skip to Main Content
Name: People v. Laufasa
Case #: A127159
Opinion Date: 09/09/2010
Court: CA Court of Appeal
District 1 DCA
Division: 4
Citation: 188 Cal.App.4th 436
Summary

A state court does not exceed its jurisdiction by ordering a defendant not to enter the country illegally in the event he is deported. Appellant was convicted of drug offenses and sentenced to prison. The probation report recommended that the court order appellant, who was not a U.S. citizen, to refrain from illegally entering the country if he was deported. The court did so. Appellant argued the order was in excess of the trial court’s jurisdiction because the federal government has exclusive power to make orders regarding immigration. The appellate court found the order simply echoed existing federal requirements regarding deportation, and did not create conditions for a legal entrant. As such, it is a valid order. (See e.g. In re Adolfo M. (1990) 225 Cal.App.3d 1225.)