''Esquivel-Quintana v. Sessions'', 581 U.S. ___ (2017), is a case in which the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

ruled 8–0 that in the context of statutory rape offenses that criminalize sexual intercourse based solely on the ages of the participants, the generic federal definition of “sexual abuse of a minor” requires the age of the victim to be less than 16.

Justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

Clarence Thomas Clarence Thomas (born June 23, 1948) is an American jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President George H. W. Bush to succeed Thurgood Marshall and has served since 199 ...

delivered the

majority opinion In law, a majority opinion is a judicial opinion agreed to by more than half of the members of a court. A majority opinion sets forth the decision of the court and an explanation of the rationale behind the court's decision. Not all cases have ...

Background

Petitioner, a citizen of Mexico and lawful permanent resident of the United States, pleaded no contest in a California court to a statutory rape offense criminalizing “unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor who is more than three years younger than the perpetrator.” For purposes of that offense, California defines “minor” as “a person under the age of 18.” Based on this conviction, the Department of Homeland Security initiated removal proceedings under the

Immigration and Nationality Act The U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act may refer to one of several acts including: * Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 * Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 * Immigration Act of 1990 See also * List of United States immigration legisla ...

(INA), which makes removable “ y alien who is convicted of an aggravated felony,” 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(A)(iii), including “sexual abuse of a minor,” § 1101(a)(43)(A).''Esquivel-Quintana'', slip op. at 2. An Immigration Judge ordered petitioner removed to Mexico. The Board of Immigration Appeals agreed that petitioner's crime constituted sexual abuse of a minor and dismissed his appeal. A divided Court of Appeals denied his petition for review.

Opinion of the Court

The Supreme Court examined whether a conviction under a state statute criminalizing consensual sexual intercourse between a 21-year-old and a 17-year-old qualifies as sexual abuse of a minor under the INA. The Court held that it did not.''Esquivel-Quintana'', slip op. at 12.

References

External links

* {{caselaw source , case = , justia =https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/581/16-54/ , oyez =https://www.oyez.org/cases/2016/16-54 , other_source1 = Supreme Court (slip opinion) , other_url1 =https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/16pdf/16-54_5i26.pdf United States Supreme Court cases United States Supreme Court cases of the Roberts Court 2017 in United States case law United States immigration and naturalization case law Age of consent