Ledezma-Cosino v. Lynch, No. 12-73289 (9th Cir. 2016)
Annotate this CasePetitioner, a citizen of Mexico, appealed the BIA's determination that he was not eligible for cancellation of removal or voluntary departure because he lacked good moral character pursuant to 8 U.S.C. 1101(f)(1), as a "habitual drunkard." Petitioner is a chronic alcoholic and has a ten-year history of alcohol abuse. The court held that, under the Equal Protection Clause, a person’s medical disability lacks any rational relation to his classification as a person with bad moral character, and that section 1101(f)(1) is therefore unconstitutional. The court granted the petition for review, vacated the BIA’s decision, and remanded for further proceedings.
Court Description: Immigration. The panel granted Salomon Ledezma-Cosino’s petition for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ decision finding him ineligible for cancellation of removal or voluntary departure because he lacked good moral character as a “habitual drunkard” under 8 U.S.C. § 1101(f)(1). The panel held that Ledezma-Cosino is barred from raising a due process claim, but he could bring an equal protection challenge because it does not require a liberty interest. The panel held that § 1101(f)(1) is unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause because there is no rational basis to classify people afflicted by chronic alcoholism as innately lacking good moral character. The panel remanded for further proceedings in light of the opinion. Dissenting, Judge Clifton wrote that the opinion disregards the legal standard to be applied, and that § 1101(f)(1) should easily clear the very low bar of the rational basis test. Judge Clifton would find that the majority opinion includes several false legal premises, and it relies upon the false factual dichotomy that diagnosis of chronic alcoholism as “medical” means there can be no element of drunkenness subject to free will or susceptible to a moral evaluation. LEDEZMA-COSINO V. LYNCH 3
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