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Esquivel-Quintana v. Sessions
Esquivel-Quintana v. Sessions
	Supreme Court of the United States
Argued February 27, 2017; Decided May 30, 2017
Full case name	Juan Esquivel-Quintana, Petitioner v. Jefferson B. Sessions III, Attorney General
Docket no.	16-54
Citations	581 U.S. ___ (more) 137 S. Ct. 1562; 198 L. Ed. 2d 22
Opinion announcement	Opinion announcement
Case history
Prior	Appeal of deportation order dismissed 26 I&N Dec. 469 (B.I.A., 2015); appeal dismissed, 810 F.3d 1019 (6th Cir. 2016); cert. granted, 137 S. Ct. 368 (2016).
Holding
	In the context of statutory rape offenses that criminalize sexual intercourse based solely on the ages of the participants, the generic federal definition of "sexual abuse of a minor" requires the age of the victim to be less than 16. Reversed and remanded.
Court membership
	Chief Justice John Roberts Associate Justices Anthony Kennedy · Clarence Thomas; Ruth Bader Ginsburg · Stephen Breyer; Samuel Alito · Sonia Sotomayor; Elena Kagan · Neil Gorsuch
Case opinion
Majority	Thomas, joined by Roberts, Kennedy, Ginsburg, Breyer, Alito, Sotomayor, Kagan
	Gorsuch took no part in the consideration or decision of the case.
Laws applied
	Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1101, § 1227

Esquivel-Quintana v. Sessions, 581 U.S. ___ (2017), is a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States ruled 8–0 that in the context of statutory rape offenses that criminalize sexual intercourse based solely on the ages of the participants, the generic federal definition of "sexual abuse of a minor" requires the age of the victim to be less than 16.^[1] Justice Clarence Thomas delivered the majority opinion.^[2]

Background

Petitioner, a citizen of Mexico and lawful permanent resident of the United States, pleaded no contest in a California court to a statutory rape offense criminalizing "unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor who is more than three years younger than the perpetrator."^[3] For purposes of that offense, California defines "minor" as "a person under the age of 18."^[4] Based on this conviction, the Department of Homeland Security initiated removal proceedings under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), which makes removable "[a]ny alien who is convicted of an aggravated felony," 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(A)(iii),^[5] including "sexual abuse of a minor," § 1101(a)(43)(A).^[6]^[7] An Immigration Judge ordered petitioner removed to Mexico.^[7] The Board of Immigration Appeals agreed that petitioner's crime constituted sexual abuse of a minor and dismissed his appeal.^[8] A divided Court of Appeals denied his petition for review.^[9]

Opinion of the Court

The Supreme Court examined whether a conviction under a state statute criminalizing consensual sexual intercourse between a 21-year-old and a 17-year-old qualifies as sexual abuse of a minor under the INA.^[10] The Court held that it did not.^[11]

References

^ Esquivel-Quintana v. Sessions, No. 16–54, 581 U.S. ___ (2017), slip op. at 1, 12.
^ Esquivel-Quintana, slip op. at 1.
^ Esquivel-Quintana, slip op. at 1-2.
^ Esquivel-Quintana, slip op. at 2 (citing Cal. Penal Code Ann. § 261.5(c) (West 2014)).
^ 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(A)(iii).
^ 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43)(A).
^ ^a ^b Esquivel-Quintana, slip op. at 2.
^ Esquivel-Quintana, slip op. at 2 ("In its view, the 3-year age difference required by Cal. Penal Code § 261.5(c) was meaningful.").
^ Esquivel-Quintana v. Lynch, 810 F.3d 1019 (6th Cir. 2016).
^ Esquivel-Quintana, slip op. at 4-11.
^ Esquivel-Quintana, slip op. at 12.