FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
FLAVIO NUNEZ-REYES, aka Flavio
Reyes,
No. 05-74350
Petitioner,
B.I.A. No.
v. A078-181-648
ERIC H. HOLDER JR., Attorney OPINION
General,
Respondent.
On Petition for Review of an Order of the
Board of Immigration Appeals
Argued and Submitted En Banc
December 14, 2010—Pasadena, California
Filed July 14, 2011
Before: Alex Kozinski, Chief Judge, Mary M. Schroeder,
Betty B. Fletcher, Harry Pregerson,
Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain, Sidney R. Thomas,
Susan P. Graber, Kim McLane Wardlaw,
Consuelo M. Callahan, Milan D. Smith, Jr., and
Sandra S. Ikuta, Circuit Judges.
Opinion by Judge Graber;
Partial Concurrence and Partial Dissent by Judge Ikuta;
Dissent by Judge Pregerson
9477
9480 NUNEZ-REYES v. HOLDER
COUNSEL
Frank P. Sprouls, Law Office of Ricci & Sprouls, San Fran-
cisco, California, for the petitioner.
Holly M. Smith and Keith I. Bernstein, U.S. Department of
Justice, Office of Immigration Litigation, Washington, D.C.,
for the respondent.
Theshia Naidoo, Drug Policy Alliance, Berkeley, California;
Jayashri Shrikantiah, Stanford Law School Immigrants’
Rights Clinic, Stanford, California; and Stephen W. Manning,
Immigrant Law Group PC, Portland, Oregon, for Amici
Curiae.
NUNEZ-REYES v. HOLDER 9481
OPINION
GRABER, Circuit Judge:
Petitioner Flavio Nunez-Reyes, a native and citizen of
Mexico, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration
Appeals’ (“BIA”) decision denying his application for cancel-
lation of removal. We deny the petition. In the course of
doing so, sitting as an en banc court, we overrule our equal
protection holding in Lujan-Armendariz v. INS, 222 F.3d 728
(9th Cir. 2000). We also conclude that, in light of the equities
and other considerations, we will apply today’s new rule only
prospectively.*
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
Petitioner entered the United States in 1992. In 2001, he
was charged in state court with one felony count of possession
of methamphetamine, in violation of California Health and
Safety Code section 11377(a), and one misdemeanor count of
being under the influence of methamphetamine, in violation
of California Health and Safety Code section 11550(a). He
pleaded guilty to both counts, but the state court eventually
dismissed the charges under California Penal Code section
1210.1(e)(1), held unconstitutional in other part by Gardner
v. Schwarzenegger, 101 Cal. Rptr. 3d 229 (Ct. App. 2009).
Under that provision, the state court “shall . . . set aside [the
conviction] and . . . dismiss the indictment” if the defendant
successfully completes a drug treatment program and meets
other conditions. Cal. Penal Code § 1210.1(e)(1). “[E]xcept as
provided [in other subsections], both the arrest and the con-
viction shall be deemed never to have occurred.” Id.
In early 2002, the federal government issued a notice to
*Chief Judge Kozinski and Judges Schroeder, Thomas, Wardlaw, and
M. Smith join all Parts of this Opinion. Judges O’Scannlain, Callahan, and
Ikuta join Part A only. Judge B. Fletcher joins Part B only.
9482 NUNEZ-REYES v. HOLDER
appear, charging Petitioner with being removable. Petitioner
conceded removability but applied for adjustment of status
and cancellation of removal. The immigration judge (“IJ”)
denied all forms of relief and ordered Petitioner removed. The
IJ held that the state convictions rendered Petitioner ineligible
for any form of relief even though the state court later had dis-
missed the convictions. The BIA affirmed the IJ’s decision.
Petitioner timely petitioned for review. A three-judge panel
granted the petition because of our rule, first announced in
Lujan-Armendariz, that “equal protection requires us to treat
the expungement of a state conviction for simple possession
in the same manner” as the expungement of a federal convic-
tion for simple possession. Nunez-Reyes v. Holder, 602 F.3d
1102, 1104 (9th Cir. 2010) (per curiam). Judge Graber wrote
separately to state reasons why we should revisit the rule
announced in Lujan-Armendariz. See id. at 1105 (Graber, J.,
concurring) (citing Rice v. Holder, 597 F.3d 952, 957-58 (9th
Cir. 2010) (Ikuta, J., concurring) (arguing that we should
revisit this rule); Ramirez-Altamirano v. Holder, 563 F.3d
800, 816-17 (9th Cir. 2009) (Ikuta, J., dissenting) (same); Dil-
lingham v. INS, 267 F.3d 996, 1012-13 (9th Cir. 2001) (Fer-
nandez, J., dissenting) (suggesting that the Lujan-Armendariz
rule is incorrect but concluding that, “for purposes of this
case, that is neither here nor there”)).
We then granted rehearing en banc. Nunez-Reyes v. Holder,
No. 05-74350, 2010 WL 3816719 (9th Cir. Sept. 24, 2010)
(order).
STANDARD OF REVIEW
We review de novo the BIA’s determination “that a con-
trolled substance conviction precludes immigration relief as a
matter of law.” Ramirez-Altamirano, 563 F.3d at 804.
NUNEZ-REYES v. HOLDER 9483
DISCUSSION
A. We overrule Lujan-Armendariz.
Does a state-court conviction for a simple-possession drug
crime, later expunged by the state court, nevertheless consti-
tute a “conviction” for federal immigration purposes? History
has provided an ever-changing answer to that question. See In
re O-T-, 4 I. & N. Dec. 265, 268 (B.I.A. 1951) (“yes”); In re
A-F-, 8 I. & N. Dec. 429, 445 (Att’y Gen. 1959) (“no”); In re
Werk, 16 I. & N. Dec. 234, 235-36 (B.I.A. 1977) (“yes, in
some circumstances”); Garberding v. INS, 30 F.3d 1187,
1190-91 (9th Cir. 1994) (“no”); In re Manrique, 21 I. & N.
Dec. 58, 62-64 (B.I.A. 1995) (“no”). Against that backdrop,
in 1996, Congress enacted significant changes to our immi-
gration laws, which included a new definition of the term
“conviction.” 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(48)(A).1
In Lujan-Armendariz, we addressed the effect of the new
definition on a petitioner’s expunged state conviction for a
simple-possession drug crime. We began by considering
whether a federal conviction, later expunged under the Fed-
eral First Offender Act (“FFOA”), nevertheless constitutes a
“conviction” for immigration purposes. Importantly, the
FFOA mandates that a successfully expunged federal convic-
tion “shall not be considered a conviction for the purpose of
a disqualification or a disability imposed by law upon convic-
1
The full definition states:
The term “conviction” means, with respect to an alien, a for-
mal judgment of guilt of the alien entered by a court or, if adjudi-
cation of guilt has been withheld, where—
(i) a judge or jury has found the alien guilty or the alien has
entered a plea of guilty or nolo contendere or has admitted suffi-
cient facts to warrant a finding of guilt, and
(ii) the judge has ordered some form of punishment, penalty,
or restraint on the alien’s liberty to be imposed.
8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(48)(A).
9484 NUNEZ-REYES v. HOLDER
tion of a crime, or for any other purpose.” 18 U.S.C.
§ 3607(b) (emphases added). We thoroughly examined the
apparent conflict between the quoted text of the FFOA and
the new definition of “conviction.” Lujan-Armendariz, 222
F.3d at 734-43.
[1] But we relegated to a footnote a very important addi-
tional step in the analysis: Did Congress have a rational basis
for distinguishing between expunged federal convictions and
expunged state convictions? We answered as follows: “INS
counsel offered no reason, and we cannot conceive of any,
why Congress would have wanted aliens found guilty of fed-
eral drug crimes to be treated more leniently than aliens found
guilty of state drug crimes.” Id. at 743 n.24. Our brief analysis
of this important issue is understandable in light of the gov-
ernment’s silence. But we now are persuaded that we erred.2
[2] Since our decision in Lujan-Armendariz, the BIA and
every sister circuit to have addressed the issue—eight in total
—have rejected our holding. In re Salazar-Regino, 23 I. & N.
Dec. 223, 235 (B.I.A. 2002) (en banc); Wellington v. Holder,
623 F.3d 115, 120-21 (2d Cir. 2010) (per curiam), cert.
denied, 79 U.S.L.W. 3442 (U.S. June 6, 2011) (No. 10-933);
Danso v. Gonzales, 489 F.3d 709, 716 (5th Cir. 2007); Ramos
v. Gonzales, 414 F.3d 800, 805-06 (7th Cir. 2005); Resendiz-
Alcaraz v. U.S. Att’y Gen., 383 F.3d 1262, 1271-72 (11th Cir.
2004); Elkins v. Comfort, 392 F.3d 1159, 1163-64 (10th Cir.
2004); Acosta v. Ashcroft, 341 F.3d 218, 224-27 (3d Cir.
2003); Vasquez-Velezmoro v. INS, 281 F.3d 693, 697-98 (8th
Cir. 2002); Herrera-Inirio v. INS, 208 F.3d 299, 304-09 (1st
Cir. 2000). The BIA held:
2
We address here only our holding in Lujan-Armendariz that the consti-
tutional guarantee of equal protection required Congress to treat expunged
federal convictions and expunged state convictions the same way. As we
did in Lujan-Armendariz, we assume, without deciding, that the statutory
term “conviction” includes expunged state convictions. Because this case
does not require resolution of that issue, we do not reach it.
NUNEZ-REYES v. HOLDER 9485
After considering the analysis set forth in Lujan-
Armendariz . . . , we decline to apply the ruling in
that decision to cases arising outside of the jurisdic-
tion of the Ninth Circuit. We therefore conclude that,
except in the Ninth Circuit, a first-time simple drug
possession offense expunged under a state rehabilita-
tive statute is a conviction under [the immigration
laws].
In re Salazar-Regino, 23 I. & N. Dec. at 235.
[3] Having reconsidered the issue, we now agree with the
BIA and our sister circuits. A very relaxed form of rational
basis review applies to this inquiry: “[F]ederal classifications
based on alienage are subject to relaxed scrutiny. Federal clas-
sifications distinguishing among groups of aliens thus are
valid unless wholly irrational.” Garberding, 30 F.3d at 1190
(citation and internal quotation marks omitted); see also
Abebe v. Mukasey, 554 F.3d 1203, 1206 (9th Cir. 2009) (en
banc) (per curiam) (“Congress has particularly broad and
sweeping powers when it comes to immigration, and is there-
fore entitled to an additional measure of deference when it
legislates as to admission, exclusion, removal, naturalization
or other matters pertaining to aliens.”), cert. denied, 130 S. Ct.
3272 (2010). That standard easily is met here. The Third Cir-
cuit put it well:
Familiar with the operation of the federal criminal
justice system, Congress could have thought that
aliens whose federal charges are dismissed under the
FFOA are unlikely to present a substantial threat of
committing subsequent serious crimes. By contrast,
Congress may have been unfamiliar with the opera-
tion of state schemes that resemble the FFOA. Con-
gress could have worried that state criminal justice
systems, under the pressure created by heavy case
loads, might permit dangerous offenders to plead
down to simple possession charges and take advan-
9486 NUNEZ-REYES v. HOLDER
tage of those state schemes to escape what is consid-
ered a conviction under state law. Particularly in
view of Congress’s power in immigration matters, it
seems plain that rational-basis review is satisfied
here.
Acosta, 341 F.3d at 227. Another rational basis exists as well:
Not all states permit expungement. A person con-
victed in such a state would be ineligible for relief
under the immigration laws, whereas a person con-
victed in a different state would be eligible. Con-
gress reasonably could have concluded that, in the
strong interest of uniformity, it would not recognize
any state expungements rather than adopt a piece-
meal approach.
Nunez-Reyes, 602 F.3d at 1107 (Graber, J., concurring).
[4] In conclusion, we hold that the constitutional guarantee
of equal protection does not require treating, for immigration
purposes, an expunged state conviction of a drug crime the
same as a federal drug conviction that has been expunged
under the FFOA. We therefore overrule Lujan-Armendariz’s
holding to the contrary. By necessity, we also overrule the
same holding in those cases that, bound by stare decisis, fol-
lowed the rule we announced in Lujan-Armendariz. Those
cases include Romero v. Holder, 568 F.3d 1054 (9th Cir.
2009); Ramirez-Altamirano, 563 F.3d 800; Dillingham, 267
F.3d 996; and Cardenas-Uriarte v. INS, 227 F.3d 1132 (9th
Cir. 2000).3
3
We do not address, and do not overrule, any other holding of Lujan-
Armendariz or its progeny, other than Rice v. Holder, 597 F.3d 952 (9th
Cir. 2010). See infra Part C.
