United States v. Ayala-Bello, No. 19-50366 (9th Cir. 2021)
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After defendants were charged with attempting to enter the United States illegally, the government prosecuted them on the normal criminal docket. Defendants moved to dismiss the charges, arguing that the government should have prosecuted them through the Central Violations Bureau (CVB) process, but the district court denied the motion.
The Ninth Circuit held that the government did not violate defendants' right to equal protection by prosecuting illegal border crossings on the normal criminal docket. The panel explained that the policy does not discriminate against a protected class or infringe a fundamental right. Instead, it distinguishes between defendants based on their criminal conduct—in this case, illegally entering the United States. And since criminal defendants are not a protected class, at most the rational basis test applies. Applying the rational basis test, the panel concluded that the government's decision to prosecute first-time illegal entry separately from other petty offenses passes constitutional muster. In this case, defendants have not carried their burden to negate "every conceivable basis" which might support the government’s decision to prosecute them on the normal criminal docket. Therefore, the government's policy is supported by a rational basis and does not violate equal protection.
Court Description: Criminal Law. The panel affirmed two defendants’ convictions, following a bench trial, for attempting to enter the United States illegally in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1325(a)(1). The defendants argued that the government violated their right to equal protection by prosecuting them for first-time illegal entry, a petty offense, on the normal criminal docket rather than through the federal courts’ Central Violations Bureau (CVB) process under which defendants charged with petty offenses generally receive lighter punishment. The panel held that the government does not violate equal protection by prosecuting illegal border crossings on the normal criminal docket. The panel held that the policy here does not discriminate against a protected class or infringe a fundamental right. The * The Honorable Amul R. Thapar, United States Circuit Judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, sitting by designation. UNITED STATES V. AYALA-BELLO 3 panel wrote that the defendants give no evidence to refute the government’s position that it makes docketing assignments based solely on the charged offense, which is not impermissible discrimination. And even if the defendants had shown that the government makes docketing assignments based on the defendant’s citizenship status, at most the rational basis test would apply because federal classifications based on alienage receive rational basis review. Applying the rational basis test, the panel concluded that the government’s decision to prosecute first-time illegal entry separately from other petty offenses passes constitutional muster. The panel saw at least two rational bases: that the government has a legitimate interest in controlling our borders, and that the government has a legitimate interest in managing its prosecutorial resources. The panel concluded that the defendants did not carry their burden to negate every conceivable basis which might support the government’s decision to prosecute them on the normal criminal docket. Concurring in the judgment, Judge Watford agreed that the government did not violate the defendants’ equal protection rights by prosecuting them for illegal entry on the regular criminal docket rather than through the CVB process, but in his view, the government’s actions are justified solely because of the particular characteristics of the class of offenders at issue and the particular features of these two different criminal processes. He agreed that rational basis review applies here, but disagreed with the majority’s suggestion that the government may treat citizens and non- citizens differently merely because they have been charged with different offenses. He also questioned the majority’s position that, unlike state laws, all federal laws that classify 4 UNITED STATES V. AYALA-BELLO on the basis of alienage are exempt from heightened scrutiny.
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