 2, 2008) (extradition to Lithuana to face drug charges not impermissible where United States Attorney General had agreed, in a plea agreement to a counterfeiting charge, not to bring charges based on the drug offenses in the United States; the plea agreement expressly stated that it did not apply to other proceedings, including extradition).

Cuellar v. United States, ___ U.S. ___, 128 S.Ct. 1994 (Jun. 2, 2008) (federal money laundering conviction, for international transportation of the proceeds of unlawful activity, under 18 U.S.C. 1956, reversed for lack of proof that the defendant did more than merely hide the money during its transport or did anything to create the appearance of legitimate wealth).

New Practice Advisory, "Orozco v. Mukasey: Current Status of the Case and Preliminary Strategies" (May 19, 2008). This Practice Advisory discusses the holding in Orozco v. Mukasey, 521 F.3d 1068 (9th Cir. 2008), its current status, and preliminary strategies and arguments - both within and outside of the Ninth Circuit - to avoid its negative impact. In Orozco, the Ninth Circuit held that a non-citizen who obtains entry into the U.S.

Matter of Hines, 24 I. & N. Dec. 554 (BIA 2008) (under Jamaican law, the sole means of "legitimation" of a child born out of wedlock is the marriage of the childs natural parents; respondent was born in Jamaica of natural parents who never married, and therefore his paternity was not established "by legitimation" so as to disqualify him from deriving United States citizenship pursuant to former INA 321(a)(3), 8 U.S.C. 1432(a)(3) (1988), through his mothers naturalization in 1991), overruling Matter of Clahar, 18 I. & N. Dec. 1 (BIA 1981).
http://eoirweb/library/intdec/vol24/3612.pdf

Federal immigration prosecutions continued their recent and highly unusual surge in March 2008, apparently reaching an all-time high, according to timely data obtained from the Justice Department by TRAC. The total of 9,350 such prosecutions was up by almost 50% from the previous month and 73% from the previous year. http://trac.syr.edu/tracdhs/

Dada v. Mukasey, ___ U.S. ___, 128 S.Ct. 2307 (2008) (filing a motion to reopen does not toll a period of voluntary departure, however, noncitizen should be provided with opportunity, prior to expiration).



Note: The 3d, 8th, 9th, and 11th Circuits had previously found that the filing of a motion to reopen automatically tolls the voluntary departure period, while the 1st, 4th and 5th Circuits had rejected the tolling arguments. The BIA also refused to toll the voluntary departure period. Matter of Shaar, 20 21 I&N Dec. 541 (BIA 1996).

Gall v. United States, __ U.S. __, 128 S.Ct. 586 (2007) (while an appellate court may take degree of variance into account in reviewing reasonableness of a sentence outside advisory Guidelines range, there is no rule that requires "extraordinary" mitigating circumstances to justify sentence outside Guidelines range), abrogating United States v. Claiborne, 439 F.3d 479 (8th Cir. 2006).

The Ninth Circuit ordered that Estrada-Espinoza v. Mukasey, 498 F.3d 933 (9th Cir. 2007), be reheard en banc. The petition for rehearing, the amicus briefs, and the governments opposition are available on the Ninth Circuits website at http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/ca9/Documents.nsf/174376a6245fda7888256ce5007d5470/a59aac6c107bc187882572c2005d1b26/$FILE/05-75850pfr.pdf