544 F.

2d 71

Shaheen REHMAN, Petitioner,

v.
IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION SERVICE,
Respondent.
No. 153, Docket 76-4022.

United States Court of Appeals,

Second Circuit.
Argued Sept. 16, 1976.
Decided Oct. 14, 1976.

Vincent A. O'Neil, Syracuse, N. Y. (Costello, Cooney & Fearon,

Syracuse, N. Y., on the brief), for petitioner.
Mary P. Maguire, Sp. Asst. U. S. Atty. (Robert B. Fiske, Jr., U. S. Atty.,
Southern District of New York, and Thomas H. Belote, Sp. Asst. U. S.
Atty., New York City, on the brief), for respondent.
Before LUMBARD, MANSFIELD and MULLIGAN, Circuit Judges.
LUMBARD, Circuit Judge:

Pursuant to 8 U.S.C. 1105a, Shaheen Rehman petitions for review of an order

of deportation entered November 17, 1975 by the Board of Immigration
Appeals. Rehman was found deportable under 8 U.S.C. 1251(a)(11) by virtue
of his conviction in a New York court for illegal possession of marijuana.
Before us, as before the Board, he argues that because his marijuana conviction
was accompanied by a certificate of relief from disabilities, he has not been
"convicted" within the meaning of 1251(a)(11). We agree.

Rehman, a native and citizen of Pakistan, last entered the United States on
January 17, 1974 as a nonimmigrant student authorized to remain until May 31,
1975. At the airport, however, he was found to be in possession of hashish; and
on March 29, 1974 before Judge Roth of the New York City Criminal Court in
Queens County, he pleaded guilty to criminal possession of a controlled
substance in the seventh degree, N.Y. Penal Law 220.23 (McKinney

Supp.1975). Seventh degree possession is simple knowing possession and is

New York's lowest grade drug offense. A 22-year old graduate student at
Syracuse University with good character references, Rehman was sentenced to
a conditional discharge for one year and fined one hundred dollars. At the same
time, the judge granted him a temporary "Certificate of Relief from
Disabilities" to become final on March 29, 1975.
3

In February 1975 the Immigration and Naturalization Service commenced

deportation proceedings. After a hearing on March 11, 1975, an Immigration
Judge found Rehman subject to mandatory deportation under 1251(a)(11) by
virtue of his conviction; and the Board dismissed Rehman's appeal.

Construction of a term in a federal immigration statute is an issue of federal

law. Accordingly, neither the name by which a state chooses to refer to a
particular disposition nor the deportation consequence that a state might wish to
assign is necessarily determinative of whether a defendant has been "convicted"
for purposes of 1251(a)(11). Rather, we must interpret this section in
accordance with Congressional intent. Of course, merely by turning to state
sanctions as a trigger for the deportation process, Congress brings into play to
some extent each state's own system of criminal justice.

Deportation here would be contrary to the purposes of New York law. New
York Correction Law 701 provides that a recipient of a certificate of relief
from disabilities shall not suffer "automatic forfeiture of any other right or
privilege" (emphasis supplied) by virtue of his conviction.1 It does not prevent
any judicial or administrative authority from relying on the conviction as a
basis for the exercise of a "discretionary power to suspend, revoke, (or) refuse
to issue . . . any license, permit or other authority or privilege" (emphasis
supplied). 2 By freeing the offender from automatic forfeitures while leaving
him subject to discretionary ones, 701 is designed to ensure that the
conviction will not trigger legal consequences from which there is no chance of
an appeal in which equities of the individual case can be considered.3
Deportation under 1251(a)(11) is of exactly this mandatory character. See, e.
g., Guan Chow Tok v. INS, 538 F.2d 36, 38 (2d Cir. 1976). Deportation also
renders 701's relief from other disabilities largely moot. Hence, it seems clear
to us that the New York legislature could not have intended that recipients of
701 certificates would remain subject to mandatory deportation.4

