State v. Gonzalez-Perez

• Decision Date: 27 February 2008
• Docket Number: No. 2007 KA 1813.,2007 KA 1813.
• Citation: 997 So.2d 1
• Parties: STATE of Louisiana v. Jesus GONZALEZ-PEREZ.
• Court: Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US

997 So.2d 1

STATE of Louisiana v. Jesus GONZALEZ-PEREZ.

No. 2007 KA 1813.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

February 27, 2008.

Rehearing Denied January 6, 2009.

Doug Moreau, District Attorney, Ron Gathe, Assistant District Attorney, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for Plaintiff/Appellee, State of Louisiana.

Frederick Kroenke, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for Defendant/Appellant, Jesus Gonzalez-Perez.

Before GAIDRY, McDONALD, and McCLENDON, JJ.

McCLENDON, J.

Defendant, Jesus Gonzalez-Perez, was charged by bill of information with operating a vehicle without lawful presence in the United States, a violation of LSA-R.S. 14:100.13. Defendant filed a motion to quash the bill of information, arguing LSA-R.S. 14:100.13 is not an enforceable statute, as it is preempted by federal law. Following a hearing, the trial court denied the motion to quash. Defendant withdrew his former plea and entered a plea of guilty as charged, reserving his right to appeal the trial court's ruling. Defendant was sentenced to six months imprisonment.¹ He now appeals, assigning error as to the trial court's denial of the motion to quash. For the following reasons, we affirm the conviction and sentence.

FACTS

The following facts were presented as a basis for the guilty plea entered herein. On September 16, 2006, law enforcement officers on routine patrol noticed a white Dodge being operated by defendant on Airline Highway in Baton Rouge. The vehicle swerved from the centerline to the shoulder twice and then slowed down in the middle of the roadway. The officers conducted a traffic stop and asked defendant to exit the vehicle. Defendant indicated that he did not speak English. An officer, who was fluent in Spanish, read defendant his rights when defendant could not provide documentation proving that he was in this country legally.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR

In his sole assignment of error, defendant argues that Louisiana exceeded its grant of constitutional authority in enacting LSA-R.S. 14:100.13 and violated the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution. Defendant contends that the statute in question departs from the federal scheme by requiring state and local law enforcement officials, who lack training in applying immigration law, to make independent determinations about a driver's immigration status. Defendant further contends that LSA-R.S. 14:100.13 conflicts with 8 U.S.C. § 1304(e) in that it targets a broader group and categorizes an individual's failure to carry documentation as a felony subject to harsher penalties. Defendant also alleges that LSA-R.S. 14:100.13 creates a new procedure for identifying individuals subject to removal and reporting them to federal authorities. He argues that this procedure interferes with federal methods by delegating to state and local enforcement officials, using state-designated criteria, tasks that federal law delegates exclusively to federal agents. Defendant concludes that LSA-R.S. 14:100.13 is preempted by federal law.

However, the state contends that LSA-R.S. 14:100.13 is not preempted by federal immigration law. The state specifically argues that the trial court was correct in finding that LSA-R.S. 14:100.13 is not preempted by the REAL ID Act of 2005, Pub.L. No. 109-13, Div. B, Title II, § 202, 119 Stat. 231, and that no deportation determination would be made pursuant to LSA-R.S. 14:100.13. The state contends that nothing in the REAL ID Act of 2005 expressly or impliedly prohibits a state from prosecuting a person for illegally driving a vehicle. The state further argues that federal immigration law does not prohibit a state from criminalizing conduct that a state believes to be a legitimate threat of terror.

The Supremacy Clause declares that federal law "shall be the supreme Law of the Land[.] . . . any Thing [sic] in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding." U.S. Const. art. VI, cl. 2. The Supremacy Clause requires invalidation of any state legislation that burdens or conflicts in any manner with any federal laws or treaties. Thus, the determination rests on whether the state law impermissibly interferes with federal law and is thus preempted. Pursuant to Article I, Section 8 of the U.S Constitution, federal law has exclusive jurisdiction to regulate matters of naturalization and immigration. Nonetheless, federal regulations do not automatically preempt every state enactment that in any way deals with aliens. See De Canas v. Bica, 424 U.S. 351, 355, 96 S.Ct. 933, 936, 47 L.Ed.2d 43(1976).