NUNEZ-REYES v. HOLDER 9487
B. We will apply our decision prospectively only.
[5] Having decided to overrule Lujan-Armendariz, we next
consider whether to apply the new rule of law only prospec-
tively. The default principle is that a court’s decisions apply
retroactively to all cases still pending before the courts. Fed-
eral courts may depart from that default principle only in cer-
tain circumstances, as outlined in Chevron Oil Co. v. Huson,
404 U.S. 97 (1971). Below, we first explain that the three-
factor Chevron Oil test remains good law, at least in cases,
such as this one, where we announce a new rule of law not
affecting our jurisdiction. Balancing the three factors
described in Chevron Oil, we conclude that we will apply our
decision only prospectively.
1. The Chevron Oil test applies.
The circumstances that justify a deviation from the normal
rule of retroactivity have a long jurisprudential history. In the
criminal context, the Supreme Court originally held that pro-
spective application was appropriate in some circumstances.
Linkletter v. Walker, 381 U.S. 618 (1965). But the Court later
overruled Linkletter in favor of a bright-line rule: In criminal
cases, any new rule of law must be applied retroactively. Grif-
fith v. Kentucky, 479 U.S. 314 (1987).
In the civil context, the Supreme Court originally
announced a three-factor test of general applicability in Chev-
ron Oil. Under the Chevron Oil test, equitable considerations
in some circumstances warrant prospective application of a
new rule of law. But the Court has limited, in two relevant
ways, the circumstances in which the Chevron Oil test
applies.
First, a court announcing a new rule of law must decide
between pure prospectivity and full retroactivity; what Justice
Souter termed “selective prospectivity,” in which courts
weighed the equities on a case-by-case basis, is foreclosed.
9488 NUNEZ-REYES v. HOLDER
James B. Beam Distilling Co. v. Georgia, 501 U.S. 529,
537-38 (1991) (Souter, J., plurality op.); see Reynoldsville
Casket Co. v. Hyde, 514 U.S. 749 (1995); Harper v. Va. Dep’t
of Taxation, 509 U.S. 86, 97 (1993) (“When [the Supreme]
Court applies a rule of federal law to the parties before it, that
rule is the controlling interpretation of federal law and must
be given full retroactive effect in all cases still open on direct
review . . . .”); Crowe v. Bolduc, 365 F.3d 86, 93 (1st Cir.
2004) (“In a civil case, then, a court [announcing a new rule
of law] has only two available options: pure prospectivity or
full retroactivity.”).
Second, in cases in which the new rule of law strips the
courts of jurisdiction, the courts must apply that new rule of
law retroactively. See United States ex rel. Haight v. Catholic
Healthcare W., 602 F.3d 949, 953 (9th Cir.) (citing United
States ex rel. Eisenstein v. City of New York, 129 S. Ct. 2230
(2009); Bowles v. Russell, 551 U.S. 205 (2007)), cert. denied,
131 S. Ct. 366 (2010); Felzen v. Andreas, 134 F.3d 873, 877
(7th Cir. 1998) (citing Christianson v. Colt Indus. Operating
Corp., 486 U.S. 800, 818 (1988)). “Equitable considerations
are altogether irrelevant when a court lacks adjudicatory
power.” Felzen, 134 F.3d at 877.
We glean from this jurisprudential history the following
rule of law: We apply the three-pronged test outlined in Chev-
ron Oil (1) in a civil case; (2) when we announce a new rule
of law, as distinct from applying a new rule that we or the
Supreme Court previously announced; (3) and when the new
rule does not concern our jurisdiction. See, e.g., George v.
Camacho, 119 F.3d 1393, 1399 n.9 (9th Cir. 1997) (en banc).4
[6] Like some of our sister circuits, we acknowledge that
4
To the extent that our decision in George contravenes today’s holding
by applying Chevron Oil to circumstances concerning our jurisdiction, we
recognize that subsequent Supreme Court decisions overruled it. Haight,
602 F.3d at 953; Felzen, 134 F.3d at 877.
NUNEZ-REYES v. HOLDER 9489
the Supreme Court’s reasoning in cases such as Harper could
support a conclusion that the Chevron Oil test no longer
applies in any circumstances: all new rules of law must be
applied retroactively. See, e.g., Kolkevich v. Att’y Gen. of
U.S., 501 F.3d 323, 337 n.9 (3d Cir. 2007) (observing that,
“as some commentators have noted, it is unclear whether we
have the power” to apply a new rule of law prospectively in
light of Harper, but not reaching the issue); Fairfax Covenant
Church v. Fairfax Cnty. Sch. Bd., 17 F.3d 703, 710 (4th Cir.
1994) (noting that, in Harper, “the Supreme Court cast seri-
ous doubt” upon the continuing “vitality” of the Chevron Oil
test). But the Supreme Court has not overruled the Chevron
Oil test in the circumstances described above. See Glazner v.
Glazner, 347 F.3d 1212, 1216-17 (11th Cir. 2003) (en banc)
(“Although prospectivity appears to have fallen into disfavor
with the Supreme Court [citing Harper, James B. Beam, and
Griffith], the Court has clearly retained the possibility of pure
prospectivity and, we believe, has also retained the Chevron
Oil test, albeit in a modified form, as the governing analysis
for such determinations in civil cases.”); Fairfax Covenant
Church, 17 F.3d at 710 (“We are struck, however, by the
notable absence in Harper of any statement that Chevron
[Oil] is overruled . . . .”); but see Hulin v. Fibreboard Corp.,
178 F.3d 316, 333 (5th Cir. 1999) (concluding, in dictum, that
“[t]he Court’s most recent decisions . . . leav[e] only an indis-
tinct possibility of the application of pure prospectivity in an
extremely unusual and unforeseeable case”). As a circuit
court, even if “recent Supreme Court jurisprudence has per-
haps called into question the continuing viability of [its prece-
dent], we are bound to follow a controlling Supreme Court
precedent until it is explicitly overruled by that Court.” United
States v. Weiland, 420 F.3d 1062, 1079 n.16 (9th Cir. 2005)
(citation omitted); see Rodriguez de Quijas v. Shearson/Am.
Express, Inc., 490 U.S. 477, 484 (1989) (“If a precedent of
this Court has direct application in a case, yet appears to rest
on reasons rejected in some other line of decisions, the Court
of Appeals should follow the case which directly controls,
leaving to this Court the prerogative of overruling its own
decisions.”). We therefore remain bound by Chevron Oil. For
that same reason, every court to have decided the issue has
concluded that Chevron Oil continues to apply. See Crowe,
365 F.3d at 94 (applying the Chevron Oil test); Glazner, 347
9490 NUNEZ-REYES v. HOLDER
F.3d at 1219 (same); see also Shah v. Pan Am. World Servs.,
Inc., 148 F.3d 84, 91 (2d Cir. 1998) (same). Following our
sister circuits and our previous holdings, we too will apply the
Chevron Oil test when all three of the requirements described
above are met.
In this civil case, we announce a new rule of law that does
not concern our jurisdiction. The Chevron Oil test applies.
2. Balancing the Chevron Oil factors, we will apply the
new rule only prospectively.
[7] The three Chevron Oil factors are: (1) whether the
decision “establish[es] a new principle of law”; (2) “whether
retrospective operation will further or retard [the rule’s] oper-
ation” in light of its history, purpose, and effect; and (3)
whether our decision “could produce substantial inequitable
results if applied retroactively.” 404 U.S. at 106-07 (internal
quotation marks omitted). There is no question that our deci-
sion today “establish[es] a new principle of law . . . by over-
ruling clear past precedent on which litigants may have
relied.” Id. at 106. Lujan-Armendariz clearly announced the
rule that equal protection required that we treat expunged
state drug convictions as we do expunged federal drug con-
victions. Just as clearly, we overrule that holding today.
Further, amici assert—and the government does not dispute
—that, because of the clarity and consistent application of
Lujan-Armendariz for more than a decade, aliens and their
counsel have acted in reliance on Lujan-Armendariz. Accord-
ing to amici, aliens often have pleaded guilty to minor drug
crimes and have completed drug treatment in order to have
their convictions expunged—all in reliance on Lujan-
Armendariz’s promise that doing so would spare them from
adverse immigration consequences.
“There can be little doubt that, as a general matter, alien
defendants considering whether to enter into a plea agreement
NUNEZ-REYES v. HOLDER 9491
are acutely aware of the immigration consequences of their
convictions.” INS v. St. Cyr, 533 U.S. 289, 322 (2001).5
“[D]eportation is an integral part—indeed, sometimes the
most important part—of the penalty that may be imposed on
noncitizen defendants who plead guilty to specified crimes.”
Padilla v. Kentucky, 130 S. Ct. 1473, 1480 (2010) (footnote
omitted). “Preserving the client’s right to remain in the United
States may be more important to the client than any potential
jail sentence.” Id. at 1483 (internal quotation marks and alter-
ation omitted). Accordingly, “the threat of deportation may
provide the defendant with a powerful incentive to plead
guilty to an offense that does not mandate that penalty.” Id.
at 1486.
Our decision in Lujan-Armendariz provided clear assurance
that expungement after a plea of guilty to the state crime of
simple drug possession would insulate the alien from adverse
immigration consequences. “Even if the defendant were not
initially aware of [Lujan-Armendariz], competent defense
counsel, following the advice of numerous practice guides,
would have advised him concerning the [decision’s] impor-
tance.” St. Cyr., 533 U.S. at 323 n.50. Indeed, in a situation
similar to this one, where the immigration consequences are
“succinct, clear, and explicit,” the Supreme Court has held
that an alien’s counsel who fails to inform the alien of those
5
Judge Ikuta asserts that, because St. Cyr arose in a different context, all
the Supreme Court’s statements in that opinion are “inapposite” here. Par-
tial dissent at 9506-07 n.7. As an initial matter, we quote from a wide
range of cases arising in many different contexts. For instance, in the next
sentence in text, we quote from Padilla v. Kentucky, 130 S. Ct. 1473
(2010), but Judge Ikuta expresses no concern about that quotation. More
to the point, we simply use the Supreme Court’s words to describe the
interplay between plea agreements and immigration consequences and the
resulting unfairness to aliens when they enter into plea agreements under
a misunderstanding of the immigration consequences. The interplay
between pleas and consequences—and the resulting unfairness—are the
same, whether it is Congress or the courts that pull the rug out from under-
neath aliens. While St. Cyr does not control the analysis of the third Chev-
ron Oil factor, the Court’s discussion is relevant and instructive.
9492 NUNEZ-REYES v. HOLDER
consequences has provided ineffective assistance. Padilla,
130 S. Ct. at 1483.
After our decision today, alien defendants will know that an
expunged state-law conviction for simple possession will have
adverse immigration consequences.6 Those aliens will be able
to make a fully informed decision whether to plead guilty or
to exercise their constitutional rights, such as the right to trial
by jury. See St. Cyr, 533 U.S. at 322 (“In exchange for some
perceived benefit, defendants waive several of their constitu-
tional rights (including the right to a trial) and grant the gov-
ernment numerous tangible benefits . . . .”).
For those aliens who relied on Lujan-Armendariz, however,
“[t]he potential for unfairness in the retroactive application”
of today’s decision “is significant and manifest.” St. Cyr, 533
U.S. at 323. Those aliens were assured that, after completion
of drug treatment, there would be absolutely no legal conse-
quences. Their waiver of their constitutional rights was in reli-
ance on Lujan-Armendariz. In these circumstances, we easily
6
We recognize, of course, that nothing is ever guaranteed. There was
always some chance, for instance, that Congress would amend the law and
apply it retroactively. Similarly, there was some chance that an alien resid-
ing in the Ninth Circuit would move and be issued a notice to appear in
a different jurisdiction, where Lujan-Armendariz does not apply. At oral
argument, the government urged us to conclude that any reliance on
Lujan-Armendariz therefore was only speculative. We disagree; indeed, it
is the government’s argument that contains speculation. Reliance on the
clear, binding precedent of Lujan-Armendariz strikes us as entirely reason-
able and prudent, particularly in light of Congress’ inaction, the Supreme
Court’s steady denial of certiorari in cases raising this issue, and our own
consistent application (and, arguably, expansion) of the precedent in a
series of cases spanning more than a decade. Moreover, the Supreme
Court has rejected essentially the same argument because “[t]here is a
clear difference, for the purposes of [statutory] retroactivity analysis,
between facing possible deportation and facing certain deportation.” St.
Cyr, 533 U.S. at 325. In conclusion, aliens’ reliance on Lujan-Armendariz
is not diminished because of some outside chance that they would not
receive its benefit.
NUNEZ-REYES v. HOLDER 9493
conclude that the third Chevron Oil factor is met: our decision
“could produce substantial inequitable results if applied retro-
actively.” Chevron Oil, 404 U.S. at 107. It would be mani-
festly unfair effectively to hoodwink aliens into waiving their
constitutional rights on the promise of no legal consequences
and, then, to hold retroactively that their convictions actually
carried with them the “particularly severe ‘penalty’ ” of
removal, Padilla, 130 S. Ct. 1481; cf. Crowe, 365 F.3d at 94
(“We think that it would be patently unfair to subject a party
to a forfeiture for assiduously following binding circuit prece-
dent.”); Wagner v. Daewoo Heavy Indus. Am. Corp., 314 F.3d
541, 545 (11th Cir. 2002) (en banc) (“It would be inequitable
to punish those parties for following the clearly established
precedent of this Circuit.”).