Of course, the state does not have full discretion as to the deportation
consequences to someone convicted of a state drug crime. If an alien has been
convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude, under 8 U.S.C. 1251(b) an
executive pardon or a judicial recommendation against deportability will protect

him from deportation. Section 1251(b) specifically provides, however, that

executive pardons and judicial recommendations against deportability will not
suffice to protect drug offenders. Thus, Congress has exhibited a strict attitude
regarding deportation of convicted drug criminals. See also Bronsztejn v. INS,
526 F.2d 1290 (2d Cir. 1975).
7

Nonetheless, if Rehman had been tried on federal charges rather than on New
York state charges, he would most likely not now be deportable, for two
independent reasons. First, under 21 U.S.C. 844 a first-offender guilty of
simple possession of drugs can in the discretion of the court be placed on
probation and never actually be convicted at all. Hence, he would have no
"conviction" for which to be deported. Second, under 18 U.S.C. 4209 a
"young adult offender" (under twenty-six years of age at the time of
conviction) can in the discretion of the court be sentenced under the Federal
Youth Corrections Act, 18 U.S.C. 5005-26, which in turn allows for
expungement of the conviction after satisfactory completion of probation, id.
5021. The INS recognizes such expungements for deportation purposes, Matter
of Singis, Interim Dec. 2270 (B.I.A.1974); see also Mestre Morera v. INS, 462
F.2d 1030 (1st Cir. 1972), and grants the same recognition to state juvenile
statutes, Matter of Andrade, Interim Dec. 2276 (B.I.A.1974).

If the word "conviction" is to be construed rigidly, Rehman must be deported

since his New York "conviction" still stands under New York law.5 We think,
however, that a less formalistic approach is appropriate6 and more consistent
with Congressional intent. So far as any automatic collateral consequences are
concerned, Rehman has not been "convicted" under New York law. There is no
sound reason why state policies should not be accorded the same respect as
federal leniency policies would receive under the same circumstances. Where
state judicial relief from disabilities is clearly intended to prevent mandatory
deportation, and full expungement of a federal conviction would have been
available in an analogous case, the offender should be held not to have been
"convicted" for purposes of 1251(a)(11).7 This is not an unduly burdensome
determination for the INS to have to make. It will result in a more uniform
substantive application of federal law; deportation will not be triggered by
minor differences and fortuitous technicalities in state laws.8

We realize that three other Circuits have ruled to the contrary. Kolios v. INS,
532 F.2d 786 (1st Cir. 1976) (2-1 decision), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 97 S.Ct.
234, 50 L.Ed.2d 165 (1976) (No. 1685); Gonzalez de Lara v. United States, 439
F.2d 1316 (5th Cir. 1971); Cruz-Martinez v. INS, 404 F.2d 1198 (9th Cir.
1968), cert. denied, 394 U.S. 955, 89 S.Ct. 1291, 22 L.Ed.2d 491 (1969). In
each of these cases the defendant was under twenty-six; i.e., he, like Rehman,

could have been eligible for expungement under the Federal Youth Corrections
Act. Also, Gonzalez de Lara involved possession of marijuana, a crime for
which probation without conviction could have been available under 21 U.S.C.
844 (enacted in 1970). Thus, these precedents do implicitly support the INS's
position in the instant case. Except in the Kolios opinion, however, no mention
was made of the available federal analogs to the state leniency statutes.
10

The reasoning of these other courts has been that "it would defeat the
purpose(s) . . . (of federal law) if provisions of local law, dealing with
rehabilitation of convicted persons, could remove them from the ambit of
(federal penal enactments)" (brackets in original). Gonzalez de Lara v. United
States, supra at 1318-19, quoting Cruz-Martinez v. INS, supra at 1199. Yet,
where mandatory deportation would frustrate the purposes of a state's relief
statute, and federal law provides for erasure of federal convictions under
circumstances identical to those of the case at issue, it seems to us that the
state's leniency policy can be respected without fear of undermining
enforcement of federal deportation laws. States' freedom to remove persons
from the ambit of deportation law would extend no further than where
Congress itself has gone for federal criminals.

11

The deportation order is set aside.

