Public defenders and other criminal defense lawyers consider much more than just the direct consequences – i.e. jail or other punishment - that their clients could face with a conviction or a plea. They also consider collateral consequences, such as the effect that the conviction/plea could have on a client’s ability to keep or find employment, their eligibility for public benefits, and…..their immigration status.
Yesterday, according to the Washington Post, the Supreme Court weighed in on lawyers’ obligations to counsel clients when they may face deportation as a result of a guilty plea in Padilla v. Kentucky:
Lawyers must advise their immigrant clients facing criminal charges that pleading guilty could lead to deportation, the Supreme Court decided Tuesday.
The court ruled 7 to 2 that the Sixth Amendment guarantee of an effective counsel extends to advice about the risk of having to leave the country.
“It is our responsibility under the Constitution to ensure that no criminal defendant — whether a citizen or not — is left to the mercies of incompetent counsel,” Justice John Paul Stevens wrote.
