Comprehensive Representation

I. Introduction

In Padilla v. Kentucky, the U.S. Supreme Court found that a defense attorney failed to adequately represent his client, José Padilla, a non-citizen, but lawful permanent resident of the United States, because he did not advise Mr. Padilla that entering a guilty plea could result in deportation. The majority opinion states:

It is our responsibility under the Constitution to ensure that no criminal defendant whether a citizen or not is left to the ‘mercies of incompetent counsel.’ Richardson, 397 U.S. at 771. To satisfy this responsibility, we now hold that counsel must inform her client whether his plea carries a risk of deportation.

Padilla marks “the first time that the Court has applied the 1984 Strickland standard to a lawyer’s failure to advise a client about a consequence of conviction that is not part of the sentence imposed by the court.” One legal scholar suggests that even if Padilla is limited to cases with the risk