Hoffman Plastic Compounds, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board (December 10 2001) Supreme Court of the United States. National Immigrant Law Center (NILC) and others, represented by National Employment Law Project, submitted this amicus brief supporting the importance of back pay remedies when labor laws are violated including relief for undocumented workers. Second amicus brief filed regarding a Government of Mexico requested advisory opinion from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (2002) concerning when a member nation of the Organization of American States (USA) limits labor law remedies available to migrants who have “irregular” immigration status.
Topics addressed in this Amicus Brief:
- Unscrupulous Employers Use Threats of INS Raids to Chill Immigrants’ Exercise of Their Workplace Rights.
- Retaliatory Threats of INS Raids are Common when Workers Seek to Enforce Rights under the NLRA
- Without Back Pay As a Deterrent, Employer Incentive to Hire and Abuse Undocumented Workers is High.
- Employers in Many Industries Hire Undocumented Workers Despite IRCA.
- Employer Sanctions Provide no Deterrent to Employers who would Retaliate.
Agriprocessors Postville, Iowa, (December 8 2008) Court of Appeals Eighth Circuit. Washington Square Legal Services, Inc. and New York University Law School represented amici including Legal Momentum filing an amicus brief seeking reversal of the decision by the Court of Appeals from the Eighth Circuit in the case of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)’s workplace raid at the Agriprocessors meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa. ICE demonstrated the practical effects of failing to require knowledge of the defining element of 18 US.C. § 1028A—whether the identification at issue is “of another person.” In Postville, the crime of aggravated identity theft, which carries a two-year mandatory sentence enhancement, was stretched to reach immigrant workers with low levels of culpability. The Eighth Circuit’s reading produced arbitrary results. These arbitrary results were not necessary, as Congress’s false document scheme provides for independent and flexible punishment when immigrants knowingly use false documents. By extending the charge of aggravated identity theft beyond its intended bounds, the Eighth Circuit’s reading of 18 U.S.C. § 1028A contravened the bedrock criminal law principle that punishment should be calibrated to culpability. This brief argues that the Court should therefore limit its interpretation of the knowledge requirement in 18 U.S.C. § 1028A to reinforce the link between culpability and punishment and avoid undermining Congress’ immigration law.
Topics addressed in this Amicus Brief:
- The Workplace Immigration Raid in Postville, Iowa Showed How an Overbroad Interpretation of 18 U.S.C. § 1028A Operates in Practice……..6
- Postville Demonstrated How Failing to Require Knowledge of THE Defining Element of 18 U.S.C. § 1028A Destroys the Link Between Punishment and Culpability………………8
- Evidence Shows that Large Numbers of Agriprocessors Workers Did Not Know That They Were Using Another Person’s Social Security Number……………….9
- A One-Size-Fits-All Approach to Punishment Based on the Eighth Circuit’s Reading of 18 U.S.C. § 1028A Contrasts Sharply with Congress’s Standard Treatment of Immigration Consequences of False Document Offenses…………………..16
- Congress’s Immigration Regime Employs a Complex Classification System that Distinguishes between Different Kinds of Document Offenses………….17
Chrismy Sagaille v. Christina Carrega, (August 10 2020) Supreme Court of New York, Appellate Division. NIWAP assisted the National Women’s Law Center providing expertise on immigrant survivors’ experiences with sexual assault and signed on to an amicus brief filed in the Supreme Court of New York, Appellate Division. This amicus was filed on behalf of a number of women’s groups protecting sexual assault survivors from retaliatory defamation suits by their named assailants. Plaintiff’s claims for libel per se and defamation fail, complaint dismissed on order of Supreme Court (Opinion by Manzanet-Daniels) (03/09/2021).
Topics addressed in this Amicus Brief:
- Sexual Assault and Other Forms of Sexual Harassment Are Pervasive and Underreported, And Survivors Routinely Face Retaliation. …………………………….. 18
- Sexual Assault and Other Forms of Sexual Harassment Are A Systemic Problem. …………………18
- By Inferring Malice Solely Because Ms. Carrega Reported Sexual Assault, the Decision Below Relies on Harmful Sex Stereotypes and Renders Qualified Privilege Illusory. ……………………………37
- A Qualified Privilege Protects Individuals Who Report Misconduct to Law Enforcement and Other Authorities. …………………………………………………………………. 37