Immigration Consequences of Criminal Convictions: Law Review Article Ignorance is Bliss

Ignorance is Effectively Bliss: Collateral Consequences of Criminal Convictions, Silence and Misinformation in the Guilty Plea Process Jenny Roberts American University, Washington College of Law; Syracuse University College of Law Iowa Law Review, Vol. 95, No. 1, 2009

"Abstract: In the 2009-2010 term, the United States Supreme Court will decide if it matters whether a criminal defense lawyer correctly counsels a client about the fact that the client faces deportation as a result of a guilty plea. Under prevailing constitutional norms in almost every jurisdiction, a lawyer does not have a duty to tell her client about many serious but “collateral” consequences of a guilty plea. Yet, in every jurisdiction that has considered the issue, that very same lawyer will run afoul of her duties if she affirmatively misrepresents a collateral consequence. Every jurisdiction, that is, except Kentucky, where the state Supreme Court recently held that when there is no duty to warn about a consequence because it is collateral, misadvice about that same consequence is not a constitutional violation. ".....More......