Flores v. AG — immigration — reversal — Fuentes

Our government decided to remove a Guatemalan woman who had pled guilty to being an accessory after the fact to murder — she saw her jealous ex-boyfriend kill her current boyfriend, but did not tell police because because the murderer threatened to kill her and her 3-year daughter if she did. She contested her removal because “her father, who had physically and sexually abused her as a child, wanted to kill her” and “she had been raped by members of a local gang immediately following her previous removal to Guatemala.” The BIA ruled against her on the grounds that her conviction was related to obstruction of justice and thus so serious that she was ineligible for withholding of removal. The Third Circuit today reversed in a thorough and compelling opinion.

Joining Fuentes was Ambro; Shwartz dissented. Arguing counsel were Marcia Kasdan for the petitioner and Andrew Insenga for the government.

US v. Cardaci — property / tax — partial affirmance — Jordan

I could be mistaken, but I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen this sentence in a court opinion before: “To give one admittedly extreme example, it stands to reason that a healthy twenty-six-year-old wife would have a greater interest in a life estate than would her ailing eighty-nine-year old husband.” Will today’s opinion containing that sentence become the leading case for this proposition? I’m eager to find out.

After a husband’s business nosedived and he failed to pay around $80,000 in taxes, the government sued him for back taxes, seeking a forced sale of the home where he lived with his wife. The district court decided the husband’s share of the jointly owned house wasn’t worth enough and instead ordered the husband to start paying the government rent instead. Today, the Third Circuit held that the district court did have the power to order a forced sale of a jointly owned house in New Jersey, but it remanded for reconsideration of the remedy.

Joining Jordan were Greenaway and Rendell. Arguing counsel were Julie Avetta (subject of this 2009 Washington Post “OnLove” essay, and also an accomplished classical singer) for the government and Anthony Monzo of Monzo Catanese for the homeowners.