May 8, 2020, 6:45 pm
The US Court of Appeals for the Eight Circuit ruled yesterday that Failure to Register as a Sex Offender constitutes a crime of moral turpitude.
In Bakor v. Barr, the Petitioner, a permanent resident of the United States, challenges his deportation back to his native country. Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, the Attorney General may remove an alien “who at any time after admission is convicted of two or more crimes involving moral turpitude.”
In 2001, Bakor had been charged with Fifth Degree Sexual Assault, which in Minnesota is a misdemeanor punishable up to 1 year in prison and a fine up to $3000. (Since the offense was not a felony, he was not deported). Bakor was required to register as a sex offender because of his offense, In 2015, Bakor failed to comply with registration, after which the Government sought to remove him under the Immigration and Nationality Act, alleging his failure to register constituted his second “crime of moral turpitude”. He appealed his removal.
Unfortunately, the 8th Circuit found that a FTR is a crime of moral turpitude.
The Dissenting opinion, however, did point out that “[their] court is not the first to consider whether a violation of a sex offender registration statute qualifies as a CIMT. Until today, every circuit that has addressed the issue has rejected the BIA’s conclusion and decided that such an offense is not a CIMT. See Mohamed v. Holder, 769 F.3d 885, 889 (4th Cir. 2014); Totimeh v. Att’y Gen., 666 F.3d 109, 116 (3d Cir. 2012); Efagene, 642 F.3d at 926; Plasencia-Ayala v. Mukasey, 516 F.3d 738, 747 (9th Cir. 2008).
Another important point to make is that in Florida (unlike Minn.) FTR is a strict liability offense.
The post 8th Circuit Deems Failure to Register a “Crime of Moral Turpitude” appeared first on Florida Action Committee.
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Author: Florida Action Committee
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