Raha Jorjani Comments on Deportation and Plea Agreements for Oakland Tribune
Raha Jorjani commented for the Oakland Tribune on how the possibility of deportation figures into the Alameda District Attorney's plea agreement negotiations in cases involving noncitizens accused of low-level crimes. The article also appeared in the San Jose Mercury News.
Alameda County is one of the few that openly consider the threat of deportation in evaluating plea deals in low-level crimes. Jorjani, an in-house immigration consultant for the Alameda County Public Defender's Office in addition to her duties as staff attorney and lecturer in the Immigration Law Clinic at the UC Davis School of Law, is credited with urging the district attorney to craft guidelines for the negotiations. In the article, she also offers examples of typical plea agreement deals.