Case Study: Moncrieffe V. Holder

In 2013, the Supreme Court case Moncrieffe v. Holder refuses a Board of Immigration Appeals to removal from the United States of a lawful permanent resident based on a long term criminal conviction related to sole possession of small amounts of marijuana. The case finally made it all the way to the Supreme Court, which is considered a rather technical question of the interpretation of the U.S Immigration laws. Local police departments have long been accused of profiling Hispanic, African-Americans, and other minorities of race in law enforcement activities, including run of the mill traffic stop. Critics fear that immigration enforcement by state and local authorities will lead to increase of racism. Many Americans have shown concerns with the implementation of racist discrimination of the U.S immigration laws by state police agencies and local authorities.
In 2006, a traffic police stop Adrian Moncrieffe on a federal highway leading to two federal cases. First legal proceedings following the arrest by the local police - a plea bargain habits and confidence in the criminal justice system of a Georgia drug crime hinging on ownership by a small amount of marijuana. Based on the belief that alone, the U.S government proceedings the process in immigration court for a removal requests of Moncrieffe.
On June 13, 2006, in

During a 2007 traffic stop, police found 1.3 grams of marijuana in his car. This is equivalent to about two or three marijuana cigarettes. Moncrieffe pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, a violation of Ga. Code Ann. § 16-13- 30 (j) (1) (2007). As a rule Georgia provides more lenient treatment for first-time offenders, §42-8-60 (a) (1997), the trial court withheld judgment on a sentence or impose any limit jail, and instead require that Moncrieffe completed five years of probation, then his charge would be removed