v.
FALEFATU aka FATU FA'AMAONI, Defendant
High Court of American Samoa
Trial Division
CR No. 63-89
__________
The Court may correct an illegal sentence at any time. T.C.R.Cr.P. 35.
A motion for a new trial in a criminal case "shall be filed within 10 days after the announcement of judgment or sentence." A.S.C.A. § 46.2402(a).
The ten-day time limit to file a motion for a new trial is mandatory and jurisdictional; errors of law not raised within ten days of judgment or sentence are waived, at least insofar as they concern the right to appeal. A.S.C.A. §§ 43.0802(a), 46.2402(8).
The formal style or caption of a motion for a new trial is not essential to fulfill the statutory requirement; nor must the motion specifically request a new trial rather than some lesser or different form of relief, as long as the asserted errors are susceptible of such relief. A.S.C.A. § 43.0802(a), 46.2402(a).
What is essential to a motion for a new trial is that it be filed within the statutory period and that it fully apprises the court of the asserted errors in the judgment or sentence, so that the trial court may consider for itself whether any such errors occurred and make appropriate corrections.
Insofar as T.C.R.Cr.P. 35 purports to extend or abolish the mandatory deadline for alleging errors of law in a criminal sentence, it is in direct conflict with the statute; as such, the statute must prevail over the judge-made rule. A.S.C.A. § 43.2402(a). T.C.R.Cr.P.35.
Although T.C.R.Cr.P. 35 is derived, almost verbatim, from the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, the federal courts are not subject to a statutory , jurisdictional limitation such as applies to the High Court of American Samoa. A.S.C.A. § 43.2402(a); T.C.R.Cr.P. 35; Fed. R. Crim. P. 35.
Because the High Court's rules were promulgated solely on its own authority, they must give way to territorial statutes defining the court's jurisdiction, unless the statutes themselves are unconstitutional.
In some cases, such as when an illegal
sentence was pronounced on a defendant unrepresented by counselor when the
circumstances surrounding an error of law made it impossible for counsel to
call it to the Court's attention within ten days, a statutory ten-day
[17ASR2d115] limit might amount to an unconstitutional denial
of liberty without due process of law.
The High Court has continuing jurisdiction to terminate or modify the conditions of probation throughout the entire term of probation. A.S.C.A. § 46.2205.
An untimely motion for a new trial was construed to be one to terminate conditions of probation. A.S.C.A. §§ 46.2205.
The High Court has the power to impose detention as a condition of probation for a period equivalent to one-third of the maximum sentence of imprisonment authorized by law. A.S.C.A. § 46.2206.
Probation's public protection purpose includes the protection of particular people from the probationer, as well as deterring the probationer from future misconduct.
Conditions of probation are valid if they are reasonably related either to rehabilitation or to public protection, at least if the entire sentence considered as a whole was reasonably calculated to achieve both of these purposes. A.S.C.A. §§ 46.2205
Under the 1987 amendment to the probation statute, sentencing judges are free to impose probation for reasons other than the rehabilitation-related provisions of the statute. A.S.C.A. §§ 46.2203, 46.2206.
That a criminal may be unable to determine the exact punishment and exceptions to punishment does not render criminal statutes unconstitutional; a person is only entitled to know the maximum punishment available.
No constitutional right to rehabilitation at public expense exists, nor do statutes authorizing rehabilitation programs or early release give any particular criminal a constitutionally protected "liberty interest" in participating in them.
Although federal courts have generally held
that it is beyond the power of a sentencing court to order that the defendant
leave the jurisdiction, such orders have been a regular feature of criminal
sentences in
Criminal convictions are proper grounds for deportation. A.S.C.A. §§ 41.0616(4), (6), (9), (10), (11), (16); 8 U.S.C. § 1251(a)(5), (11), (14), (15), (16).
The mere fact that a person who has
committed a serious crime is required for that reason to return to his own
country is not, absent extraordinary circumstances, either cruel or unusual.
American Samoa, unlike the fifty states and the other territories of the United States, is specifically excluded from the scope of federal immigration laws and has, pursuant to congressionally-delegated authority, enacted its own immigration laws. 8 U.S.C. § 1101(13), (29), (36), (38); A.S.C.A., Title 41.
American Samoa is an unorganized, unincorporated territory; accordingly, the federal Constitution applies here only insofar as its tenets restate "those fundamental limitations in [17ASR2d116] favor of personal rights" that are "the basis of all free government," or which have been specifically made applicable by Act of Congress.
The Revised Constitution of
Requiring a probationer to reside in a certain place may be imposed for the protection of the public, particularly the victim and others who may have assisted in the prosecution, and to remove the defendant from an environment found to have contributed to his criminal behavior.
No substantive due process right exists for not being deported.
Under its "unorganized and
unincorporated" status,
The right to interstate travel is a substantive, virtually unqualified constitutional right, but international travel can be regulated within the limits of due process. U .S. Const. Amend. V.
