August 28 Ninth Circuit Opinions
On Tuesday, August 28, 2007, the Ninth Circuit issued five published opinions:
In Kalouma v. Gonzales, the Ninth Circuit reversed a denial of asylum, holding that the Immigration Judge had erred in determining that an amendment to 8. U.S.C. § 1158(d) required an applicant to provide information to allow the AG to carry out his duty to determine the identity of the applicant.
In Ranchers Cattlemen v. USDA, the Ninth Circuit upheld the Agency’s decision to lift a ban on Canadian beef from beef from cattle under 30 months old, finding the agency’s decision made after consideration of the proper factors.
In Camins v. Gonzales, the Ninth Circuit held that permanent residents who commit crimes or admit to committing crimes, and then leave the country temporarily , are subject to being declared inadmissible on their return; however, because this is a change in the law, the policy cannot be applied retroactively to lawful permanent residents who reasonably relied upon the old policy when they left the country.
In Rodis v. City & County of San Francisco, the Ninth Circuit upheld the denial of qualified immunity to two officers who arrested Rodis on a charge of possession or use of counterfeit money. While the officers might have believed the $100 bill Rodis had was counterfeit (it was actually genuine), they had no reasonable suspicion that Rodis had any intent to defraud. Further, the totality of the circumstances lacked any suggestion of knowledge or intent upon Rodis’s part; the mere passing of a counterfeit bill is not a crime, absent knowledge it is a fake.
In Sandoval-Lua v. Gonzales, the Ninth Circuit held that an alien can satisfy his burden of proof for purposes of showing eligibility for cancellation of removal, to show that he had not necessarily been convicted of an aggravated felony by producing an inconclusive record of conviction.