For similar reasons, we conclude that the second Chevron
Oil factor is met: In light of the rule’s history, purpose, and
effect, retroactive application will not further the rule’s opera-
tion. 404 U.S. at 106-07. As we now make clear, Congress
intended that convictions for state-law simple possession have
adverse immigration consequences. At first glance, it may
appear that retroactive application of today’s decision would
further that purpose. After all, the state-law convictions
occurred, and Congress intended that such convictions have
adverse immigration consequences.
But Congress did not intend adverse immigration conse-
quences for those who were merely charged with a crime or
suspected of a crime; Congress intended such results only for
those who were duly convicted, with all the constitutional
protections of our criminal justice system. Relevant here, we
think it is a reasonable assumption that Congress intended
adverse immigration consequences only for those who were
convicted either after the exercise of their constitutional
rights, such as the right to trial, or after an informed waiver
of those constitutional rights. As discussed above, many alien
defendants fell into neither category. Instead, they pleaded
guilty and waived their constitutional rights with a wholly
9494 NUNEZ-REYES v. HOLDER
uninformed understanding of the consequences of their plea.
Contrary to their understanding that there would be no immi-
gration consequences, the actual consequence is the severe
penalty of removal. Nothing in the statute or its history, pur-
pose, or effect suggests that Congress intended adverse immi-
gration consequences for those whose waiver of constitutional
rights turned out to be so ill-informed. Indeed, the Supreme
Court has instructed that such a gross misunderstanding of the
immigration consequences of a plea, when caused by incom-
petent counsel, rises to the level of a constitutional violation.
Padilla, 130 S. Ct. at 1486-87. We conclude that retroactive
application of our decision today will not further the purposes
of the immigration laws.
[8] Weighing the Chevron Oil factors, we hold that our
decision today will apply only prospectively. Cf. Glazner, 347
F.3d at 1220 (“If this were truly a situation where the class of
persons affected by the new rule would suddenly face a strong
likelihood of liability when they faced no possibility of liabil-
ity before, we would be inclined to view the equities as
weighing heavily in favor of pure prospective application.”).
For those aliens convicted before the publication date of this
decision, Lujan-Armendariz applies. For those aliens con-
victed after the publication date of this decision, Lujan-
Armendariz is overruled.
C. We nevertheless deny the petition in this case.
Because our decision applies only prospectively, we apply
the rule announced in Lujan-Armendariz to the petition for
review in this case. In Lujan-Armendariz, we held that an
expunged conviction for simple possession did not constitute
a “conviction” for immigration purposes. In later cases, we
held that an expunged conviction for a “lesser offense” to
simple possession also did not constitute a “conviction” for
immigration purposes. Ramirez-Altamirano, 563 F.3d at
808-09; Cardenas-Uriarte, 227 F.3d at 1137. In those cases,
it was clear that the conviction was for a “lesser offense”
NUNEZ-REYES v. HOLDER 9495
because the alien was convicted of a single crime that carried
a lesser penalty than the crime of simple possession. See
Ramirez-Altamirano, 563 F.3d at 808 (“The structure of [the
alien’s] plea agreement obviously was intended to minimize
his culpability by allowing him to avoid facing the more seri-
ous drug possession charge, and reflects the state’s view as to
the seriousness of the offense.”).
[9] Here, however, Petitioner was convicted of being under
the influence of methamphetamine. Being under the influence
is not a lesser crime than simple possession. Although we
have held that possession of paraphernalia is a lesser crime
than possession of a drug itself, at least where the defendant
pleaded down from an original charge of simple possession,
Cardenas-Uriarte, 227 F.3d at 1137, being under the influ-
ence is not a possession crime at all, and it is thus qualita-
tively different from any federal conviction for which FFOA
treatment would be available. Being under the influence is not
a lesser offense to simple possession because it arguably is
more serious than mere possession; being under the influence
alters one’s sober state of mind and carries an immediate risk
of dangerous behavior, which mere possession does not nec-
essarily create. For example, one could foolishly agree to hide
drugs for a friend, which does not create an immediate risk of
dangerous behavior. We therefore overrule Rice v. Holder,
597 F.3d 952 (9th Cir. 2010).7 The BIA did not err.
7
Judge Ikuta argues that, if we are correct about the Chevron Oil factors
concerning Lujan-Armendariz, then we also must overrule Rice prospec-
tively only. Partial dissent at 9505-06 & n.6. We disagree. Unlike with
respect to Lujan-Armendariz, the Chevron Oil factors do not support a
finding of prospectivity with respect to Rice. The parties and amici have
presented no evidence that litigants have relied on our very recent decision
in Rice. See Chevron Oil, 404 U.S. at 106 (holding that prospectivity is
appropriate where we overrule past precedent “on which litigants may
have relied”). This petitioner certainly did not rely on Rice, because he
pleaded guilty in 2001—nine years before we decided Rice. For similar
reasons, we are unpersuaded that “substantial inequitable results,” id. at
107 (internal quotation marks omitted), will result from retroactive appli-
cation of our decision to overrule the very recent holding in Rice.
9496 NUNEZ-REYES v. HOLDER
Petition DENIED.
IKUTA, Circuit Judge, with whom Judges O’SCANNLAIN
and CALLAHAN join, concurring in part, dissenting in part,
and concurring in the judgment:
In overruling the equal protection holding of Lujan-
Armendariz v. INS, 222 F.3d 728 (9th Cir. 2000), see Maj. op.
at 9483-86, the majority corrects a longstanding error in our
case law, and I concur in both its reasoning and its result.
Having corrected one error, however, the majority then com-
mits another, holding that its overruling of Lujan-Armendariz
will apply prospectively only. Because the majority fails to
heed the Supreme Court’s warning that prospective decision-
making is appropriate (if ever) only in certain circumstances
that are not present here, I respectfully dissent from Parts B
and C of the majority opinion.
I
In Harper v. Virginia Department of Taxation, the Supreme
Court’s most recent opinion on the prospective application of
judicial decisions, the Court expressed grave concerns about
whether prospective decisionmaking is ever permissible. 509
U.S. 86, 97-98 (1993). Harper represents only the latest in a
series of Supreme Court decisions that have severely curtailed
the power of courts to engage in prospective decisionmaking
and have articulated a more traditional view of the judicial
power. See Am. Trucking Ass’ns, Inc. v. Smith, 496 U.S. 167,
201 (1990) (Scalia, J., concurring in the judgment) (“[T]he
judicial role . . . is to say what the law is, not prescribe what
it shall be.”); see also Agostini v. Felton, 521 U.S. 203, 237
(1997) (“Our general practice is to apply the rule of law we
announce in a case to the parties before us. . . . We adhere to
this practice even when we overrule a case.” (citation omit-
ted)).
NUNEZ-REYES v. HOLDER 9497
The Supreme Court began experimenting with prospective
decisionmaking during the 1960s. In Linkletter v. Walker, the
Court created a doctrine under which courts could deny retro-
active effect to a newly announced rule of criminal procedure.
381 U.S. 618, 629 (1965). In Chevron Oil Co. v. Huson, it
established a similar doctrine for civil cases. 404 U.S. 97,
106-07 (1971). Over the next decade or so, the Supreme Court
applied both of these doctrines in a number of cases, justified
by a range of rationales of varying strength. See James B.
Beam Distilling Co. v. Georgia (Beam), 501 U.S. 529, 536
(1991) (citing cases); United States v. Johnson, 457 U.S. 537,
543-45 (1982) (same).
The Court’s return to a more traditional view of judicial
power began with United States v. Johnson. Expressing dis-
satisfaction with its prior non-retroactivity jurisprudence and
declaring that “[r]etroactivity must be rethought,” Johnson,
457 U.S. at 548 (quoting Desist v. United States, 394 U.S.
244, 258 (1969) (Harlan, J., dissenting)) (internal quotation
marks omitted), Johnson cut back on Linkletter by holding
that (subject to certain exceptions) “a decision of th[e]
[Supreme] Court construing the Fourth Amendment is to be
applied retroactively to all convictions that were not yet final
at the time the decision was rendered.” Id. at 562. It was left
to Griffith v. Kentucky, however, to bring the era of criminal
non-retroactivity to a close. 479 U.S. 314 (1987). In Griffith,
the Court overruled Linkletter and held that “a new rule [of
criminal procedure] is to be applied retroactively to all cases,
state or federal, pending on direct review or not yet final, with
no exception[s].” Id. at 328. In explaining its decision, the
Court stated that the Linkletter doctrine violated two of the
“basic norms of constitutional adjudication.” Id. at 322. First,
it violated the “nature of judicial review” because it allowed
a court to decide on a new rule of law but then refuse to
“apply that rule to all similar cases pending on direct review.”
Id. at 322-23. Second, Linkletter’s “selective application of
new rules violate[d] the principle of treating similarly situated
[parties] the same.” Id.
9498 NUNEZ-REYES v. HOLDER
It is true that Griffith left the civil non-retroactivity doctrine
of Chevron Oil untouched. See id. at 322 n.8. However, the
Court subsequently expressed doubts about the viability of
non-retroactivity in the civil context, as well. See Beam, 501
U.S. 529 (six Justices disapproving of selective non-
retroactivity in the civil context);1 Am. Trucking Ass’ns, 496
1
In an opinion announcing the judgment of the Court, Justice Souter
(joined by Justice Stevens) commented: “Griffith cannot be confined to the
criminal law. Its equality principle, that similarly situated litigants should
be treated the same, carries comparable force in the civil context.” Beam,
501 U.S. at 540 (Souter, J., announcing the judgment of the Court). He
further noted:
Nor, finally, are litigants to be distinguished for choice-of-law
purposes on the particular equities of their claims to prospec-
tivity: whether they actually relied on the old rule and how they
would suffer from retroactive application of the new. It is simply
in the nature of precedent, as a necessary component of any sys-
tem that aspires to fairness and equality, that the substantive law
will not shift and spring on such a basis. To this extent, our deci-
sion here does limit the possible applications of the Chevron Oil
analysis, however irrelevant Chevron Oil may otherwise be to
this case. Because the rejection of modified prospectivity pre-
cludes retroactive application of a new rule to some litigants
when it is not applied to others, the Chevron Oil test cannot
determine the choice of law by relying on the equities of the par-
ticular case.
Id. at 543. Justice White noted that “if the Court in [Bacchus Imports, Ltd.
v. Dias, 468 U.S. 263 (1984),] thought its decision to have been reason-
ably foreseeable and hence not a new rule, there would be no doubt that
it would be retroactive to all similarly situated litigants.” Id. at 544-45
(White, J., concurring in the judgment). Justice Blackmun (joined by Jus-
tices Marshall and Scalia) wrote:
I agree that failure to apply a newly declared constitutional rule
to cases pending on direct review violates basic norms of consti-
tutional adjudication. It seems to me that our decision in Griffith
makes clear that this Court’s function in articulating new rules of
decision must comport with its duty to decide only “Cases” and
“Controversies.” Unlike a legislature, we do not promulgate new
rules to “be applied prospectively only,” as the dissent, and per-
haps Justice Souter, would have it. The nature of judicial review
NUNEZ-REYES v. HOLDER 9499
U.S. 167 (five Justices rejecting the plurality’s civil non-
retroactivity analysis).
The Justices’ misgivings regarding non-retroactivity in the
civil context found expression in the Court’s opinion in Har-
per. Justice Thomas, in his opinion for the Court, stated:
Beam controls this case, and we accordingly adopt a
rule that fairly reflects the position of a majority of
Justices in Beam: When this Court applies a rule of
federal law to the parties before it, that rule is the
controlling interpretation of federal law and must be
given full retroactive effect in all cases still open on
direct review and as to all events, regardless of
constrains us to consider the case that is actually before us, and,
if it requires us to announce a new rule, to do so in the context
of the case and apply it to the parties who brought us the case to
decide. To do otherwise is to warp the role that we, as judges,
play in a Government of limited powers.
Id. at 547 (Blackmun, J., concurring in the judgment) (citations omitted).
Justice Scalia (joined by Justices Marshall and Blackmun) wrote:
I think, “[t]he judicial Power of the United States” conferred
upon this Court and such inferior courts as Congress may estab-
lish must be deemed to be the judicial power as understood by
our common-law tradition. That is the power “to say what the law
is,” not the power to change it. I am not so naive (nor do I think
our forebears were) as to be unaware that judges in a real sense
“make” law. But they make it as judges make it, which is to say
as though they were “finding” it — discerning what the law is,
rather than decreeing what it is today changed to, or what it will
tomorrow be. Of course this mode of action poses “difficulties of
a . . . practical sort” when courts decide to overrule prior prece-
dent. But those difficulties are one of the understood checks upon
judicial law-making; to eliminate them is to render courts sub-
stantially more free to “make new law,” and thus to alter in a fun-
damental way the assigned balance of responsibility and power
among the three branches.