MANSFIELD, Circuit Judge (concurring):

12

I concur in Judge Lumbard's carefully considered opinion. I would only add

that in my view, even if the term "convicted" as used in 8 U.S.C. 1251(a) (11)
were construed to embrace state judgments which are later expunged, the
simultaneous issuance of the Certificate of Relief from Disabilities prevents the
state court's adjudication of guilt from amounting to a conviction. Thus, I
believe that even under a "formalistic" construction of the statutes at issue, as
distinguished from the liberal interpretation in favor of an alien which is
mandated, Lennon v. I.N.S., 527 F.2d 187 (2d Cir. 1975), the order of
deportation must be set aside.

13

In dealing with possession of a drug such as marijuana for personal use (as
distinguished from sale), the New York Legislature had numerous alternatives
open to it. It could have chosen not to make the possession a crime at all, in
which event the absence of any conviction would preclude the I.N.S. from
invoking 1251(a)(11). Alternatively the Legislature could have provided civil
NARA-type1 relief only, which would not trigger the deportation statute.
Taking a different course, the State might have made the conduct a crime and

provided that a person found guilty would stand convicted, either unqualifiedly
or subject to later expungement of the conviction if he successfully satisfied a
period of probation. See, e. g., Kolios v. I.N.S., 532 F.2d 786 (1st Cir. 1976), --U.S. ----, 97 S.Ct. 234, 50 L.Ed.2d, 165 (1976).
14

As one other alternative, the Legislature was entitled to provide that under
certain circumstances the adjudication of guilty would not be given the effect of
a "conviction." This it chose to do by enacting New York Correction Law
701(2), which provides that a "conviction of a crime or offense specified in a
certificate of relief from disabilities shall not cause automatic forfeiture of any .
. . right or privilege, held by the eligible offender and covered by the
certificate" and goes on to state:

15 shall such conviction be deemed to be a conviction within the meaning of any

"Nor
provision of law that imposes, by reason of a conviction, a bar to any employment, a
disability to exercise any right or a disability to apply for or to receive any license,
permit or other authority or privilege, covered by the certificate." (Emphasis added)
16

Since a Certificate of Relief from Disabilities was issued to Rehman

simultaneously with the entry of judgment upon his guilty plea, the
adjudication of guilt cannot "be deemed to be a conviction" for the purposes of
the deportation statute.2 The State Legislature clearly did not intend such an
adjudication to have either the label or the effect of a "conviction," nor is there
any indication that Congress in enacting 1251(a) (11) intended the term
"convicted" to be so all-embracing. Instead, the federal statute is simply keyed
to unqualified convictions, state or federal.3

17

The decisions in Kolios v. I. N. S., 532 F.2d 786 (1st Cir. 1976), petition for
cert. filed, 44 U.S.L.W. 3724 (May 20, 1976); Gonzalez de Lara v. United
States, 439 F.2d 1316 (5th Cir. 1971); Cruz-Martinez v. I. N. S., 404 F.2d 1198
(9th Cir. 1968), cert. denied, 394 U.S. 955, 89 S.Ct. 1291, 22 L.Ed.2d 491
(1969), so heavily relied on by the government, are clearly distinguishable. In
those cases there was a conviction which remained in full force and effect for a
substantial period of time, subject to the possibility of expungement if the
defendant should successfully serve a period of probation. Here, on the
contrary, in view of the simultaneous issuance of the Certificate, the
adjudication never had the effect of a conviction for certain purposes (including
deportation) and there never was any revocation or modification of that
Certificate. As a result Rehman never stood "convicted" in my view and hence
may not be deported under 1251(a)(11). This interpretation of the term
"convicted" as used in 1251(a)(11), moreover, is in keeping with Congress'
more recently enunciated policy of reducing hardships and sanctions imposed

upon youthful offenders. See Mestre Morera v. I. N. S., 462 F.2d 1030, 1032
(1st Cir. 1972).
MULLIGAN, Circuit Judge (dissenting):
18

Shaheen Rehman, an alien admitted as a non-immigrant student authorized to

remain in the United States with that status only until May 31, 1975, pleaded
guilty and was convicted of the illegal possession of marijuana in the Supreme
Court of the State of New York on March 29, 1974. His deportation has been
ordered by an Immigration Judge and on review that determination has been
affirmed by the Board of Immigration Appeals. In view of the plain and
unambiguous language of 8 U.S.C. 1251(a)(11)1 the Board had no other
choice; petitioner's deportation is mandated by the statute and the majority
decision here reversing the Board is indefensible and compels dissent.

