Sotomayor and Gorsuch criticise prosecution of twice-convicted immigrant

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 14 Oct, 15:28 · Archive

Two Supreme Court justices called the twice prosecution of a Mexican immigrant charged with illegal reentry a 'constitutional absurdity'.

Supreme Court Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Neil Gorsuch on Tuesday called out what they termed a 'constitutional absurdity' in the case of Jesus Herrera-Salazar, a Mexican national twice prosecuted for illegally re-entering the United States. The high court rejected Herrera-Salazar's petition to review the case, partly because he has already been deported to Mexico in 2024.

Herrera-Salazar was indicted in 2020 for being found in the United States after removal. He pleaded guilty, served his prison sentence and was placed on supervised release with a requirement to remain in the country. While subject to this requirement, he was arrested after a traffic stop in Oklahoma and charged with the same crime. He was convicted again and served another prison sentence before deportation.

Sotomayor and Gorsuch said the second prosecution violated the Fifth Amendment's double jeopardy clause, which protects people from being tried twice for the same offence. 'Whether Herrera-Salazar remained in the Eastern District of Oklahoma or left the United States, he would be breaking the law,' they wrote. The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had rejected Herrera-Salazar's double jeopardy argument, finding the two convictions involved separate offences, but the justices disagreed.

Sotomayor and Gorsuch criticise prosecution of twice-convicted immigrant — Image: New York Post

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How it is being reported

Sotomayor, Gorsuch blast illegal immigrant’s prosecution as ‘constitutional absurdity’The high court rejected Jesus Herrera-Salazar’s request to review his case, in part because he has already been deported.New York Post · 14 Oct, 15:11
Sotomayor, Gorsuch call out ‘constitutional absurdity’ in prosecution of immigrantSupreme Court Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Neil Gorsuch on Tuesday called out "constitutional absurdity" in the case of a Mexican immigrant.UPI · 13 Oct, 19:29

In this story: Sonia Sotomayor · Neil Gorsuch · Jesus Herrera-Salazar · Supreme Court · 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals · Oklahoma · Mexico

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