Id. at 549 (Scalia, J., concurring in the judgment) (citations omitted).
9500 NUNEZ-REYES v. HOLDER
whether such events predate or postdate our
announcement of the rule.
Harper, 509 U.S. at 97. The Court explained that it was
imposing this rule to further the same “basic norms of consti-
tutional adjudication” that had caused it to eliminate non-
retroactivity in the criminal context in Griffith. Id. (internal
quotation marks omitted). The Court noted that the “general
rule of retrospective effect” for judicial decisions has “gov-
erned ‘[j]udicial decision[making] . . . for near a thousand
years.’ ” Id. at 94 (quoting Kuhn v. Fairmont Coal Co., 215
U.S. 349, 372 (1910) (Holmes, J., dissenting)). In direct con-
trast to this general rule, the power to “make rules of law
retroactive or prospective as [one] see[s] fit” is “quintessen-
tially” a legislative prerogative. Id. at 95; see also Griffith,
479 U.S. at 323 (“In truth, the Court’s assertion of power to
disregard current law in adjudicating cases before us that have
not already run the full course of appellate review, is quite
simply an assertion that our constitutional function is not one
of adjudication but in effect of legislation.” (quoting Mackey
v. United States, 401 U.S. 667, 679 (1971) (Harlan, J., concur-
ring in the judgment)) (internal quotation mark omitted)).
Thus, Harper said, courts “ha[ve] no more constitutional
authority in civil cases than in criminal cases to disregard cur-
rent law or to treat similarly situated litigants differently.” 509
U.S. at 97 (quoting Am. Trucking Ass’ns, 496 U.S. at 214
(Stevens, J., dissenting)) (internal quotation mark omitted).
Although the reasons for severely limiting non-retroactive
decisionmaking are clearly set out in Harper, the Court did
not expressly overrule Chevron Oil.2 See id. We therefore
2
Whether the Court may have implicitly overruled Chevron Oil has
been the subject of some debate. See Bradley Scott Shannon, The Retroac-
tive and Prospective Application of Judicial Decisions, 26 Harv. J. L. &
Pub. Pol’y 811, 814 (Summer 2003) (reviewing the Supreme Court’s opin-
ions and concluding that the Court has “reverted to a firm rule of retroac-
tive application . . . in the civil arena”). Such a conclusion finds support
NUNEZ-REYES v. HOLDER 9501
must continue to consider Chevron Oil where we are
announcing a new rule of law for the first time and the parties
have fairly raised the issue.3 See Agostini, 521 U.S. at 237.
Harper nonetheless strongly indicated that purely prospective
application of a new rule is disfavored even in this situation.
In light of Harper’s disapproval of the principle of non-
retroactivity, we should interpret the Chevron Oil exception to
retroactivity as a narrow one and avoid expanding its applica-
tion.
II
Chevron Oil sets forth three factors we must consider when
determining whether a decision should be applied prospec-
tively only. When narrowly construed, as required by Harper,
these factors do not clearly support applying our decision
overruling Lujan-Armendariz non-retroactively; indeed, one
factor weighs heavily against a prospective-only application.
In addition, both practical and jurisprudential considerations
strongly encourage compliance with the Supreme Court’s pre-
ferred approach of full retroactivity.
A
The first factor in the Chevron Oil test is whether “the deci-
sion to be applied nonretroactively . . . establish[es] a new
principle of law, either by overruling clear past precedent on
in Landgraf v. USI Film Products, in which the Court stated that “[w]hile
it was accurate in 1974 to say that a new rule announced in a judicial deci-
sion was only presumptively applicable to pending cases, we have since
established a firm rule of retroactivity.” 511 U.S. 244, 279 n.32 (1994)
(citing Harper, 509 U.S. 86; Griffith, 479 U.S. 314).
3
Another restriction on non-retroactivity, not at issue here, is that a new
rule of law must always be applied retroactively where it concerns our
jurisdiction. See United States ex rel. Haight v. Catholic Healthcare W.,
602 F.3d 949, 953 (9th Cir. 2010) (citing United States ex rel. Eisenstein
v. City of New York, 129 S. Ct. 2230 (2009)).
9502 NUNEZ-REYES v. HOLDER
which litigants may have relied, or by deciding an issue of
first impression whose resolution was not clearly foreshad-
owed.” Chevron Oil, 404 U.S. at 106 (citation omitted). Con-
strued narrowly, this first factor aims at identifying those
judicial decisions that unexpectedly enunciate a novel princi-
ple of law which may unfairly take litigants by surprise. Our
abrogation of Lujan-Armendariz does not meet this criteria;
instead, it brings our circuit in line with the rest of the nation.
Lujan-Armendariz has long been an outlier in the context of
national immigration law; as noted by the majority, since it
was decided, “the BIA and every sister circuit to . . .
address[ ] the issue—eight in total” have soundly rejected its
holding.4 Maj op. at 9484. Given this context, the majority’s
decision hardly establishes a “new principle of law.” Chevron
Oil, 404 U.S. at 106. To the contrary, the demise of Lujan-
Armendariz (at the hands of Congress, the Supreme Court, or
the en banc Ninth Circuit) has been “clearly foreshadowed.”
Id. Because the majority is taking the unsurprising step of
conforming our case law to the rest of the nation rather than
adopting an unanticipated new legal rule, this factor does not
weigh heavily in favor of non-retroactive application of its
decision.
B
The second factor requires us to “weigh the merits and
demerits in each case by looking to the prior history of the
rule in question, its purpose and effect, and whether retrospec-
4
Our sister circuits have consistently rejected our position. See Welling-
ton v. Holder, 623 F.3d 115, 120-22 (2d Cir. 2010) (per curiam), petition
for cert. filed, 79 U.S.L.W. 3442 (U.S. Jan. 18, 2011) (No. 10-933); Danso
v. Gonzales, 489 F.3d 709, 716-17 (5th Cir. 2007); Ramos v. Gonzales,
414 F.3d 800, 805-06 (7th Cir. 2005); Resendiz-Alcaraz v. U.S. Att’y Gen.,
383 F.3d 1262, 1271-72 (11th Cir. 2004); Elkins v. Comfort, 392 F.3d
1159, 1162-64 (10th Cir. 2004); Acosta v. Ashcroft, 341 F.3d 218, 224-27
(3d Cir. 2003); Vasquez-Velezmoro v. INS, 281 F.3d 693, 697-98 (8th Cir.
2002); cf. Herrera-Inirio v. INS, 208 F.3d 299, 304-09 (1st Cir. 2000).
NUNEZ-REYES v. HOLDER 9503
tive operation will further or retard its operation.” Id. at 106-07.5
This factor strongly supports retrospective operation.
As the majority acknowledges, Congress’s enactment of a
broad definition of “conviction” in IIRIRA, see 8 U.S.C.
§ 1101(a)(48)(A), clearly expressed its intent “that convic-
tions for state-law simple possession have adverse immigra-
tion consequences” even if those convictions are later
expunged by the state courts. Maj. op. at 9493. In holding that
such a result would violate the equal protection rights of
aliens convicted of state offenses, Lujan-Armendariz frus-
trated the realization of Congress’s intent. Today, the majority
announces that, contrary to Lujan-Armendariz, “the constitu-
tional guarantee of equal protection does not require treating,
for immigration purposes, an expunged state conviction of a
drug crime the same as a federal drug conviction that has been
expunged under the FFOA.” Maj. op. at 9486. This ruling
finally frees immigration judges, the BIA, and this court to
apply § 1101(a)(48)(A) as Congress intended and as it has
been applied for over a decade outside the Ninth Circuit. By
overruling Lujan-Armendariz only prospectively, however,
the majority further delays giving effect to a law that Con-
gress enacted over ten years ago, even while the majority
repudiates Lujan-Armendariz’s equal protection analysis. The
only reasonable conclusion is that the delay caused by this
prospective application “retard[s]” the operation of the major-
ity’s new rule. See Chevron Oil, 404 U.S. at 107.
The majority’s contrary conclusion is based on its “assump-
tion” that Congress could not have intended to apply the stat-
5
This factor was adopted from Linkletter, which considered whether the
exclusionary rule established by Mapp v. Ohio, 367 U.S. 643 (1961),
should be applied retroactively to cases that were already final. In deter-
mining that the purpose of the Mapp rule would not be served by its retro-
active application, the Court noted the purpose of the exclusionary rule
was the “deter[rence of] lawless police action,” a purpose that would not
“at this late date be served by the wholesale release of the guilty victims.”
Linkletter, 381 U.S. at 636-37.
9504 NUNEZ-REYES v. HOLDER
ute to aliens who may have waived their constitutional rights
in reliance on our erroneous precedent. See Maj. op. at 9493.
This assumption, of course, arises solely from the majority’s
belief that Congress would balance the equities the same way
it does. But we must discern Congress’s intent from the lan-
guage of the statutes it enacts, not from our own perspectives
on policy. See United States v. Gonzales, 520 U.S. 1, 9-10
(1997) (noting that where “the straightforward language” of
a statute “leaves no room to speculate about congressional
intent,” courts should not “carve out statutory exceptions
based on judicial perceptions” of good policy). There is no
support in the statute for the majority’s claim that “retroactive
application will not further the rule’s operation.” Maj. op at
9493. Indeed, by substituting its own intent for that of Con-
gress, the majority usurps Congress’s legislative “preroga-
tive” to make its enactments “retroactive or prospective as [it]
see[s] fit,” Harper, 509 U.S. at 95, and effectively eliminates
Chevron Oil’s second factor for any case where a statute is
involved (because a court can always impute its own views on
equity to Congress). This approach is contrary to Chevron Oil
and also expands its scope, contrary to Harper.
C
The third factor instructs us to inquire whether our decision
“could produce substantial inequitable results if applied retro-
actively.” Chevron Oil, 404 U.S. at 107 (internal quotation
marks omitted). Given the diversity of relief provided by state
expungement statutes, including statutes that allow expunge-
ment even when an alien is convicted of drug offenses at trial,
see, e.g., Cal. Penal Code §§ 1210, 1210.1(e), it is impossible
to know the extent to which aliens waived their constitutional
rights in reliance on Lujan-Armendariz. See Maj. op. at
9492-93. But even assuming that aliens did waive their trial
rights in the expectation of subsequently avoiding immigra-
tion consequences for their offenses, and that defeating such
expectations would produce inequitable results, a full consid-
eration of the equities cannot ignore the inequities that will
NUNEZ-REYES v. HOLDER 9505
result from the majority’s application of its new rule non-
retroactively. The majority’s decision will create significant
inequities between aliens in the Ninth Circuit who were con-
victed before the date of this decision and who subsequently
had those convictions expunged, and all other aliens with
expunged convictions everywhere in the country. The aliens
in the first group, whether they actually relied on Lujan-
Armendariz or not, could avoid the immigration consequences
of their convictions, while all those in the second group would
be deemed to have “convictions” under the plain language of
§ 1101(a)(48)(A) and would have to suffer such conse-
quences. In short, the majority’s decision will lead to “simi-
larly situated” aliens being treated differently in the future,
Harper, 509 U.S. at 95 (internal quotation marks omitted),
with no basis in the Constitution or the statute for the differ-
ence.
The majority exacerbates this inequity by choosing to over-
rule Rice v. Holder, 597 F.3d 952 (9th Cir. 2010), retroac-
tively, see Maj. op. at 9494-95, while overruling Lujan-
Armendariz and its other progeny only prospectively, see Maj.
op. at 9487, 9494-95. Under Harper, because the majority
applies its new rule abrogating Rice to Nunez-Reyes, this
abrogation “must be given full retroactive effect in all cases
still open on direct review.” Harper, 509 U.S. at 97. In other
words, the majority has singled out one unlucky sub-class
(aliens who may have relied on Rice) from the larger class it
has created (aliens who may have relied on Lujan-Armendariz
and its progeny) with no apparent justification other than the
fact that Nunez-Reyes’s case happened to fall within the pur-
view of Rice.6 This runs directly counter to the Supreme
6
The majority gives two explanations for its inconsistent treatment of
Rice, neither of which is persuasive. First, the majority asserts that Rice
was more wrongly decided than Ramirez-Altamirano v. Holder, 563 F.3d
800 (9th Cir. 2009), and Cardenas-Uriarte v. INS, 227 F.3d 1132 (9th Cir.
2000), because the state offense at issue in Rice (being under the influ-
ence) is less like the federal offense covered by FFOA (simple possession)
9506 NUNEZ-REYES v. HOLDER
Court’s statement in Harper that courts must not allow “the
substantive law [to] shift” according to “the particular equities
of [an individual party’s] claim[ ].” Id. (internal quotation
marks omitted).