19

There can be no question that Rehman's state conviction still stands. In Da

Grossa v. Goodman, 72 Misc.2d 806, 339 N.Y.S.2d 502, 505 (Sup.Ct.1972),
the court specifically said, "The granting of a certificate of relief from
disabilities in no way eradicates or expunges the underlying conviction." Thus
it is clear that the "Certificate of Relief from Disabilities" provided by the New
York Correction Law 700 et seq. and set forth in footnote 1 of the majority
opinion does not purport to expunge his conviction, but simply to relieve him of
certain disabilities flowing therefrom. By some process of reasoning which I
fail to understand, the majority finds that, "it seems clear to us that the New
York legislature could not have intended that recipients of 701 certificates
would remain subject to mandatory deportation." We are obviously bound by
the New York State Courts' construction of a New York statute. In Da Grossa
v. Goodman, supra, the court announced, "Those disabilities which are relieved
upon the granting of the certificate are disabilities imposed upon New York
citizens by the action of specific New York Statutes."2 (emphasis supplied).
The majority statement that deportation is "contrary to the purposes of New
York law" is erroneous and irrelevant.

20

Aside from the construction of the statute by the New York court, it seems
basic that a state legislature has no power or authority to determine conditions
or terms of deportation. It is the Congress which has plenary power to
determine the eligibility of the alien to enter and to remain in the United States.
Kleindienst v. Mandel, 408 U.S. 753, 766-67, 92 S.Ct. 2576, 33 L.Ed.2d 683
(1972); Galvan v. Press, 347 U.S. 522, 531, 74 S.Ct. 737, 98 L.Ed. 911 (1954).
The Congress has spoken in unequivocal language in section 1251(a)(11) and
the intent of the New York State Legislature is totally irrelevant. In any event,
the State, as we have indicated, only intended to relieve the disabilities which

its law had imposed and was as powerless to legislate in the field of
immigration as it would be to repeal the law of the Medes and the Persians.
21

Every federal court which has encountered the question of the effect of a state
expungement statute upon the deportation of an alien convicted of a drug
offense in a state court has held that the state conviction per se triggers 8 U.S.C.
1251(a)(11) and that the state's subsequent treatment of the offender is
inconsequential. Kolios v. INS, 532 F.2d 786 (1st Cir. 1976), cert. denied --U.S. ----, 97 S.Ct. 234, 50 L.Ed.2d 165 (1976) (No. 1685); Gonzalez de Lara v.
United States, 439 F.2d 1316 (5th Cir. 1971); Tsimbidy-Rochu v. INS, 414
F.2d 797 (9th Cir. 1969); Cruz-Martinez v. INS, 404 F.2d 1198 (9th Cir. 1968),
cert. denied, 394 U.S. 955, 89 S.Ct. 1291, 22 L.Ed.2d 491 (1969); GarciaGonzales v. INS, 344 F.2d 804 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 382 U.S. 840, 86 S.Ct.
88, 15 L.Ed.2d 81 (1965). See also Aguilera-Enriquez v. INS, 516 F.2d 565,
570 (6th Cir. 1975), cert. denied, 423 U.S. 1050, 96 S.Ct. 776, 46 L.Ed.2d 638
(1976); Will v. INS, 447 F.2d 529, 531 (7th Cir. 1971).3

22

As the court in Cruz-Martinez v. INS, supra, 404 F.2d at 1200, stated:

