March 12, 2021 at 1:20 PM
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There is a concept in immigration law called a “crime involving moral turpitude.” In certain situations, this is the legal standard for whether somebody can be deported, regardless of whether they have a green card or would otherwise be eligible for relief from deportation. Given the stakes, you’d think that somebody would have come up with a clear standard for what exactly a “crime involving moral turpitude” is, but you would be wrong. The 9th Circuit refused to void it for vagueness back in 1957, and ever since then, courts have applied it using a SCOTUS-blessed test called the categorical approach that requires them to look carefully at the facts.