Lopez v. Gonzales, 549 U.S. ___ , 127 S.Ct. 625 (Dec. 5, 2006) (South Dakota felony conviction of aiding and abetting another to possess cocaine, in violation of S.D. Codified Laws 22-42-5, 22-6-1, 22-3-3, did not constitute a "felony punishable under the Controlled Substances Act," under 18 U.S.C. 924(c)(2), and therefore did not constitute an aggravated felony drug trafficking conviction, under INA 101(a)(43)(B), 8 U.S.C.

Lopez v. Gonzales, 549 U.S. ___, 127 S.Ct. 625 n.6 (Dec. 5, 2006)(in dictum, the court stated: ". . . Congress did counterintuitively define some possession offenses as 'illicit trafficking.' Those state possession crimes that correspond to felony violations of one of the three statutes enumerated in 924(c)(2), such as possession of cocaine base and recidivist possession, see 21 U. S. C. 844(a), clearly fall within the definitions used by Congress in 8 U. S. C. 1101(a)(43)(B) and 18 U. S. C.

Lopez v. Gonzales, 549 U.S. ___, 127 S.Ct. 625 (Dec. 5, 2006) (South Dakota felony conviction of aiding and abetting another to possess cocaine, in violation of S.D. Codified Laws 22-42-5 (1988), 22-6-1 (Supp. 1997), 22-3-3 (1988), did not constitute an aggravated felony drug trafficking conviction, under the "illicit trafficking" portion of INA 101(a)(43)(B), 8 U.S.C.

Lopez v. Gonzales, 549 U.S. ___, 127 S.Ct. 625 (Dec. 5, 2006) (in dictum, the state convictions punishing possession in excess of five grams of cocaine base or any amount of the date-rape drug flunitrazepam constitute aggravated felonies, even if they are misdemeanor convictions, because they would be punishable as felonies under 21 U.S.C. 844(a) if prosecuted under federal law: ". . . the [federal Controlled Substances Act] punishes drug possession offenses as misdemeanors (that is, by one year's imprisonment or less, cf. 18 U. S. C. 3559(a)), see 21 U. S. C.

Toledo-Flores v. United States, 549 U.S. ___, 127 S.Ct. 638 (Dec. 5, 2006) (writ of certiorari is dismissed as improvidently granted in companion case to Lopez v. Gonzales, 549 U.S. ___ (Dec. 5, 2006), holding in an immigration context that a state felony conviction of possession of a controlled substance did not constitute an aggravated felony drug trafficking conviction because it would have been a misdemeanor conviction if prosecuted in federal court).
http://laws.lp.findlaw.com/us/000/057664.html

Lopez v. Gonzales, 549 U.S. ___,127 S.Ct. 638 (Dec. 5, 2006) (the language in the aggravated felony definition including certain state convictions "has two perfectly straightforward jobs to do: it provides that a generic description of "an offense . . . in this paragraph," one not specifically couched as a state offense or a federal one, covers either one, and it confirms that a state offense whose elements include the elements of a felony punishable under the CSA is an aggravated felony.").

Lopez v. Gonzales, 549 U.S. ___,127 S.Ct. 638 n.8 (Dec. 5, 2006) ("[T]he parties agree that Congress added the provision that both state and federal offenses qualify as aggravated felonies to codify the BIA's decision in Matter of Barrett, 20 I. & N. Dec. 171 (1990), see also H. R. Rep. No. 101.681, pt. 1, p. 147 (1990) (noting that the provision reflects congressional approval of Barrett), our enquiry requires looking beyond Congress's evident acceptance of Barrett.

Lopez v. Gonzales, 549 U.S. ___127 S.Ct. 638 n.8 (Dec. 5, 2006) (Congress codified Matter of Barrett, 20 I. & N. Dec. 171 (1990), in the aggravated felony drug trafficking definition, which requires a state conviction to be a felony punishable by more than one year in custody to constitute an aggravated felony, which supports an argument that a state or federal conviction of gratuitous distribution of a "small amount" of marijuana cannot be an aggravated felony because 21 U.S.C. 841(b)(4) requires it to be punished as a misdemeanor).

To establish claim of derivative U.S. citizenship, counsel can prepare a package containing proof of date of birth, legal permanent resident status, parents' marriage, and parent's naturalization, and explain to ICE it has no jurisdiction to deport since the client is a United States citizen who must immediately be released from immigration detention. ICE will usually release the client within hours of receiving the package. The documents can be sent to the jailers, the head of ICE for the area, and the ICE Area Counsel.

United States v. Penaloza-Duarte, ___ F.3d ___, 2006 WL 3734232 (5th Cir. Dec. 20, 2006) (insufficient evidence to support verdict of guilty of aiding and abetting the possession of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute, because it fails to show that he had any criminal intent to advance the crime, showed hardly more than that he was a passenger in the vehicle with the knowledge that contraband was present, in the light of the fact that he had no criminal record and that he was a confidential informant for local California police).