Lizbeyde Piedra v. Todd Blanche
Split Score
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Case Summary
Disposition
Reversed in Part
The Fourth Circuit vacated in part the Board of Immigration Appeals’ order that deemed Lizbeyde Yanez Piedra inadmissible based on a state marijuana conviction that was later vacated. Rejecting the BIA’s Pickering framework, the court held that once a conviction is vacated it no longer renders an alien "convicted of" the offense under 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(2)(A)(i), but it upheld the agency’s voluntary-departure regulations.
Circuit Split Identified
Legal Issue
Whether a state criminal conviction that has been vacated continues to qualify as a "conviction" for purposes of inadmissibility under 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(2)(A)(i).
Circuit Positions
Apply Pickering: vacated conviction still counts unless vacatur was for substantive/procedural defect
All vacated convictions continue to count for immigration purposes
No vacated conviction counts; vacatur wipes out conviction for § 1182(a)(2)(A)(i)
Conflict Summary
Most circuits apply or defer to the BIA’s Pickering framework, under which a vacated conviction remains a conviction for immigration purposes unless it was vacated on substantive or procedural grounds. The Fifth Circuit has held that all vacated convictions remain convictions under the INA, while the Fourth Circuit in this opinion holds that no vacated conviction can establish inadmissibility because a vacated judgment is void ab initio.