Commonwealth v. Abraham’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

16 state decisions

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 16 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “In holding counsel’s failure to properly advise on deportation deprived Padilla of his Sixth Amendment right to effective counsel, the Court noted changes to immigration law over the past century “have dramatically raised the stakes of a noncitizen’s criminal conviction. The importance of accurate legal advice for non-citizens accused of crimes has never been more important.” The Court observed the Kentucky Supreme Court was not alone in its view that deportation was a collateral consequence, but stated, “We, however, have never applied a distinction between direct and collateral consequences to define the scope of constitutionally ‘reasonable professional assistance’ required under [ Strickland, supra ]. Whether that distinction is appropriate is a question we need not consider in this case because of the unique nature of deportation.” Thus, the Court declined to rule on the specific question before us: whether the direct versus collateral consequences analysis is appropriate in assessing a claim of ineffectiveness in connection with entry of a plea. Instead, the starting point for the Court’s analysis was that deportation was a unique consequence which did not lend itself to such an analysis. The Court, in examining the nature of deportation, observed: We have long recognized that deportation is a particularly severe “penalty”; but it is not, in a strict sense, a criminal sanction. Although removal proceedings are civil in nature, deportation is nevertheless intimately rela”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the dissent
   e.g. 2013 Pa. Super. 206 - Commonwealth v. Barndt

2. “deportation is nevertheless intimately related to the criminal process. Our law has enmeshed criminal convictions and the penalty of deportation for nearly a century.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the dissent
   e.g. State v. Stephen LeMere

3. “[W]e find it 'most difficult' to divorce the penalty from the conviction in the deportation context.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the dissent
   e.g. State v. Stephen LeMere