SCOTUSwiki Discussion: Padilla v. Kentucky

By Amy Howe
on Jun 2, 2009 at 10:14 am

Last week petitioner Jose Padilla filed his brief on the merits in No. 08-651, Padilla v. Kentucky.  The case presents two questions:  (1) does defense counsel have a duty to investigate and advise a non-citizen client that a guilty plea will lead to his deportation; and (2) does an attorney’s erroneous advice to his non-citizen client that his guilty plea will not result in deportation constitute ineffective assistance of counsel?  Padilla’s merits brief is here; you can also read a discussion of the case by Stanford student David Owens on Scotuswiki here.