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Is the 'Encourage or Induce' Statute Unconstitutional?

September 19, 2017 (1 min read)

Sept. 19, 2017: In a pending appeal of a federal criminal prosecution, USA v. Sineneng-Smith, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit asked amici to brief the following questions regarding 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1)(A)(iv)" - 

1. Whether the statute of conviction is overbroad or likely overbroad under the First Amendment, and if so, whether any permissible limiting construction would cure the First Amendment problem?

2. Whether the statute of conviction is void for vagueness or likely void for vagueness, either under the First Amendment or the Fifth Amendment, and if so, whether any permissible limiting construction would cure the constitutional vagueness problem?

3. Whether the statute of conviction contains an implicit mens rea element which the Court should enunciate. If so: (a) what should that mens rea element be; and (b) would such a mens rea element cure any serious constitutional problems the Court might determine existed?