Professor Cooper Comments on Immigration Ruling for La Opinion
Professor Holly S. Cooper commented for the Spanish-language newspaper La Opinion on the impacts of a recent decision by the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals barring mass criminal hearings for undocumented immigrants arrested by U.S. Border Patrol agents. A three-judge panel ruled that a federal court in Tucson, Arizona - where mass hearings were held for 50-100 defendants at a time - violated Rule 11, which requires that each defendant be read his or her rights and be given a full explanation of what a guilty plea means.
Professor Cooper told La Opinion that increased enforcement had created problems as courts have struggled to deal with the rising volume of immigration cases. With mass hearings, she said, it is difficult to be sure that each defendant truly understands his or her rights and the consequences of a guilty plea.
Holly Cooper is a professor of law and serves as staff attorney at the UC Davis Immigration Law Clinic. Her areas of specialty include immigration law and detained immigrants' rights.