Given that applying our decision overruling Lujan-
Armendariz non-retroactively creates “substantial inequitable
results” among similarly situated aliens, Chevron Oil’s third
factor does not weigh heavily in favor of a non-retroactive appli-
cation.7
than is the state offense at issue in Ramirez-Altamirano and Carde-
nas-Uriarte (possession of drug paraphernalia). As the majority explains,
while possession of paraphernalia is a “‘possession crime,” being under
the influence does not involve any kind of “possession,”and thus it
is“qualitatively different from any federal conviction for which FFOA
treatment would be available.” Maj. op. at 9494-95. Moreover, the major-
ity asserts that possession of drug paraphernalia is a “lesser offense” than
simple possession, whereas being under the influence is not. Id. at 9495.
But this analysis is completely immaterial, given that all three of these
cases, along with Lujan-Armendariz, were wrongly decided because of the
same erroneous equal protection analysis; therefore, the majority’s com-
parison of the types of offenses expunged in these cases does not help
answer the question why only one of these wrong decisions should be
overruled retroactively.
Second, the majority notes that‘[t]he parties and amici have presented
no evidence that litigants have relied on our very recent decision in Rice.”
Maj. op. at 9495 n.7. This purported distinction of Rice is also unpersua-
sive: the parties and amici provided as much “evidence” of reliance on
Rice as they did of reliance on any of the other cases. In a word: none.
Rather, the “evidence” of reliance cited by the parties and amici amounted
to little more than assertions that the defense bar knew of our prior case
law and so informed their clients. Of course, that case law included not
only Lujan-Armendariz, but also its progeny. See, e.g., Brief for Drug Pol-
icy Alliance et al. as Amici Curiae Supporting Petitioner at 6 n.4, 9,
Nunez-Reyes v. Holder, No. 05-74350 (9th Cir. Oct. 29, 2010) (explaining
that “established criminal defense practice in states within the Ninth Cir-
cuit” is based on “the Lujan-Armendariz line of decisions,” which includes
Lujan-Armendariz and eight other decisions).
7
In its discussion of Chevron Oil’s third factor, the majority repeatedly
cites to and quotes from INS v. St. Cyr, 533 U.S. 289, 322-23 (2001). See
NUNEZ-REYES v. HOLDER 9507
D
In sum, because courts generally “ha[ve] no more constitu-
tional authority in civil cases than in criminal cases to disre-
gard current law or to treat similarly situated litigants
differently,” Harper, 509 U.S. at 97 (quoting Am. Trucking
Ass’ns, 496 U.S. at 214 (Stevens, J., dissenting)) (internal
quotation mark omitted), the Chevron Oil exception to retro-
activity must be treated as a narrow one. At a minimum, then,
we should apply the exception only where all three factors
clearly favor prospectivity. Because here the second Chevron
Oil factor weighs heavily against non-retroactive application,
and neither of the other factors provides strong support for a
purely prospective decision, Chevron Oil does not support the
majority’s decision.
III
Where the factors of Chevron Oil do not overwhelmingly
support the disfavored approach of non-retroactive applica-
tion, we should instead give effect to the “general rule of
retrospective effect for . . . constitutional decisions” that the
Supreme Court reaffirmed in Harper. Id. at 94 (quoting Rob-
inson v. Neil, 409 U.S. 505, 507 (1973)). Here, practical and
Maj. op. at 9490-93. St. Cyr is inapposite, however, because it dealt with
the retroactive effect of a statute, which is presumed to be prospective. See
Landgraf, 511 U.S. at 266, 272 (holding that in considering the retroactive
effect of statutes, we apply a “presumption against retroactiv[ity],” out of
a recognition that a “[l]egislature’s unmatched powers allow it to sweep
away settled expectations suddenly and without individualized consider-
ation”). As the Court made clear in Harper, however, we are to apply the
opposite presumption (that is, the “general rule of retrospective effect,”
509 U.S. at 94) when it comes to judicial decisions, because “[t]o do oth-
erwise is to warp the role that we, as judges, play in a Government of lim-
ited powers,” Beam, 501 U.S. at 547 (Blackmun, J., concurring in the
judgment). In other words, the Supreme Court’s analysis of “reliance” and
“fairness” in St. Cyr, 533 U.S. at 315-25, cannot dictate our analysis in this
case.
9508 NUNEZ-REYES v. HOLDER
jurisprudential considerations also weigh heavily in favor of
retroactive application of our ruling.
Practical concerns are crucial in the area of immigration
law, because regulating immigration is the prerogative of the
legislative branch. See Garcia-Ramirez v. Gonzales, 423 F.3d
935, 953 (9th Cir. 2005) (Gould, J., concurring) (“[T]he Con-
stitution gives the superordinate role to Congress, and not to
the federal courts, in regulating the flow and content of immi-
gration to the United States.”). Because Congress has “exclu-
sive power over immigration,” we have frequently stressed
the paramount importance of national uniformity in this area.
See Cazarez-Gutierrez v. Ashcroft, 382 F.3d 905, 912 (9th
Cir. 2004) (noting the “strong interest in national uniformity
in the administration of immigration laws”); Kahn v. INS, 36
F.3d 1412, 1414 (9th Cir. 1994) (“The INA ‘was designed to
implement a uniform federal policy,’ and the meaning of con-
cepts important to its application are ‘not to be determined
according to the law of the forum, but rather require a uniform
federal definition.’ ” (alteration omitted) (quoting Rosario v.
INS, 962 F.2d 220, 223 (2d Cir. 1992))). By applying its deci-
sion overruling Lujan-Armendariz non-retroactively, where
there is no constitutional reason for doing so, the majority
usurps Congress’s authority and derogates from this principle
of national uniformity.
The Supreme Court has emphasized the substantial juris-
prudential concerns that weigh against non-retroactivity; in
fact, the Justices seem to speak directly against the approach
adopted by the majority. Justice Souter, joined by Justice Ste-
vens, asserted in Beam that “the Chevron Oil test cannot
determine the choice of law by relying on the equities of the
particular case.” Beam, 501 U.S. at 543 (Souter, J., announc-
ing the judgment of the Court). Justice Blackmun, joined by
Justices Marshall and Scalia, wrote that “[t]he nature of judi-
cial review constrains us to consider the case that is actually
before us, and, if it requires us to announce a new rule, to do
so in the context of the case and apply it to the parties who
NUNEZ-REYES v. HOLDER 9509
brought us the case to decide.” Id. at 547 (Blackmun, J., con-
curring in the judgment of the Court). Justice Scalia recog-
nized that judges in a real sense “make” law, but stated that
“they make it as judges make it, which is to say as though
they were ‘finding’ it—discerning what the law is, rather than
decreeing what it is today changed to, or what it will tomor-
row be.” Id. at 549 (Scalia, J., concurring in the judgment).
These perspectives commanded a majority of the Court in
Harper. Where, as here, the Chevron Oil factors do not
clearly support non-retroactivity, the majority’s insistence that
our ruling be given only prospective application cannot be
squared with Harper and with the Justices’ underlying con-
cerns.8
Instead of straining to make the law fit its notion of good
policy, the majority should have followed the advice of Har-
per and reserved prospective decisionmaking for the rare case
where all three Chevron Oil factors clearly point toward doing
so. Because the majority has abjured this wiser course, I
respectfully dissent.
PREGERSON, Circuit Judge, with whom Judge B.
FLETCHER joins, dissenting:
Lujan-Armendariz v. INS, 222 F.3d 728 (9th Cir. 2000),
holds that equal protection of the laws is violated by denying
Federal First Offender Act (“FFOA”) relief to aliens whose
8
A further explanation of the benefits of a firm rule of retroactivity is
set forth in Shannon, supra note 2. Professor Shannon concludes that a
firm rule of retroactivity: (1) “is more in accord with the nature of the
adjudicative function than alternatives”; (2) “is consistent with traditional
understandings of the distinction between holding and dicta”; (3) “is . . .
consistent with traditional understandings of the doctrine of stare decisis”;
and (4) “is superior to prospectivity-based approaches because it better
furthers private ordering, fair and efficient adjudication, and public confi-
dence in the judiciary.” Id. at 836-37.
9510 NUNEZ-REYES v. HOLDER
first-time minor drug offenses were expunged by a state-court
judge after the offender successfully completed a state-
approved rehabilitation program. The majority overturns this
well-established circuit precedent and in doing so overturns a
number of our cases that followed the Lujan-Armendariz rule.
In addition to the three-judge panel opinion in this case, these
overturned cases include Rice v. Holder, 597 F.3d 952 (9th
Cir. 2010), Romero v. Holder, 568 F.3d 1054 (9th Cir. 2009),
Ramirez-Altamirano v. Holder, 563 F.3d 800 (9th Cir. 2009),
Dillingham v. INS, 267 F.3d 996 (9th Cir. 2001), and
Cardenas-Uriarte v. INS, 227 F.3d 1132 (9th Cir. 2000). The
majority throws out more than ten years of our precedent
without so much as a cursory examination of the question
whether Congress intended to maintain FFOA treatment for
state-expunged first-time minor drug offenses. Specifically,
the majority fails to address the question whether Congress’s
1996 definition of “conviction,” set forth under
§ 1101(a)(48)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality Act
(“INA”), 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(48)(A), includes court-ordered
expungements at all. The majority skips over this statutory
interpretation question and improperly jumps to the constitu-
tional equal protection question instead. See, e.g., Standard
Oil Co. of California v. Arizona, 738 F.2d 1021, 1023 (9th
Cir. 1984) (“[W]e must, if at all possible, resolve cases on
statutory grounds before reaching constitutional questions”)
(citing Escambia County, Fla. v. McMillan, 466 U.S. 48, 51
(1984) (per curiam)).
To make matters worse, the majority denies the petition for
review in this case even though it decides to apply its new
rule denying state offenders FFOA relief for state-expunged
first-time drug convictions prospectively only. The result is
that the petitioner will be separated from his citizen wife and
two American-born children because of a minor drug
conviction—one that a California state judge expunged
because the petitioner successfully completed a state rehabili-
tation program. Such a result is unjust. The majority com-
pounds that injustice by ensuring that thousands of minor
NUNEZ-REYES v. HOLDER 9511
drug offenders will suffer the same cruel separation from their
families in the days ahead.
America is a second-chance nation. Each year, thousands of
people, some of them immigrants to this country, are caught
up in our justice system by making the mistake of committing
a minor drug offense. But Congress through the FFOA has
seen fit to give those folks who commit the most minor drug
offenses an opportunity—a second chance— to redeem them-
selves through rehabilitation, and thereafter walk a straight
and narrow path to become productive members of society
and a credit to their families. For some immigrants, including
thousands of lawfully-admitted residents, this second chance
also means being able to stay in the country with their fami-
lies intact. The majority’s abandonment of our precedent
today means that first-time minor drug offenders within our
circuit who have fully complied with their state’s stringent
rehabilitation programs, and who have had their minor con-
victions expunged by a state court judge, nonetheless will be
subject to removal from the United States. For them, there
will be no second chance. Thousands of families will be ren-
dered asunder, and tens of thousands of American-born chil-
dren will suffer the consequences. This harsh result, I submit,
is repugnant to the values of kindness, compassion, and fun-
damental fairness.
I therefore strongly dissent.
A.
This dissenting opinion starts out where the majority should
have, by examining the Board of Immigration Appeal’s
(“BIA”) decision in the case now before us. Analyzing
Nunez-Reyes’s petition for review, I adhere to Lujan-
Armendariz and its progeny. Because the majority walks
away from the Lujan-Armendariz rule only prospectively,1 the
1
Because I believe that the rule articulated in Lujan-Armendariz should
be upheld, I do not reach the question whether the majority’s new rule
should apply only prospectively.
9512 NUNEZ-REYES v. HOLDER
majority’s pronouncement does not apply to Nunez-Reyes’s
case.
Flavio Nunez-Reyes (“Nunez-Reyes”) is a thirty-five-year-
old national of Mexico who entered the United States without
inspection in 1992. His United States citizen wife and two
American-born children reside in San Jose, California.
