US Supreme Court Limits Deportation in Minor Marijuana Arrests Mark Sherman - Associated Press
go to original April 24, 2013

Justice Sonia Sotomayor

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday immigrants cannot be automatically deported if they are convicted of relatively minor crimes involving marijuana.

In a 7-2 decision, the justices sided with Adrian Moncrieffe, a longtime resident of the United States from Jamaica who was deported from the United States over possession of a small amount of marijuana. The court said Moncrieffe should have had the opportunity to contest his deportation.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor said in her opinion for the court that marijuana offenses must involve either the sale of the drug or possession of more than a small amount to count as serious enough to warrant automatic deportation.

Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented.

The decision means that Moncrieffe will be able to return to the United States so that he can make the case that he should be allowed to remain in the country where he has lived since the age of 3, said Thomas Goldstein, his Washington-based lawyer. Goldstein said he believes that the government often drops the deportation effort in minor cases like Moncrieffe's.

Read the rest at The Huffington Post

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