23
Deportation
is a function of federal and not of state law. In the context of a narcotics
conviction, deportation is a punishment independent from any that may or may not
be imposed by the states. While it is true that the same event, the state conviction,
triggers both sets of consequences, it would be anomalous for a federal action based
on a state conviction to be controlled by how the state chooses to subsequently treat
the event. It is the fact of state conviction, not the manner of state punishment for
that conviction, that is crucial.
24

The real issue, therefore, is the intent of Congress and not the intent of the New
York Legislature. The language of section 1251(a)(11) is clear the alien
convicted of a violation of any law relating to the illicit possession of marijuana
shall, upon the order of the Attorney General, be deported. In both Kolios v.
INS, supra, and Tsimbidy-Rochu v. INS, supra, other circuits have upheld
deportation orders even where state law expunged the prior state convictions.
The New York statute does not erase the conviction but only state imposed
disabilities flowing from that conviction. A fortiori, the ratio decidendi of these
opinions is compelling here.

25

The majority argues that with respect to section 1251(a)(11) a "less formalistic
approach is appropriate and more consistent with Congressional intent."
However, earlier in its opinion the majority noted that "Congress has exhibited
a strict attitude regarding deportation of convicted drug criminals." This Circuit
has explicitly recognized the stringent congressional policy set forth in section

1251(a)(11). In Bronsztejn v. INS, 526 F.2d 1290 (2d Cir. 1975), we held that
an alien convicted in a New York State court of an attempt to possess marijuana
was nonetheless deportable because of the strict congressional policy in this
area. That policy was recently recognized again by this Circuit in Guan Chow
Tok v. INS, 538 F.2d 36, 38 (2d Cir. 1976) where we stated, "Congress'
decision to mandate the deportation of narcotics offenders is not without
rational justification; accordingly, while we may be concerned at the hardship
it imposes on the minor offender, we must nevertheless follow its strictures."
26

The attitude of Congress toward the drug offender is evident when we consider
that if Rehman had been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude, under
section 1251(b) a full and unconditional pardon by the President of the United
States or by a state governor, or a recommendation by the sentencing court to
the Attorney General that the alien not be deported would have shielded him
from deportation. However, as the majority itself points out, section 1251(b)
specifically provides that executive pardons or judicial recommendations have
no effect in the case of an alien convicted of a drug offense. As the First Circuit
observed in Kolios v. INS, supra, 532 F.2d at 790, "It seems highly unlikely to
us that Congress, which has narrowly confined the scope of expungement of
conviction in federal drug cases, would contemplate that state expungement
statutes of general applicability could insulate any narcotics offender from the
sanction of deportation." The majority argument therefore that the
congressional intent is somehow benevolent in these cases is, in my view, not
supported by authority and in fact is contrary to the plain language of the
statute.

27

The majority points out that if Rehman had been tried in a federal court on
federal drug charges, he most likely would not be deportable since he might be
given probation without a conviction or he might be given young offender
treatment which permits expungement of the conviction. Of course, Rehman
was convicted in a state court and speculation as to what his fate would be in a
federal case hardly illumines the congressional intent expressed in section
1251(a)(11). There is authority for the position that an alien sentenced under
the Youth Correction Act, which permits expungement of his federal
conviction, is not deportable. The First Circuit so held in Mestre Morera v. INS,
462 F.2d 1030 (1st Cir. 1972), stressing, however, that the congressional
intention under the Youth Correction Act was to relieve the youth not only of
the usual disabilities of a criminal conviction, but to completely expunge the
record of conviction. The New York statute does not relieve all disabilities and
does not expunge the conviction. Moreover, the same First Circuit subsequently
rejected the argument now made by the majority here, when it denied a petition
to review a Board decision deporting an alien convicted in a Texas court, even

though the alien had fulfilled the conditions of his parole and his conviction
had been set aside by the state court. Kolios v. INS, supra, 532 F.2d at 789.
28

The majority urges that its construction will lead to a more uniform application
of federal law. On the contrary, the deportation of the alien drug offender will
depend upon whether the convicting state provides for an expungement
procedure. This hardly leads to consistent or uniform treatment but, as the
Attorney General noted in Matter of A___ F___, 8 I. & N. Dec. 429, 446
(1959), would make the deportation of the alien depend upon the vagaries of
state law.