In 2001, Nunez-Reyes was charged with one felony count
of possession of methamphetamine, in violation of California
Health & Safety Code § 11377(a). This felony charge was
later reduced to a misdemeanor. Nunez-Reyes was also
charged, under the same complaint, with using or being under
the influence of methamphetamine, in violation of California
Health & Safety Code § 11550(a). The charges against
Nunez-Reyes were ultimately dismissed pursuant to Califor-
nia’s expungement statute for drug possession offenses, which
states that the state court “shall . . . set aside [the conviction]
and . . . dismiss the indictment” if the defendant successfully
completes probation and that “both the arrest and the convic-
tion shall be deemed never to have occurred.” Cal. Penal
Code § 1210.1(e)(1).2
In early 2002, the federal government charged Nunez-
Reyes under 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(6)(A)(I) as a removable
alien. Nunez-Reyes conceded removability but applied for
adjustment of status, cancellation of removal, and, alterna-
tively, voluntary departure. The Immigration Judge (“IJ”)
held that the state conviction rendered Nunez-Reyes ineligible
for any form of relief. The BIA affirmed the IJ’s decision and
held that Nunez-Reyes could not avail himself of relief under
the FFOA because his conviction for using or being under the
influence of methamphetamine was “not one for which fed-
eral first offender treatment would be available.” The BIA
reasoned that the FFOA applies only to simple possession
2
California Penal Code § 1210.1 (2006) codifies the Substance Abuse
and Crime Prevention Act, also known as “Proposition 36.”
NUNEZ-REYES v. HOLDER 9513
offenses, and that being under the influence of methamphet-
amine is not a simple possession offense. While recognizing
that our court has applied FFOA treatment to convictions for
“lesser offenses,” the BIA held that Nunez-Reyes had not
pleaded down from a charge of simple possession and that
being under the influence of methamphetamine is not a
“lesser offense” than that of simple possession.
The matter came before our court on appeal. Under de novo
review, we faithfully applied our precedent, which holds that
state-expunged first-time drug possession dispositions that
would be eligible for FFOA treatment are not convictions for
purposes of the immigration laws. Nunez-Reyes v. Holder,
602 F.3d 1102, 1104 (9th Cir. 2010) (per curiam) (citing
Lujan-Armendariz, 222 F.3d at 734-49, and Garberding v.
INS, 30 F.3d 1187, 1190 (9th Cir. 1994)). Under the law of
our circuit, FFOA treatment also applies to a “lesser offense”
than that of simple possession of a controlled substance. See
Cardenas-Uriarte v. INS, 227 F.3d 1132, 1137 (9th Cir. 2000)
(noting that congressional intent indicated that the lesser
crime of possession of drug paraphernalia should be given
FFOA treatment). Thus, under the FFOA,
an alien cannot be deemed “convicted” for immigra-
tion purposes if he can demonstrate that (1) the con-
viction was his first offense; (2) he had not
previously been accorded first offender treatment;
(3) his conviction was for possession of drugs, or an
equivalent or lesser charge such as possession of
drug paraphernalia . . . ; and (4) he received relief
under a state rehabilitative statute.
Ramirez-Altamirano, 563 F.3d at 812 (citation omitted).
Nunez-Reyes easily met the first, second, and fourth require-
ments for FFOA relief. The only question left for the panel
was whether Nunez-Reyes’s conviction for using or being
under the influence of methamphetamine was an “equivalent
or lesser charge” than simple possession of drugs.
9514 NUNEZ-REYES v. HOLDER
Importantly, the panel relied on our court’s recent decision
in Rice v. Holder, 597 F.3d 952, 957 (9th Cir. 2010), where
we held that a misdemeanor conviction for being under the
influence of a controlled substance qualifies as a “lesser
offense” eligible for FFOA treatment. In Rice, the petitioner
was charged with one felony count of possession of cocaine
and one misdemeanor count of using or being under the influ-
ence of a stimulant under California law.3 Id. at 954. Rice
pleaded nolo contendere and was convicted of both offenses.
Id. Upon completion of three years of probation, the court set
aside Rice’s pleas of nolo contendere, entered pleas of not
guilty, and dismissed the complaint. Id. During removal pro-
ceedings, the IJ found Rice statutorily ineligible for cancella-
tion of removal because he had been convicted for violating
a controlled substance law. Id. The BIA dismissed Rice’s
appeal, holding that Rice would not have been eligible for
FFOA treatment for the offense of being under the influence
of a controlled substance because only simple possession
offenses were eligible for relief, and thus, Rice stood con-
victed for immigration purposes. Id.
In Rice, we granted the petition for review and held that
“persons convicted of using or being under the influence of a
controlled substance, where that offense is less serious than
simple drug possession, are eligible for the same immigration
treatment as those convicted of drug possession under the
FFOA.” Id. at 957. Following the precedent set forth in
Cardenas-Uriarte, 227 F.3d at 1137, we reasoned that there
was “no relevant distinction . . . between the offenses of pos-
session of drug paraphernalia and using or being under the
influence of a controlled substance, as both are generally less
serious than simple possession.” Rice, 597 F.3d at 956; see
also Medina v. Ashcroft, 393 F.3d 1063, 1066 (9th Cir. 2005).
We further noted that “we can be sure that using or being
3
This misdemeanor count of using or being under the influence of a
stimulant was the same violation for which Nunez-Reyes was convicted
under California Health & Safety Code § 11550(a).
NUNEZ-REYES v. HOLDER 9515
under the influence of a controlled substance is a lesser
offense because it is a misdemeanor while possession of
cocaine is a felony.”4 Id. (internal marks and citation omitted).
The BIA’s decision in Nunez-Reyes’s case was rendered
before our well-reasoned decision in Rice.
As Judge Graber’s concurrence to the panel opinion cor-
rectly points out, Rice “answered the legal questions raised in
[Nunez-Reyes’s] case, and no factual distinction exists.”
Nunez-Reyes, 602 F.3d at 1105 (Graber, J., concurring)
(emphasis added). According to our precedent, then, Nunez-
Reyes is eligible for FFOA treatment and his state-expunged
convictions cannot be used as grounds to deny him relief from
removal. The three-judge panel granted Nunez-Reyes’s peti-
tion and remanded for further proceedings. Id. The panel got
it right.
Yet, Judge Graber’s en banc majority opinion now holds
that Nunez-Reyes’s petition for review should be denied. It
does so by overruling Rice, reasoning that “being under the
influence is not a lesser crime than simple possession”
because it is “not a possession crime at all, and it is thus quali-
tatively different from any federal conviction for which FFOA
treatment would be available.” Maj. Op. at 9495. The major-
ity further reasons that “[b]eing under the influence is not a
lesser offense to simple possession because it arguably is
more serious than mere possession . . . .” Maj. Op. at 9495.
The majority’s reasoning is flawed. “Our review is limited
to the actual grounds relied upon by the BIA.” Ramirez-
Altamirano v. Holder, 563 F.3d 800, 804 (9th Cir. 2009) (cita-
tion omitted). “If we conclude that the BIA’s decision cannot
be sustained upon its reasoning, we must remand to allow the
4
A person convicted of using or being under the influence of a con-
trolled substance in violation of California Health & Safety Code
§ 11550(a) “is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be sentenced to serve a
term of not less than 90 days or more than one year in a county jail.”
9516 NUNEZ-REYES v. HOLDER
agency to decide any issues remaining in the case.” Id. The
BIA distinguished this case from Lujan-Armendariz because
Nunez-Reyes was charged and “convicted under California
law for using or being under the influence of methamphet-
amine.” The BIA found Nunez-Reyes’s conviction for using
or being under the influence of methamphetamine “not analo-
gous to any offense for which federal first offender treatment
would be available,” and therefore held that the conviction’s
dismissal was “not akin to an FFOA expungement.” In short,
the BIA stated that using or being under the influence of
methamphetamine did not qualify for FFOA treatment
because it was neither a simple possession offense nor a “less-
er” offense than simple possession of methamphetamine.
However, “[u]nder these circumstances, concluding that
[using or being under the influence of a controlled substance]
is not included in the First Offender Act would frustrate con-
gressional intent and lead to an absurd result.” Cardenas-
Uriarte, 227 F.3d at 1137. Congress intended the FFOA “as
a limited federal rehabilitation statute that permits first-time
drug offenders who commit the least serious type of drug
offense to avoid the drastic consequences which typically fol-
low a finding of guilt in drug cases.” Lujan-Armendariz, 222
F.3d at 735. Nunez-Reyes’s conviction for using or being
under the influence of methamphetamine is the “least serious
type of drug offense.” In contrast to Nunez-Reyes’s felony
possession of methamphetamine charge, his conviction for
using or being under the influence of methamphetamine was
a misdemeanor. See Cal. Health & Safety Code §§ 11377(a),
11550(a). And Nunez-Reyes’s drug use is not even a federal
crime: there is no equivalent federal criminal statute that pro-
hibits using or being under the influence of a controlled sub-
stance. See 21 U.S.C. §§ 841-865. If being under the
influence “arguably is more serious than mere possession
. . . [,]” Maj. Op. at 9495, the majority fails to explain why
neither Congress nor the State of California chose to treat it
as such. Thus, by denying Nunez-Reyes the benefit of FFOA
treatment for his expunged conviction for using or being
NUNEZ-REYES v. HOLDER 9517
under the influence of drugs, the majority not only frustrates
the intent of Congress but also ignores the criminal statutory
schemes of both Congress and California, which both treat
using or being under the influence as a “least serious type of
drug offense.”
Nor does the distinction between simple possession and
using or being under the influence of drugs make sense under
these circumstances. Congress criminalized the possession of
drugs, at least in part, because it did not want people to use
drugs. Thus, given the underlying purpose of the FFOA, the
FFOA’s rehabilitative scheme logically applies to protect first
time drug users, along with first time drug possessors,
“against the harsh consequences that follow from a drug con-
viction.” Lujan-Armendariz, 222 F.3d at 737.
By way of analogy, we have previously held that 8 U.S.C.
§ 1227(a)(2)(B)(i)—an exception to the automatic removabil-
ity of aliens convicted of “a single offense involving posses-
sion for one’s own use of 30 grams or less of marijuana”—
implicitly applies to both possession and actual use of mari-
juana. See Medina, 393 F.3d at 1066. This “ ‘makes absolute
logical sense’ ” because “use of drugs ‘has generally been
considered a less serious crime than possession.’ ” Id. (quot-
ing Flores-Arrellano v. INS, 5 F.3d 360, 363, n.5 (9th Cir.
1993)). Here, as in Medina, “[i]t defies reason to conclude
that Congress wanted to protect a person who possessed
[methamphetamine] in small amounts for his own use, but
then wanted to remove him from the country if he did so use
it.” Id. Thus, distinguishing between possession of drugs and
their use, allowing only the former to qualify for FFOA treat-
ment, frustrates congressional intent and leads to absurd
results.
Moreover, had Nunez-Reyes been prosecuted by the federal
government rather than by the State of California, he would
have been charged only with simple possession of metham-
phetamine because, as mentioned previously, there is no fed-
9518 NUNEZ-REYES v. HOLDER
eral criminal statute prohibiting using or being under the
influence of a controlled substance. See 21 U.S.C. §§ 841-
865. As we noted in Rice, “[a]s with possession of drug para-
phernalia, ‘Congress would never have considered including’
under the FFOA the offense of using or being under the influ-
ence of a controlled substance, because no federal statute cov-
ers that crime.” Rice, 597 F.3d at 956 (quoting Cardenas-
Uriarte, 227 F.3d at 1137, and citing 21 U.S.C. §§ 841-865);
see also Ramirez-Altamirano, 563 F.3d at 808. In fact, federal
law imposes only a civil penalty for possession of a controlled
substance in “an amount that, as specified by regulation of the
Attorney General, is a personal use amount . . . .” 21 U.S.C.
§ 844a. Thus, Nunez-Reyes would have qualified for FFOA
treatment had he been fortunate enough to have been caught
by federal agents rather than by state officers.
To support its position, the majority claims that in
Cardenas-Uriarte, 227 F.3d at 1137, and Ramirez-
Altamirano, 563 F.3d at 808-09, “it was clear that the convic-
tion was for a ‘lesser offense’ because the alien was convicted
of a single crime that carried a lesser penalty than the crime
of simple possession.” Maj. Op. at 9494-95. Contrary to this
reasoning, however, neither case relies on the number of con-
victions or on the fact of “possession.” In Cardenas-Uriarte,
possession of drug paraphernalia under Arizona law was con-
sidered a “lesser offense” not because it was the only offense
the petitioner had pleaded to, but because “it would be a mis-
demeanor once probation was successfully completed while
possession of the drugs would have been a felony.” 227 F.3d
at 1137. In Ramirez-Altamirano, the possession of drug para-
phernalia offense under California law was considered a
“lesser offense” because “it would be absurd to deny [FFOA]
relief to individuals who possess the utensils incidental to
drug ingestion but grant relief to those who possess the actual
illicit drugs,” not because the petitioner pleaded guilty to only
the misdemeanor paraphernalia possession charge. 563 F.3d
at 809. Thus, in neither case was the number of offenses or
NUNEZ-REYES v. HOLDER 9519
the fact of “possession” dispositive. The majority’s conclu-
sion, therefore, remains unsupported.
