Obama Nominates Joseph A. Greenaway, Jr. For The Third Circuit

On June 19, 2009, President Obama nominated Joseph A. Greenaway, Jr., a federal district court judge in Newark, NJ for a seat on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.

How about a cursory, incomplete, rough scan over some immigration-related cases he decided or was involved in?

• Abdelfattah v. US DHS, 488 F.3d 178 (3d Cir. 2007), in part overturning Judge Greenaway's district court ruling: FOIA litigation where ICE, FBI, and other agencies claimed an exemption because records were compiled for law enforcement purposes. Third Circuit partly upheld Judge Greenaway but partly overturned him because there was insufficient evidence to conclude that the FBI conducted a proper search for documents. In fact, the FBI never submitted any affidavit to describe its search.
• Sasonov v. US, 575 F. Supp. 2d 626 (D.N.J. 2008): overturned a conviction because defense counsel in criminal court gave incorrect advice about the immigration consequences of a guilty plea.
• Kestelboym v. Chertoff, 538 F. Supp. 2d 813 (D.N.J. 2008): district court has subject matter jurisdiction to review a naturalization application even if DHS files an NTA after the case began in district court.
• Naul v. Gonzales (D.N.J. 2007): rejecting international law as supposedly having "no bearing on this case" even though asylum-seeker might arguably have protections under international law.
• Pisciotta v. Ashcroft, 311 F. Supp. 2d 445 (D.N.J. 2004): allowing ongoing detention under the government's stay of an IJ's ruling. Relied on regulations that dictate that the BIA resolve custody appeals "as soon as practicable." Would be interesting to see whether Judge Greenaway's confidence in the BIA's compliance with its rules and regulations will be shaken if he reviews immigration appeals at the Third Circuit.