Page:Pugin v. Garland.pdf/5

Rh Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, noncitizens convicted of an “aggravated felony” are removable from the United States. 8 U. S. C. §1227(a)(2)(A)(iii). The Act defines “aggravated felony” to cover a broad range of federal and state crimes. See §1101(a)(43).

In 1996, Congress passed and President Clinton signed legislation that expanded the definition of “aggravated felony” to include offenses “relating to obstruction of justice, perjury or subornation of perjury, or bribery of a witness, for which the term of imprisonment is at least one year.” §1101(a)(43)(S); 110 Stat. 1278; id., at 3009–628.

This Court has generally used the “categorical approach” to determine whether a prior conviction qualifies as an “aggravated felony” under §1101(a)(43). Esquivel-Quintana v. Sessions, 581 U. S. 385, 389 (2017); Moncrieffe v. Holder, 569 U. S. 184, 190 (2013). Under that approach, courts look to “the elements of the statute of conviction, not to the facts of each defendant’s conduct.” Taylor v. United States, 495 U. S. 575, 601 (1990). The Court’s role here is not to fashion a separate federal obstruction offense, but rather to determine which federal or state offenses “relat[e] to obstruction of justice.”

The question in this case is whether an offense “relat[es] to obstruction of justice” under §1101(a)(43)(S) even if the offense does not require that an investigation or proceeding be pending. Dictionary definitions, federal laws, state laws, and the Model Penal Code show that the answer is yes: An offense “relat[es] to obstruction of justice” even if the offense does not require that an investigation or proceeding be pending.

To begin, dictionaries from the time of §1101(a)(43)(S)’s enactment in 1996 demonstrate that obstruction of justice generally does not require a pending investigation or proceeding. To take an illustrative formulation, obstruction of justice covers “the crime or act of willfully interfering