***
It is difficult to square the majority’s prospective-only
application of the new rule it sets out today with the denial of
Nunez-Reyes’s petition for review. As the majority recog-
nizes, a substantial number of aliens acted in reliance on
Lujan-Armendariz when they pleaded guilty to drug crimes
under state law. Maj. Op. at 9490-91. Relying on equitable
considerations, the majority concludes that we must protect
the reliance interests of those state offenders who may have
forgone their constitutional rights under the reasonable belief
that they would not face harsh immigration consequences for
pleading guilty and undergoing rehabilitative drug treatment.
Maj. Op. at 9492-94. The majority recognizes that Lujan-
Armendariz applies to the petitioner, Nunez-Reyes, but still
denies his petition for review. The majority fails, however, to
distinguish Lujan-Armendariz and its progeny from Nunez-
Reyes’s case. Nor can the majority adequately explain why
Rice was wrongly decided. Therefore, under Lujan-
Armendariz, Cardenas-Uriarte, Ramirez-Altamirano, and
Rice, I would grant Nunez-Reyes’s petition for review.
B.
The majority’s review of the BIA’s opinion flawed. Addi-
tionally, it remains unclear why the majority opinion even
reaches the issue of Lujan-Armendariz’s viability. The BIA,
in Nunez-Reyes’s case, distinguished Lujan-Armendariz to
the majority’s satisfaction, but, puzzlingly, the opinion
devotes the bulk of its efforts to overruling Lujan-
Armendariz. Because we must limit our review to grounds
actually discussed by the BIA, this ruling is out of bounds and
entirely improper. Pascua v. Holder, ___ F.3d ___, 2011 WL
1024434, at *1 (9th Cir. Mar. 23, 2011).
9520 NUNEZ-REYES v. HOLDER
Moreover, the majority overrules Lujan-Armendariz on
constitutional grounds without addressing the independent
statutory justification, on which Lujan-Armendariz expressly
relied, for excluding state-expunged dispositions from the def-
inition of “conviction.” 222 F.3d at 739-43, 745-46. Prudence
counsels that we exert more effort before abandoning such
long-established, eleven-year-old precedent.
1.
In Lujan-Armendariz, based in part on an equal protection
analysis, we held that “persons whose offenses would qualify
for treatment under the [FFOA] but who are convicted and
have their convictions expunged under state laws may not be
removed on account of those offenses.” 222 F.3d at 732. In
so holding, Lujan-Armendariz faithfully adhered to congres-
sional intent underlying the FFOA in “permit[ting] first-time
drug offenders who commit the least serious type of drug
offense to avoid the drastic consequences which typically fol-
low a finding of guilt in drug cases.” Id. at 735.
Given the FFOA’s directive that dispositions eligible for
FFOA relief “shall not be considered a conviction for the pur-
pose of a disqualification or a disability imposed by law upon
conviction of a crime, or for any other purpose,” 18 U.S.C.
§ 3607(b) (emphases added), we must give meaning to the
statute within the immigration context. As both the majority
and the Supreme Court recognize, “deportation is an integral
part—indeed, sometimes the most important part—of the pen-
alty that may be imposed on noncitizen defendants who plead
guilty to specified crimes.” Maj. Op. at 9491 (citing Padilla
v. Kentucky, 130 S. Ct. 1473, 1480 (2010)). And there can be
little doubt that the “particularly severe ‘penalty’ ” of
removal, id. at 1481, is one of the most “drastic conse-
quences” that results from a drug conviction. To fully effectu-
ate Congress’s intent to insulate first-time drug offenders who
complete expungement programs from the extremely harsh
consequences that would otherwise result from their actions,
NUNEZ-REYES v. HOLDER 9521
FFOA relief must apply not only to eligible aliens convicted
of federal offenses, but also to those convicted of state
offenses. Otherwise, the FFOA loses much of its efficacy
because the relief it offers can be circumvented via the state
criminal justice system.
2.
Keeping these principles in mind, even if the equal protec-
tion analysis set forth in Lujan-Armendariz is abandoned, it
does not follow that state-expunged first-time drug offense
convictions are ineligible for FFOA treatment. In Lujan-
Armendariz, we did not consider what effect the 1996 amend-
ment to the term “conviction,” promulgated in 8 U.S.C.
§ 1101(a)(48)(A), had on state expungements specifically.
Instead, we held that the 1996 amendment did not repeal the
FFOA and we then simply extended this conclusion to state
expungements on the basis of equal protection. 222 F.3d at
742-43. Put another way, Lujan-Armendariz’s equal protec-
tion rationale had necessary force only absent an answer to
the question of “what effect the new definition [of conviction]
has on state expungements under state rehabilitation laws in
general.” 222 F.3d at 742. Assuming that Lujan-Armendariz’s
equal protection analysis no longer stands, we must now
engage in this statutory analysis.
Congress’s 1996 amendment to the term “conviction” sug-
gests that it had no intention of altering the BIA’s decisions
to include state- and federally-expunged convictions from that
term. The majority, in leaping to the conclusion that equal
protection is not violated because Congress could have made
a decision to treat similarly-situated aliens differently under
rational basis review, declines to engage in any analysis,
through statutory interpretation or otherwise, of whether Con-
gress actually intended to do so. The majority simply assumes
that “Congress intended that convictions for state-law simple
possession have adverse immigration consequences,” Maj.
Op. at 9493, but fails to explain from where it divines such
9522 NUNEZ-REYES v. HOLDER
congressional intent. We should not prematurely review Con-
gress’s purported distinction between state and federal
expungement under a cursory form of rational basis review
without first looking at the relevant statutes to determine
whether Congress actually intended for such a distinction to
exist.
In 1996, Congress addressed the meaning of the term “con-
viction” by enacting the following definition:
The term “conviction” means, with respect to an
alien, a formal judgment of guilt of the alien entered
by a court or, if adjudication of guilt has been with-
held, where—
(I) a judge or jury has found the alien guilty or the
alien has entered a plea of guilty or nolo contendere
or has admitted sufficient facts to warrant a finding
of guilt, and
(ii) the judge has ordered some form of punishment,
penalty, or restraint on the alien’s liberty to be
imposed.
8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(48)(A).
The legislative history behind the 1996 amendment to the
definition of “conviction” fully supports the conclusion that
state-expunged first-time drug possession offenses are not
“convictions” under § 1101(a)(48)(A) of the INA. 222 F.3d at
739-43. In enacting 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(48)(A), Congress
adopted most of the BIA’s definition of “conviction,” as it
was laid out in Matter of Ozkok, 19 I. & N. Dec. 546, 551-52
(BIA 1988). Notably, the amended definition makes no men-
tion of “the rule, cited with approval by the BIA in Ozkok,
that expunged convictions cannot serve as the basis for depor-
tation.” Lujan-Armendariz, 222 F.3d at 742 n.23. Moreover,
Congress promulgated its new definition of “conviction” just
NUNEZ-REYES v. HOLDER 9523
after the BIA reaffirmed its rule that immigration conse-
quences do not attach to state-expunged first-time drug pos-
session offenses, and that they would be treated the same as
federal convictions expunged under the FFOA. See Matter of
Manrique, 21 I. & N. Dec. 58, 64 (BIA 1995). As amicus
points out, when Congress adopts an agency interpretation,
Congress intends the agency construction to be incorporated
into the statute. See Davis v. Mich. Dep’t of Treasury, 489
U.S. 804, 813 (1989) (When Congress “codifies a judicially
defined concept, . . . absent an express statement to the con-
trary, . . . Congress intended to adopt the interpretation placed
on that concept by the courts.”); Lorillard v. Pons, 434 U.S.
575, 581 (1977) (the presumption that Congress acted with
knowledge is particularly appropriate where Congress “exhib-
ited both a detailed knowledge of the [incorporated] provi-
sions and their judicial interpretation and a willingness to
depart from those provisions regarded as undesirable or inap-
propriate for incorporation.”); Hing Sum v. Holder, 602 F.3d
1092, 1099-1101 (9th Cir. 2010) (Where Congress uses terms
that have settled meanings in BIA case law, “Congress means
to incorporate the established meaning of these terms.”).
We have previously acknowledged that the 1996 amend-
ment to the definition of “conviction” in § 1101(a)(48)(A)
“said nothing about expungement, and could well be inter-
preted to establish only when a conviction occurred without
determining what might be the effect of a later expungement.”
Murillo-Espinoza v. INS, 261 F.3d 771, 774 (9th Cir. 2001)
(citing to Lujan-Armendariz, 222 F.3d at 741-42). And, nota-
bly, consistent with every other circuit, the majority does not
overrule Lujan-Armendariz’s holding that the 1996 amend-
ment to the definition of “conviction” in § 1101(a)(48)(A) of
the INA did not expressly or impliedly repeal the FFOA. Its
holding thereby leaves intact the FFOA’s exception for
expunged first-time controlled substance offenses from the
definition of “conviction.” See Lujan-Armendariz, 222 F.3d at
737.
9524 NUNEZ-REYES v. HOLDER
Thus, in enacting the 1996 amendment, “it appears that
Congress was concerned primarily . . . with the question
whether aliens could be deported during the period that fol-
lowed a determination of guilt but preceded the expungement
of the offense,” but had no intention of altering the longstand-
ing rule that convictions that are subsequently expunged
under either federal or state law “no longer have any effect for
immigration” purposes. Id. at 742 n.23. Congress’s decision
to enact essentially verbatim the majority of Ozkok’s defini-
tion of conviction, while excluding only one part of that defi-
nition that has no bearing here, makes it particularly
appropriate to read § 1101(a)(48)(A) as incorporating the
agency’s treatment of expunged convictions. Evidently, Con-
gress approved the rule established by the BIA in Manrique
and recognized in Ozkok.
An analysis of the relevant statutes and their history reveals
an independent justification for excluding first-time minor
drug offenses expunged under state law from the definition of
“conviction” in § 1101(a)(48)(A). Congress evidently
approved of the long-standing principle that state-expunged
first-time simple possession convictions do not carry adverse
immigration consequences and, in enacting the 1996 amend-
ment, had no intention of disturbing it.
3.
In failing to reach this statutory question and instead rely-
ing only on its equal protection analysis, the majority implic-
itly defers to the BIA’s post-1996 interpretation of
“conviction,” which followed the promulgation of
§ 1101(a)(48)(A) of the INA. See, e.g., Murillo-Espinoza, 261
F.3d at 774 (according Chevron deference to the BIA’s “per-
missible construction of the [INA] statute”).
After the 1996 amendments to § 1101(a)(48)(A), the BIA
reversed its previous course and held that the 1996 definition
of “conviction” includes convictions expunged under state
NUNEZ-REYES v. HOLDER 9525
rehabilitative statutes. In re Salazar-Regino, 23 I. & N. Dec.
223, 235 (BIA 2002) (en banc). Pursuant to this interpretation,
the BIA, since 2002, has refused to follow in other circuits
our circuit’s application of FFOA treatment to first-time drug
offenses expunged under state law. Id. at 235 (stating that the
BIA “decline[s] to apply the ruling in [Lujan-Armendariz] to
cases arising outside of the jurisdiction of the Ninth Circuit”).
In so doing, the BIA has implicitly rejected the statutory ratio-
nale for treating state and federal expungements equally, and
has instead relied only on the equal protection holding of
Lujan-Armendariz on appeals within this circuit.
We need not, however, defer to the BIA’s interpretation of
the term “conviction” as it is used in § 1101(a)(48)(A). Defer-
ence to the BIA’s interpretation of a “statute which it adminis-
ters” is proper under Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural
Resources Defense Council, Inc., 467 U.S. 837, 842 (1984).
Deference to the BIA’s interpretation of the definition of
“conviction” as used in § 1101(a)(48)(A), however, is entirely
inappropriate, because that term is used not only for purposes
of immigration law, but also in the criminal law context. Spe-
cifically, § 1101(a)(48)(A)’s definition of conviction controls
the meaning of the term in the federal illegal reentry statute,
8 U.S.C. § 1326, and is correspondingly referenced in the
United States Sentencing Guidelines. Because “a criminal
statute[ ] is not administered by any agency but by the
courts,” its interpretation is our independent responsibility.
Crandon v. United States, 494 U.S. 152, 177 (1990); see also
de Jesus Melendez v. Gonzales, 503 F.3d 1019, 1023 (9th Cir.
2007) (stating that no deference is owed to the BIA’s interpre-
tation of statutes it does not administer, including the FFOA).
The Supreme Court has decided many cases concerning the
term “aggravated felony”—which, like “conviction,” is
defined in § 1011(a) and used in § 1326—without deferring to
the BIA and without applying the Chevron framework. See,
e.g., Carachuri-Rosendo v. Holder, 560 U.S. __, 130 S. Ct.
2577 (2010); Nijhawan v. Holder, 129 S. Ct. 2294 (2009);
9526 NUNEZ-REYES v. HOLDER
Lopez v. Gonzales, 549 U.S. 47 (2006); Leocal v. Ashcroft,
543 U.S. 1 (2004). Similarly, here, we must conduct our own
interpretation of the statute and need not defer to the BIA’s
interpretation of “conviction.” Because construction of this
term has consequences for the administration of criminal law,
it is the independent duty of the judiciary, and not the BIA,
to assign to the term a meaning.
