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Court Cases ›


UNITED STATES V. HELAMAN HANSEN

Free Speech, Civil Liberties
Court Type: U.S. Supreme Court
Status: Ongoing
Last Update: February 17, 2023


WHAT'S AT STAKE

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This case is about whether the First Amendment permits criminal punishment of
speech that merely encourages a noncitizen to remain in the United States,
without any requirement of intent to further illegal conduct, and when remaining
in the United States unlawfully is itself not a crime.


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SUMMARY

A federal law, 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1)(A)(iv) (the “encouragement provision”),
makes it a felony to “encourage[] or induce[] an alien to come to, enter, or
reside in the United States, knowing or in reckless disregard that such coming
to, entry, or residence is or will be in violation of law.” Violating the
encouragement provision carries a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment,
while a separate penalty enhancement provision raises this maximum to ten years
when the violation is committed “for the purpose of commercial advantage or
private financial gain.”

The encouragement provision violates the First Amendment because it criminalizes
a wide swathe of constitutionally protected speech. Its plain terms make it a
crime for a grandmother to say she doesn’t want her undocumented grandchild to
leave her, a doctor to advise her patient with an expiring student visa that the
patient needs medical treatment provided only in the United States, a priest to
inform a noncitizen parishioner whose employment authorization is ending about
church child-care and pantry resources that would support her remaining, and a
lawyer to counsel an out-of-status noncitizen that she has the ability to become
a lawful permanent resident if she does not leave the country. All such speech
is a crime, even though the conduct it “encourages” is at most a civil violation
of law. And the statute makes such speech a crime without any showing that the
speaker intended to encourage the listener to violate the law, or that a
violation was likely or imminent.

This case has implications for freedom of speech outside of the context of
immigration. Other protected political expression—from arguing for peaceful
civil disobedience, to academic work advocating violations of environmental and
zoning regulations, to broad encouragements to “resist” Court rulings—could
readily satisfy the government’s standard of “encouraging” lawbreaking, given
the wide range of behavior that is civilly regulated. But the First Amendment
protects such abstract advocacy of unlawful conduct.

United States v. Helaman Hansen is on appeal from the U.S. Court of Appeals for
the Ninth Circuit. The U.S. Supreme Court has calendared the case for oral
argument on March 27, 2023. The ACLU is counsel in the case with the Office of
the Federal Defender for the Eastern District of California.


LEGAL DOCUMENTS

U.S. Supreme Court
08/25/2022
Petition of United States for Writ of Certiorari
10/28/2022
Brief of Respondent Helaman Hansen in Opposition
11/14/2022
Reply of Petitioner United States to Brief in Opposition
01/18/2023
Brief of Petitioner United States
01/18/2023
Joint Appendix
02/17/2023
Brief of Respondent Helaman Hansen
03/17/2023
Reply Brief of Petitioner United States


PRESS RELEASES

Feb 21, 2023


ACLU, Federal Defender’s Office Argue to Supreme Court that First Amendment
Protects Speech that Merely Encourages Undocumented Persons to Remain in U.S.

ACLU, Federal Defender’s Office Argue to Supreme Court that First Amendment
Protects Speech that Merely Encourages Undocumented Persons to Remain in U.S.



NEWS & COMMENTARY

Under This Law, Encouraging Undocumented Immigrants to Seek Shelter Could Be a
Crime




Under This Law, Encouraging Undocumented Immigrants to Seek Shelter Could Be a
Crime
Support our on-going litigation and work in the courts Donate now


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 * Civil Liberties

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