29has been said that only in California and a few other States is provision made for
It
the cancellation of a record of conviction or for the withdrawal of a plea of guilty,
upon the termination of probation. Probation and Related Measures (U.N.
Publication No. 1951, IV, 2) 106. And 1203.4 of the California Penal Code (and
presumably 1772 of the California Welfare and Institutions Code) has been
characterized as "without parallel in the legislation of any other state" in providing
for a release of the probationer from all penalties and disabilities resulting from
conviction. 2 Stan. Law Rev. 221, 222 (1949). It is hardly to be supposed that
Congress intended, in providing for the deportation of aliens convicted of narcotic
violations, to extend preferential treatment to those convicted in the few
jurisdictions, which, like California, provide for the expungement of a record of
conviction upon the termination of probation.
30

Since the majority here stresses that Rehman is a graduate student with good
character references and that his crime was "seventh degree" possession, New
York's lowest grade of drug offense, it is obviously concerned about the
harshness of the penalty of deportation meted out for the possession of hashish,
an activity which some in the community believe should not constitute criminal
behavior. However, that is a judgment properly to be made by the New York
State Legislature and the Congress of the United States and not the federal
judiciary.

31

While recognizing that deportation is a drastic penalty and that the statute must
be strictly construed, Fong Haw Tan v. Phelan, 333 U.S. 6, 10, 68 S.Ct. 374, 92
L.Ed. 433 (1948), this court in Bronsztejn v. INS, supra, 526 F.2d at 1291,
noted, "(T)his Court has no authority to prevent deportation because of
changing social mores regarding marijuana." In the guise of statutory
interpretation, I believe the majority opinion here has contorted the plain and
unambiguous terms of the congressional enactment to achieve what it deems a
socially desirable result. However, "For purposes of judicial enforcement, the
'policy' of a statute should be drawn out of its terms, as nourished by their

proper environment, and not, like nitrogen, out of the air." D. A. Schulte, Inc. v.
Gangi, 328 U.S. 108, 121-22, 66 S.Ct. 925, 931, 90 L.Ed. 1114 (1946)
(Frankfurter, J., dissenting.)
32

In sum, the majority has ignored our own previous holdings that section
1251(a)(11) be strictly construed, as well as the uniform holdings of other
circuits which have upheld deportation orders in comparable cases. The
congressional intent is made clear from the statute and the cases in this and
other circuits construing it. For seventeen years this consistent judicial
interpretation has not been disturbed by the Congress. For the reasons given, I
believe the position adopted by the majority here is not an interpretation of the
congressional policy but, rather, its rejection.

Rehman's sentencing judge granted him the fullest relief possible under 701,
which reads:

A certificate of relief from disabilities may be granted as provided in this article

to relieve an eligible offender of any forfeiture or disability, or to remove any
bar to his employment, automatically imposed by law by reason of his
conviction of the crime or of the offense specified therein. Such certificate may
be limited to one or more enumerated forfeitures, disabilities or bars, or may
relieve the eligible offender of all forfeitures, disabilities and bars. Provided,
however, that no such certificate shall apply, or be construed so as to apply, to
the right of such person to retain or to be eligible for public office

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a conviction of a crime or of an

offense specified in a certificate of relief from disabilities shall not cause
automatic forfeiture of any license, permit, employment or franchise, including
the right to register for or vote at an election, or automatic forfeiture of any
other right or privilege, held by the eligible offender and covered by the
certificate. Nor shall such conviction be deemed to be a conviction within the
meaning of any provision of law that imposes, by reason of a conviction, a bar
to any employment, a disability to exercise any right or a disability to apply for
or to receive any license, permit or other authority or privilege, covered by the
certificate

A certificate of relief from disabilities shall not, however, in any way prevent
any judicial, administrative, licensing or other body, board or authority from
relying upon the conviction specified therein as the basis for the exercise of its
discretionary power to suspend, revoke, refuse to issue or refuse to renew any
license, permit or other authority or privilege