The freedom to travel is one of the freedoms a convicted criminal may lose; therefore, a requirement that a convict spend part or all of his probation outside the Territory does not unconstitutionally abridge any such right.
The basis of the
Although not supreme, independent, or
sovereign,
The power to expel aliens is a fundamental, sovereign power exercised by the political branches of government.
The sole, stated purpose of the
territorial immigration statute is to preserve the "limited land
resources, water, sewage facilities, and educational and economic
opportunities" of
In imposing conditions of probation, the sentencing judge is well-situated to know whether a particular offender needs to be insulated from his past environment, his associates, his victim, or those who assisted in his prosecution, as well as the best methods to assure such insulation.
Persons deemed deportablc
under the immigration statute are almost invariably deemed excludable from
readmission; but in many circumstances, they be readmitted at the [17ASR2d117]
discretion of
The Court's power over probationers is strictly limited to the term of the probation. which may not exceed five years. A.S.C.A. § 46.2204.
Legislative inaction in the face of judicial statutory construction strongly suggests agreement with, or at least acquiescence in, the judicial interpretation of those laws.
When the legislature re-enacts a statute or adopts amendments to it "without a suggestion of disagreement" with a prior judicial construction, a very strong presumption exists that the legislature has adopted the prior construction.
A person who has been "convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude committed within 5 years after any entry" is deportable; if he were outside the territory, he would be excludable as a convicted felon. A.S.C.A. §§ 41.0615(8), 41.0617(4).
Before REES, Associate Justice, and VAIVAO, Associate Judge.
Counsel: For Plaintiff, John Wilks, Assistant Attorney General
For Defendant, Charles V. Ala'ilima
On Motion for Reconsideration of Sentence:
I. Facts and Procedural History
On
The Court accepted defendant's guilty plea to the lesser charge and ordered a pre-sentence investigation. The facts contained in the pre- sentence report, which defendant did not contest either prior to sentencing or in connection with the present motion, reveal a sexual assault on a thirteen-year-old girl by Mr. Fa'amaoni (hereinafter "defendant") and two other adult males. Defendant, who was then twenty years old, appears to have been the ringleader. The probation officer who conducted the pre-sentence investigation noted that the victim [17ASR2d118]
suffered both physically and mentally. ...She sustained bruises and scratches on her body. She reported having nightmares and is seeing a psychiatrist for therapy. She expressed fear for herself and wants the court to keep Defendants as far away from her as possible.
The pre-sentence investigator added that "[t]here is also concern for Defendant[']s welfare because of victim's father and family who have vowed revenge." He noted that defendant Fa'amaoni has been in trouble before, has a serious alcohol problem, and currently lives with his alcoholic father and generally absent mother in a situation that seems calculated to exacerbate these problems. The probation officer concluded that defendant "definitely needs help" and that "[t]he problem is again his home and the lack of authority it exerts." He also recommended that sentence be calculated to give the victim and her family a "lengthy separation" from defendant.
The sentence recommended by the probation officer was substantially identical to that subsequently pronounced by the Court. Defendant was sentenced to serve five years in the Correctional Facility, with execution of sentence suspended and the defendant placed on probation for five years on condition that the defendant:
(1) actually serve a twenty-month period of detention in the correctional facility, not to be released during this time for any reason other than medical emergencies;
(2) upon the conclusion of the detention period, depart
(3) participate in alcohol counseling programs;
(4) consume no alcoholic beverages;
(5) have no contact with the victim or her family; and
(6) be a law abiding citizen.
Defendant now moves for reconsideration of his sentence. The motion for reconsideration was made some 99 days after the announcement of sentence. Although A.S.C.A. § 46.2402(a) provides that "a motion for new trial shall be filed within 10 days after the announcement of judgment or sentence," defendant relies on the provision of Rule 35 of the Trial Court Rules of Criminal Procedure to the effect that "[t]he Court may correct an illegal sentence at any time." [17ASR2d119]
Defendant argues that the first two conditions of his probation are illegal. These are the conditions that he serve twenty months of probationary detention with no release except for medical emergencies and that he then depart the Territory for the remainder of the probationary period.
With respect to the condition that defendant
depart the Territory for the latter part of his probationary period, the
following facts are relevant: Defendant is a citizen of
II. Jurisdiction
At the outset, we note an apparent conflict between A.S.C.A. § 46.2402 and T.C.R.Cr.P. Rule 35.