In De Canas, the Supreme Court set forth three tests to be used in determining whether a state statute related to immigration is preempted: (1) constitutional preemption, (2) field preemption, and (3) conflict preemption. Pursuant to De Canas, if a statute fails any one of the three tests, it is preempted by federal law. League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) v. Wilson, 908 F.Supp. 755, 768 (C.D.Cal.1995). The League case sets forth the following outline of the tests provided in De Canas:

Under the first test, the Court must determine whether a state statute is a "regulation of immigration." Since the "[p]ower to regulate immigration is unquestionably exclusively a federal power," [De Canas, 424 U.S.] at 354, 96 S.Ct. at 936, any state statute which regulates immigration is "constitutionally proscribed." [De Canas, 424 U.S.] at 356, 96 S.Ct at 936.

Under the second test, even if the state law is not an impermissible regulation of immigration, it may still be preempted if there is a showing that it was the "clear and manifest purpose of Congress" to effect a "complete ouster of state power-including state power to promulgate laws not in conflict with federal laws" with respect to the subject matter which the statute attempts to regulate. [De Canas, 424 U.S.] at 357, 96 S.Ct. at 937. In other words, under the second test, a statute is preempted where Congress intended to "occupy the field" which the statute attempts to regulate.

Under the third test, a state law is preempted if it "stands as an obstacle to the accomplishment and execution of the full purposes and objectives of Congress." [De Canas, 424 U.S.] at 363, 96 S.Ct. at 940 (citing Hines v. Davidowitz, 312 U.S. 52, 67, 61 S.Ct. 399, 404, 85 L.Ed. 581 (1941)). Stated differently, a statute is preempted under the third test if it conflicts with federal law making compliance with both state and federal law impossible. Michigan Canners & Freezers v. Agricultural Marketing and Bargaining Board, 467 U.S. 461, 469, 104 S.Ct. 2518, 2523, 81 L.Ed.2d 399 (1984); Florida Lime & Avocado Growers v. Paul, 373 U.S. 132, 142-43, 83 S.Ct. 1210, 1217-18, 10 L.Ed.2d 248 (1963).

The issue raised herein presents a question of law and is, therefore, subject to de novo review. State v. Smith, 99-2094, 99-2015, 99-2019, 99-0606, p. 3 (La.7/6/00), 766 So.2d 501, 504. In interpreting LSA-R.S. 14:100.13, we consider two established rules of statutory construction: (1) all criminal statutes are construed strictly, and (2) the words of a statute must be given their everyday meaning. See State v. Kujawa, 2005-0470, p. 7 (La.App. 1 Cir. 2/22/06), 929 So.2d 99, 104, writ denied, 06-0669 (La.10/6/06), 938 So.2d 65. LSA-R.S. 14:100.13 provides as follows:

A. No alien student or nonresident alien shall operate a motor vehicle in the state without documentation demonstrating that the person is lawfully present in the United States.

B. Upon arrest of a person for operating a vehicle without lawful presence in the United States, law enforcement officials shall seize the driver's license and immediately surrender such license to the office of motor vehicles for cancellation and shall immediately notify the INS of the name and location of the person.

C. Whoever commits the crime of driving without lawful presence in the United States shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars, imprisoned for not more than one year, with or without hard labor, or both.

LSA-R.S. 14:100.13 does not actually forbid illegal aliens from driving; it requires all nonresident that alien drivers carry proof of legal status. The statute was enacted by 2002 La. Acts, 1st Ex.Sess., No. 46, § 1. As part of the same act, the legislature enacted LSA-R.S. 14:100.11, which sets forth the findings of the legislature and the purpose of LSA-R.S. 14:100.12, et seq.:

A. The legislature finds that the devastating consequences of the barbaric attacks on September 11, 2001 on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon as well as the pervasive bomb threats and biological terrorism in various parts of the country were committed for the purposes of demoralizing and destabilizing our society and creating a climate of fear. These heinous deeds designed to kill, maim, and strike terror into the hearts of innocent citizens of this country cannot be tolerated, nor can those less violent acts to the infrastructure of our state which are designed to intimidate, confuse, and disrupt everyday commerce and the delivery of goods and services to the populace be permitted.

B. The legislature further finds that it is imperative that state laws be enacted to complement federal efforts to uncover those who seek to use the highways of this state to commit acts of terror and who seek to gain drivers' licenses or identification cards for the purposes of masking their illegal status in this state. Accordingly, the legislature finds that state law must be strengthened with a comprehensive framework for punishing those who give false information in order to obtain drivers' licenses or identification cards from the office of motor vehicles of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, to limit the issuance of such documentation to correspond to the time limits placed by the federal Immigration and Naturalization Service on documentation, and to make operating a motor vehicle in this state when not lawfully present in the United States a crime.

Congress has exercised its power over...