by Tony Mauro and Daniel Wise
"The question of whether the role of the criminal defense lawyer has been affected by the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Padilla v. Kentucky, 08–651, will be the focus of a task force established last week by the American Bar Association's criminal justice section.
"The goal is to explore the obligations on lawyers to advise clients about the consequences of criminal convictions and help criminal defense lawyers understand and meet those responsibilities.
"In Padilla, the Court found that a defense lawyer's failure to advise a client that a guilty plea would have deportation consequences for the client amounted to "constitutionally deficient" representation.
"The ruling has had repercussions not only for lawyers representing immigrants. It is being used in cases where guilty pleas have had consequences in other areas, including employment, child custody and housing. An Alaska appeals court, invoking Padilla, ruled recently that a prima facie case of ineffective assistance of counsel had been made by a client who had been told incorrectly by his lawyer that his no-contest plea in an assault case would not be used against him in a lawsuit for civil damages.
"The new ABA task force will look not only at the specific obligations created by the Padilla decision and other rulings applying it, but also at the broader implications for the role of defense lawyers."
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