The exception for the right to hold public office in paragraph 1 has no relevance
in a drug case. Although in the past, some crimes of political corruption
resulted in forfeiture of or permanent disqualification from public office, New
York's 1967 recodification of the penal code eliminated such sanctions.
Compare N.Y. Penal Law of 1909, 1832(1), 1839, 1854, 1875 (forfeitures)
& 1823, 1833, 1864, 1879(3) (permanent disqualifications) with N.Y. Penal
Law arts. 60, 195, 200 (McKinney 1975). Consequently, the only
disqualification provision still remaining is N.Y. Pub. Officers Law 3(1)
(McKinney Supp.1975), which prohibits office holding by selective service
violators.
2

See, e. g., In re Arroya, 50 A.D.2d 752, 376 N.Y.S.2d 158 (1975)

See Governor's Memorandum Approval of L.1966, c. 654 in McKinney's 1966

Session Laws of New York at 3003: "It is an important step beyond the
previous system of automatic, indirect sanctions following upon a conviction
without regard to the merits of the individual involved."

In reaching a contrary conclusion our brother Mulligan relies on In re

Sugarman, 51 A.D.2d 170, 380 N.Y.S.2d 12 (1976), in which a panel of the
appellate division held that a certificate of relief from disabilities granted by a
parole board at the end of several years imprisonment did not relieve the
recipient from the automatic disbarment which follows under New York law
upon a felony conviction. There are a number of reasons why Judge Mulligan's
reliance on that decision is misplaced
First, it is central to the Sugarman opinion that the certificate there was granted
by an administrative board rather than a court. Emphasizing the importance of a
judiciary's control over the regulation of its bar, the Sugarman court concluded
that the legislature could not have intended to delegate to a nonjudicial body the
power to reinstate a previously disqualified lawyer. This reasoning is inapposite
where, as here, the certificate has been issued by a judge.
Second, the certificate in Sugarman was not issued contemporaneously with the
conviction. Thus, there was no argument to be made in that case that the
granting of the certificate and the entering of the conviction were part and
parcel of one adjudicative act.
Third, disbarment follows only after conviction of a felony. N.Y. Judiciary Law
90, subd. 4 (McKinney 1968). Since commission of a felony is a far more
serious blot on a person's character than commission of a misdemeanor, the
willingness of the New York legislature to have felony convictions trigger
automatic collateral consequences does not imply that it desires the same for
misdemeanor convictions.

Fourth, there is every reason for the legislature to conclude that automatic
disbarment of felons is necessary to preserve public confidence in the bar and
that this consideration overrides the need for clemency in individual cases. By
contrast, in adopting 21 U.S.C. 844 and 18 U.S.C. 4209, 5021, discussed
below, Congress has made clear that it does not believe young drug offenders
need to be deported in every case. Thus, Congress has implied that the public
interest in the deportation of narcotics criminals should not override the need
for individualized clemency in cases like Rehman's.
5

"The granting of a certificate of relief from disabilities in no way eradicates or

expunges the underlying conviction." Da Grossa v. Goodman, 72 Misc.2d 806,
339 N.Y.S.2d 502, 505 (Sup.Ct.1972)

Deportation statutes are to be strictly construed against the INS. Barber v.

Gonzales, 347 U.S. 637, 642 (1954); Lennon v. INS, 527 F.2d 187, 193 (2d Cir.
1975)

The INS also argues that because Rehman's relief from disabilities was
conditioned on his satisfactory completion of one year's probation, the relief
was not contemporaneous with his conviction and therefore cannot be deemed
to have expunged the conviction for purposes of 1251(a)(11). However, since
1251(a)(11) tolerates federal expungements under 21 U.S.C. 844 and 18
U.S.C. 5021 which are themselves probational, we see no reason why the
mere existence of a probationary period should be a bar to the expungement of
a state conviction

