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Opinions
Preemptive Effect of the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act
The Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act preempts state “good Samaritan” statutes that provide less protection from civil and criminal liability arising from food donated in good faith for distribution to the needy than the Act provides.
Revocation of Citizenship
The Immigration and Naturalization Service has authority to institute either administrative or judicial proceedings to denaturalize citizens whose criminal convictions disqualified them from citizenship as a matter of law. Whether the proceedings are administrative or judicial, the INS must establish the allegations in its complaint by clear, unequivocal, and convincing evidence.
The INS has no authority to seek denaturalization if the INS examiner had discretion to find that an applicant was of good moral character, and in fact did exercise that discretion so as to find that the applicant was of good moral character, unless the INS establishes in its complaint by clear, unequivocal, and convincing evidence either that the applicant gave false testimony with the intention of obtaining an immigration benefit or that the examiner’s decision resulted from the applicant's willful misrepresentation or concealment of a material fact.
The INS may seek denaturalization if the applicant made a false oral statement under oath (regardless of whether the testimony is material) with the subjective intent of obtaining immigration benefits. Alternatively, the INS may seek denaturalization if the applicant procured naturalization by concealment or willful misrepresentation of a material fact. In either case, the INS must prove its complaint by clear, unequivocal, and convincing evidence.
Authority of the Attorney General to Grant Discretionary Relief from Deportation Under Section 212(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act as Amended by the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996
The amendment of section 212(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act by section 440(d) of the Antiterronsm and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 deprived the Attorney General of the authority to grant discretionary relief from deportation for aliens who committed certain crimes. Section 440(d) applies to section 212(c) applications for discretionary relief pending on the effective date of AEDPA.
Waiver of Oath of Allegiance for Candidates for Naturalization
The required oath of allegiance as a condition of naturalization under section 337 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1448(a), cannot be waived.
Delegation of the President’s Power to Appoint Members of the National Ocean Research Leadership Council
Draft amendments to 10 U S.C. § 7902 empowering the President to delegate to the head of a department his authority to appoint certain members of the National Ocean Research Leadership Council would not violate the Constitution’s Appointments Clause.
Proposed Agency Interpretation of “Federal Means-Tested Public Benefit[s]” Under Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996
The interpretation of the phrase “federal means-tested public benefit[s]” in the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 proffered by the Departments of Health and Human Services and Housing and Urban Development—that it applies only to mandatory (and not discretionary) spending programs—constitutes a permissible and legally binding construction of the statute.
Bureau of Prisons Disclosure of Recorded Inmate Telephone Conversations
The policy of the Criminal Division requiring outside law enforcement officials to obtain some form of legal process authorizing access to contents of inmate telephone conversations is not mandated by the Constitution or Title III of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968.
The practice of profiling specific groups of inmates for monitoring raises concerns when it requires or causes the Bureau of Prisons to alter its established monitoring procedures for purposes unrelated to prison security or administration.
Inmates have a First Amendment right to some minimum level of telephone access, subject to reasonable restrictions related to prison security and administration. Under certain circumstances they also may have a Sixth Amendment right to make telephone calls to their attorneys.
Application of the Ineligibility Clause
The Ineligibility Clause of the Constitution would not bar the appointment of Representative Bill Richardson to serve as United States Ambassador to the United Nations or of Senator William Cohen to serve as Secretary of Defense.
Access to Classified Information
This memorandum provides an opinion on various legal questions posed by a panel appointed by the Director of Central Intelligence to make a recommendation on whether an official at the Department of State, Richard Nuccio, should be granted access to Sensitive Compartmented Information.
Validity of Congressional-Executive Agreements That Substantially Modify the United States’ Obligations Under an Existing Treaty
It lies within Congress’s power to authorize the President to modify substantially the United States’ domestic and international legal obligations under a prior treaty, including an arms control treaty, by making an executive agreement with our treaty partners, without Senate advice and consent.