United States Fourth Circuit

The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996's (IIRIRA) repeal of discretionary relief for aggravated felons who have been ordered deported, is not impermissibly retroactive as applied to an alien convicted of an aggravated felony prior to enactment of the IIRIRA.

Appellate Information

• Argued 06/03/2002
• Decided 10/15/2002
• Published 10/15/2002

Judges

• Before WIDENER and TRAXLER, Circuit Judges, and JOSEPH R. GOODWIN, United States District Judge for the Southern District of West Virginia, sitting by designation.

Court

• United States Fourth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellees:
  
• ARGUED:  Christopher J. Meade, Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering, New York, New York, for Petitioner-Appellant.  Papu Sandhu, Office of Immigration Litigation, Civil Division, United States Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., for Respondents-Appellees.   ON BRIEF:  Paul A. Engelmayer, Katherine R. Goldstein, Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering, New York, New York;  Shanta Ramson, Ramson & Associates, L.L.C., Burtonsville, Maryland;  Lee Gelernt, Lucas Guttentag, Immigrants' Rights Project, American Civil Liberties Union Foundation, New York, New York, for Petitioner-Appellant.  David W. Ogden, Acting Assistant Attorney General, Emily Anne Radford, Assistant Director, Office of Immigration Litigation, Civil Division, United States Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., for Respondents-Appellees.  Lenni B. Benson, New York Law School, New York, New York, for Amici Curiae.