Relatedly, even if, in discharging our duty, we were to find
that § 1101(a)(48)(A) is ambiguous, its application in the
criminal law context requires us to “resolve the ambiguity
favorably to the alien, pursuant to the principle of lenity appli-
cable with respect to the gravity of removal.” Retuta v.
Holder, 591 F.3d 1181, 1189 (9th Cir. 2010) (citing INS v.
Cardoza-Fonseca, 480 U.S. 421, 449 (1987), and Lara-
Cazares v. Gonzales, 408 F.3d 1217, 1221 (9th Cir. 2005)).
The majority entirely fails to consider how its holding will
apply to criminal laws.
C.
As the previous analysis reveals, an independent statutory
justification can rescue the state-expungements holding of
Lujan-Armendariz and its progeny. Nonetheless, that decision
was properly decided on the basis of its equal protection anal-
ysis. I reject the majority’s equal protection analysis in this
case, by which it overrules Lujan-Armendariz.
The rule we articulated in Lujan-Armendariz derives from
our holding in Garberding v. INS, 30 F.3d 1187, 1191 (9th
Cir. 1994). Under Garberding, “persons who received the
benefit of a state expungement law were not subject to depor-
tation as long as they could have received the benefit of the
[FFOA] if they had been prosecuted under federal law.”
Lujan-Armendariz, 222 F.3d at 738. Garberding’s equal pro-
tection analysis focused on whether similarly-situated aliens
could be treated differently based on their conduct. Id. “Gar-
berding . . . establishes that aliens may not be treated differ-
NUNEZ-REYES v. HOLDER 9527
ently based on the ‘mere fortuity’ that they happen to have
been prosecuted under state rather than federal law, or under
different state laws, as there is no rational basis for distin-
guishing among the affected groups.” Id. at 748. Lujan-
Armendariz simply adopted and applied that same principle
after finding that Congress’s new definition of “conviction”
had not repealed the FFOA’s first-time offense exception. Id.
at 742. We applied equal protection because “no rational basis
exists for affording [FFOA] relief to an alien under federal
expungement law while denying relief to identically situated
aliens who qualify for similar treatment under state expunge-
ment laws.” Id. at 743 n.24.
1.
The majority offers two purportedly rational bases for not
extending FFOA treatment to aliens whose convictions have
been expunged under state law. First, the majority adopts the
rationale offered by the Third Circuit in Acosta v. Ashcroft,
341 F.3d 218, 227 (3d Cir. 2003), that
Congress may have been unfamiliar with the opera-
tion of state schemes that resemble the FFOA. Con-
gress could have worried that state criminal justice
systems, under the pressure created by heavy case
loads, might permit dangerous offenders to plead
down to simple possession charges and take advan-
tage of those state schemes to escape what is consid-
ered a conviction under state law.
This rationale, however, is belied by the fact that the FFOA
requires that the offender “has not, prior to the commission of
[a simple possession] offense, been convicted of violating a
Federal or State law relating to controlled substances.” 18
U.S.C. § 3607(a)(1). If Congress was worried that state crimi-
nal justice schemes, overwhelmed by heavy caseloads, might
allow dangerous offenders to plead down, they presumably
also recognized that offenders could simply plead to some-
9528 NUNEZ-REYES v. HOLDER
thing other than a violation of a controlled substances law and
thereby achieve the same result.
Moreover, the Supreme Court has recently held, in the con-
text of determining what constitutes an “aggravated felony,”
that the immigration consequences of state convictions must
be applied as if the offense had been prosecuted in federal
court. See Lopez v. Gonzales, 549 U.S. at 47; Carachuri-
Rosendo, 130 S. Ct. at 2577. If Congress is willing to
acknowledge that state convictions have force in the federal
immigration context, it seems wholly inconsistent to assume
that Congress intended to treat state expungements differ-
ently.
2.
The second purportedly rational basis offered by the major-
ity is slightly more plausible. Because not all states have
expungement schemes, the majority offers, “Congress reason-
ably could have concluded that, in the strong interest in uni-
formity, it would not recognize any state expungements rather
than adopt a piecemeal approach.” Maj. Op. at 9486 (citing
Nunez-Reyes, 602 F.3d at 1107 (Graber, J., concurring)).
This rationale, however, is also flawed. First, under the
majority’s reasoning, Congress’s hypothetical interest in uni-
formity cuts both ways. The majority opinion assumes that
Congress’s interest in uniformity in the immigration context
requires leveling down to the lowest common denominator
and excluding all state-expunged convictions from FFOA
treatment. But the FFOA ensures its own uniformity by pro-
viding that all offenses expunged under the Act will not be
regarded as convictions “for any . . . purpose.” 18 U.S.C.
§ 3607(b). There is no reason to believe that Congress’s inter-
est in uniformity among the states is more important than
Congress’s interest in uniformity in the treatment of first-time
drug offenders whose convictions have been expunged.
NUNEZ-REYES v. HOLDER 9529
Notably, aliens whose state convictions have been
expunged are not similarly situated to those whose states have
no expungement schemes in place. Aliens whose convictions
were expunged under state expungement schemes have under-
gone court-mandated rehabilitation. The FFOA was passed to
ensure that those first-time offenders who undergo rehabilita-
tive measures and ultimately get their charges dismissed or
their convictions expunged are afforded a second chance. The
only aliens who meet this criteria are those in states with
expungement schemes. Unlike the disparity created by the
majority, then, distinguishing between aliens in states with
expungement schemes and those in states that do not have
expungement schemes survives rational basis review and
undermines neither Congress’s intent under the FFOA, nor
states’ rehabilitative schemes.
Second, I note that any alien, from any state, may have his
first-time federal drug offense expunged under the FFOA and
that offense can no longer be considered as a basis for
removal. It is not the case, therefore, that affording state
expungements FFOA treatment would render aliens from
states without state expungement schemes entirely ineligible
for FFOA treatment, while those from states with expunge-
ment schemes would qualify for such treatment. Any and all
may receive such treatment for federal convictions expunged
under the FFOA. To the contrary, then, FFOA treatment of
state expungements ensures that aliens from states that offer
alternatives to federal expungement programs are not severely
punished merely because they were presented with and took
such an alternative.
3.
There is simply no principled reason why Congress should
treat offenses subject to state expungement differently from
identical or lesser offenses that would have been eligible for
FFOA treatment had they been prosecuted as federal crimes.
Equal protection considerations prohibit unequal treatment of
9530 NUNEZ-REYES v. HOLDER
similarly-situated individuals. See Garberding, 30 F.3d at
1190. Aliens who have committed identical offenses and have
their convictions expunged, whether directly through the
FFOA or as a result of a state rehabilitation scheme, are simi-
larly situated. Under Lujan-Armendariz, the question has
always been whether the expunged offense would have been
covered under the FFOA if charged as a federal crime. 222
F.3d at 738 n.18. And we have been consistent in asking and
answering that question. See Ramirez-Altamirano, 563 F.3d at
810. To do otherwise would be to allow non-citizens’ due
process rights to hinge on jurisdictional happenstance. As we
stated in Lujan-Armendariz, “there is no rational basis for a
federal statute that treats persons adjudged guilty of a drug
offense under state law more harshly than persons adjudged
guilty of the identical offense under federal law.” Id. at 749.
Lujan-Armendariz’s equal protection analysis was based in
part on the irrationality of treating aliens differently based on
the “mere fortuity” whether a federal prosecutor sends a drug
case to the state prosecutor or chooses to keep it, or vice
versa. 222 F.3d at 738 (citing Paredes-Urrestarazu v. INS, 36
F.3d 801, 811 (9th Cir. 1994)). Without the equal treatment
afforded under Lujan-Armendariz, this unfettered prosecu-
torial discretion may now be exercised to dispositively deter-
mine whether an individual’s first-time drug offense will yield
extremely harsh immigration consequences; that is, whether
any particular defendant will benefit from the FFOA. This
result is unsettling, to say the least.
Our precedent requires that we give extra deference to Con-
gress in the immigration context. Abebe v. Mukasey, 554 F.3d
1203, 1206 (9th Cir. 2009). But we cannot allow “rational
basis review” to serve as a rubber stamp to what a hypotheti-
cal Congress might have intended. “Justifications for overrul-
ing one of our court’s longstanding precedents should be
made of sterner stuff. . . . We must place some rational
bounds on what survives rational basis review if the constitu-
tional right of equal protection is to have any meaning what-
NUNEZ-REYES v. HOLDER 9531
soever outside the context of suspect classifications.” Id. at
1210 (9th Cir. 2009) (Clifton, J., concurring); see also id. at
1215 (Thomas, J., dissenting) (“[I]n order to be rational, the
reason must be consistent[.]”). Until now, employing the
rational basis test, we treated similarly-situated first-time drug
offenders equally. I see no reason to abandon that practice,
particularly when any rational basis now offered is no more
or less true today than it was eleven years ago when we
decided Lujan-Armendariz.
The majority offers what it believes to be some consolation
to non-citizen first-time drug offenders: from now on, “aliens
will be able to make a fully informed decision whether to
plead guilty or to exercise their constitutional rights, such as
the right to trial by jury.” Maj. Op. at 9492. But it will be of
little comfort to aliens charged with first-time possession
offenses that their decision to plead or go to trial will be ren-
dered with full awareness of the immigration consequences of
such a conviction. Non-citizens will no longer be able to
avoid the most drastic consequence of all—removal—by
pleading guilty. This will further undermine state rehabilita-
tive schemes because it will remove a tremendous incentive
for first-time drug offenders to plead guilty. As amicus point
out, this change in the cost-benefit analysis directly eviscer-
ates the effectiveness of states’ rehabilitative statutes that, like
the FFOA, aim to remove the legal consequences of a minor,
first-time drug offense for those offenders who successfully
complete their probationary requirements and undergo drug
treatment.
Finally, the notion that state expungement programs should
be given different or less significant treatment than their fed-
eral counterparts is directly at odds with the principle of
“comity” and respect for state court proceedings and pro-
cesses that federal courts have embraced in other areas. See,
e.g., Harrington v. Richter, 131 S. Ct. 770, 784-86 (2011)
(state court proceedings are the “central process” through
which federal habeas claims should be adjudicated, and fed-
9532 NUNEZ-REYES v. HOLDER
eral court may not impose requirements that “undercut state
practices designed to preserve the integrity of the case-law
tradition”). It is lamentable that, while federal courts apply
extreme deference to state laws and procedures in contexts
where they might serve to frustrate the vindication of consti-
tutional or federally-protected rights, we refuse to recognize
state programs in the context where they might serve to trig-
ger the FFOA in a manner completely consistent with con-
gressional intent. See Beard v. Kindler, 130 S. Ct. 612, 618-19
(2009) (“In light of . . . federalism and comity concerns . . .
it would seem particularly strange to disregard state . . . rules
that are substantially similar to those to which we give full
force in our own courts.”). Though some of our sister circuits
may ascribe to Congress little faith in state court rehabilitative
schemes, we should not feel so bound. Cf. Acosta, 341 F.3d
at 227.
D.
There is one thing on which we all can agree: “Reliance on
the clear, binding precedent of Lujan-Armendariz strikes us as
entirely reasonable and prudent, particularly in light of Con-
gress’s inaction, the Supreme Court’s steady denial of certio-
rari in cases raising this issue, and our own consistent
application (and, arguably, expansion) of the precedent in a
series of cases spanning more than a decade.” Maj. Op. at
9492 n.6. To this list of reasons we can add one more: the
holding in Lujan-Armendariz itself is entirely reasonable and
prudent. Moreover, there is no compelling reason why we
should overrule Lujan-Armendariz without first engaging in a
thorough statutory analysis. Such an analysis reveals that
Congress never intended to exclude state-expunged first-time
drug possession dispositions from the definition of “convic-
tion” in § 1101(a)(48)(A) of the INA.
For all of the foregoing reasons, I would grant Nunez-
Reyes’s petition for review and hold that his two misdemea-
nor convictions are eligible for FFOA treatment. While the
NUNEZ-REYES v. HOLDER 9533
rational basis test sets a low bar, there is simply no indication
that Congress intended to deny FFOA treatment to aliens with
state-expunged first-time minor drug offenses who have suc-
cessfully undergone a state-approved program that resulted in
their rehabilitation. In fact, the majority’s opinion serves to
undermine Congress’s evidenced intent. Unless and until we
are willing to engage in a thorough analysis of the definition
of “conviction” under the INA, we should adhere to the prin-
ciple of stare decisis and demonstrate restraint. This is partic-
ularly true where, as here, reexamining and casting aside our
precedent is unnecessary to deciding the case before us.
Because the majority ultimately reaches further than it needs
to, without digging deeper than it ought to, I dissent.