Of course, by necessity this means that in some instances persons who have
been treated identically by state courts can be treated differently by the INS. For
example, a person over 26 years old who is convicted of a drug offense more
serious than simple possession could never avoid deportation even though
under New York law his sentencing judge would have discretion to grant him a
certificate of relief from disabilities just like Rehman's

Under the provisions of the Narcotic Addict Rehabilitation Act of 1966, 28

U.S.C. 2902, a federal district court may hold in abeyance the prosecution of
a criminal charge against a suspected drug addict if the suspected addict
submits to an examination to determine whether he can be rehabilitated. Upon
the successful completion of a program of treatment, the court is required to
dismiss the charges

In effect the Legislature's action was similar to that of Congress in enacting the
Narcotic Addict Rehabilitation Act of 1966, which defines the terms
"conviction" and "convicted" to exclude "a final judgment which has been
expunged by pardon, reversed, set aside, or otherwise rendered nugatory "

(emphasis added), 18 U.S.C. 4251(e), 28 U.S.C. 2901(f)

3

Although Congress clearly has power to make an all-inclusive deportation

statute, it has not done so. As was held in Holzapfel v. Wyrsch, 259 F.2d 890,
891 (3d Cir. 1958), "In deportation cases where a state crime is involved we
have to look to the law and procedure of the state to interpret what happened in
the state courts."

That statute provides in part:

(a) Any alien in the United States (including an alien crewman) shall, upon the
order of the Attorney General, be deported who
(11) . . . at any time has been convicted of a violation of . . . any law or
regulation relating to the illicit possession of or traffic in narcotic drugs or
marihuana . . . .
8 U.S.C. 1251(a)(11).

In Matter of Sugarman, 51 A.D.2d 170, 380 N.Y.S.2d 12 (1st Dep't 1976), the
court held that an attorney convicted of a felony would not be re-admitted to the
bar upon receipt of a certificate of disability. In so holding, the court noted,
"that even the certificate of relief from disabilities is not a complete relief from
disabilities. The statute itself contemplates certain rights which the certificate
cannot restore, such as the right to hold public office." Id. at 14. See also In re
Arroya, 50 A.D.2d 752, 376 N.Y.S.2d 158 (1st Dep't 1975)
Judge Lumbard's opinion points out that in Sugarman the certificate there was
issued by an administrative agency, the Parole Board, rather than a judge.
However, the certificate is the same whether issued by either. Correction Law
701-03; see Governor's Memorandum Approval of L.1966, c. 654 in
McKinney's 1966 Sessions Laws New York at 3003. While the defendant was
convicted of a felony in Sugarman there is nothing in that opinion or in the New
York Statute to suggest any difference between the conviction for a felony or a
lesser offense so long as the defendant is a first offender.

Judge Mansfield argues that these cases are inapposite because there was a
state conviction in full force and effect for a substantial time while here the
Certificate of Relief from Disabilities was issued simultaneously so that the
adjudication never had the effect of a conviction for certain purposes including
deportation. I do not understand how the issuance of the temporary certificate
here transmogrifies Rehman's conviction into a non-conviction. Rehman
pleaded guilty and he could not be sentenced even to a conditional discharge if
he had not been convicted. New York Correction Law 702(4) explicitly

provides that when a certificate is awarded prior to the completion of the term
for a suspended sentence, it shall be temporary and subject to revocation. Here
the temporary certificate of March 29, 1974 would not become permanent until
March 29, 1975 and his deportation was ordered on March 11, 1975. To permit
deportation where permanent state relief from state convictions is predicated
upon completion of a probationary period, Kolios, supra, and Cruz-Martinez,
supra, but to deny it when the state court has granted the alien only conditional
relief during the probationary period, is not logical. Those cases are
distinguishable as Judge Mansfield states, but the distinction compels
deportation here rather than the contrary. 701(2) which provides that such
conviction shall not be deemed a conviction of course is limited to those
disabilities "covered by the certificate." As has been pointed out, that coverage
can only be for those disabilities imposed by New York statutes, Da Grossa v.
Goodman, supra, and deportation has not yet become the business of the State
Legislature