The former provision, governing prerequisites to appeal in criminal cases, requires in pertinent part that "a motion for a new trial shall be filed within 10 days after the announcement of judgment or sentence." A.S.C.A. § 46.2402(a) (emphasis added). The ten-day time limit set forth in this section and in its civil counterpart, A.S.C.A. § 43.0802, is mandatory and jurisdictional; errors of law not raised within ten days of judgment or sentence are waived, at least insofar as concerns the right to appeal. See, e.g., Taulaga v. Patea, AP No.19-89 (Opinion and Order issued November 2, 1990); Kim v. Star-Kist Samoa, Inc., 8 A.S.R.2d 146 (1988); Government of American Samoa v. King, AP No. 19-1970; Judicial Memorandum No. 2-87, 4 A.S.R.2d 172 (1987). The formal style of the motion ---for new trial, reconsideration, amendment of judgment, arrest of judgment, vacation of sentence, etc.---has never been held essential to fulfillment of the statutory requirement. Nor is it essential that the motion specifically request a new trial rather than some lesser or different form of relief from the judgment or sentence, provided that the errors asserted by the motion are susceptible of such relief. What is essential is that some motion be filed within the statutory period [17ASR2d120] which fully apprises the Court of the asserted errors in the judgment or sentence, so that the trial court may consider for itself whether any such errors occurred and make appropriate corrections, thereby obviating unnecessary appeals. See, e.g., Taulaga v. Patea, supra; Kim v. Star-Kist Samoa, Inc., supra, 8 A.S.R.2d at 146-47; Government of American Samoa v. King, supra; Judicial Memorandum No. 2-87, supra.
Insofar as the cited provision of Rule 35 purports to extend or abolish the mandatory deadline for alleging errors of law in a criminal sentence, it is in direct conflict with the statute. In cases of such conflict the statute, enacted pursuant to the power of the Fono to define and reasonably restrict the jurisdiction of the High Court, must prevail over the judge-made rule. Cf. Vessel Fijian Swift v. Trial Division, 4 A.S.R. 983 (1975); Fanene v. Govermnent of American Samoa, 4 A.S.R. 957 (1968).(1)
Rule 35 was imported almost verbatim from the
Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. This is one of a number of instances in
which it appears that the committee that compiled the
In some cases ---as when an illegal sentence was pronounced on a defendant unrepresented by counsel, or when the circumst3nces surrounding an error of law were such as to have made it impossible for counsel to call it to the Court's attention within ten days ---a requirement such as that imposed by A.S.C.A. § 46.2402(a) might amount to an unconstitutional denial of liberty without due process of law. No such special circumstances have been shown or alleged in the present case.
This Court does, however, have continuing jurisdiction to terminate or modify the conditions of probation throughout the entire term of the probation. A.S.C.A. § 46.2205. The matters raised by the present motion, although no longer ripe for reconsideration under A.S.C.A. § 46.2402 insofar as they allege defects in the original sentence, might well inform the Court's discretion with respect to whether conditions of probation should be terminated or modified. We therefore construe the present motion as one addressed to our discretion under A.S.C.A. § 46.2205 to terminate the two conditions of probation to which the defendant objects.
III. Detention as a Condition of Probation
Defendant's objection to the condition that he actually serve twenty months in the Correctional Facility, with no release except for medical emergencies, raises exactly the same arguments that were fully considered and rejected by the Appellate Division in the recent case of Atuatasi v. American Samoa Government, 9 A.S.R.2d 67 (1988).
In Atuatasi the
Court held that the 1987 amendment to A.S.C.A. § 46.2206, permitting the Court
to impose detention as a condition of probation for a period equivalent to
one-third of the maximum sentence of imprisonment authorized by law for the
crime in question, "has given the probation statute an entirely different
purpose" than that reflected in the older and more general statements of
statutory purpose on which defendant now relies. 9 A.S.R.2d
at 78. Defendant argues, as did the unsuccessful appellant in Atuatasi: (1) that probation can only be imposed
where institutional confinement is not necessary for the protection of the
public, and (2) that each condition of probation must be "rehabilitative"
rather than "retributive." However, Atuatasi
upheld a sentence of detention as a condition of probation which had been
imposed "precisely because the trial court determined that [the defendant]
posed too great a [17ASR2d122] danger to the community if he
were eligible for work release or similar early release programs."
The whole purpose of the 1987 amendment, as recounted at some length by the trial court in Atuatasi, was to ratify and extend judicial power to use probationary detention in order to prevent prisoners deemed especially dangerous by the sentencing judge from being released almost immediately on furloughs, work releases, unsupervised and open-ended work details, and other euphemistic devices by which convictions and sentences could be effectively cancelled.
Atuatasi v. Moaali'itele,
8 A.S.R. 53, 57, aff'd sub. nom. Atuatasi v. American Samoa Govenment,
9 A.S.R.2d 67 (1988). Yet this is the very complaint the present defendant
makes about his sentence: that it denies him access to "rehabilitative
programs" by which he would be allowed "unsupervised release from the
correctional facility." (Memorandum in Support of Motion
for Reconsideration, p. 4.) It was precisely such forms of
"rehabilitation" that the legislature gave the Court the power to
control in 1987. To argue otherwise "entirely ignores
the history of this enactment." Atuatasi
v.
Defendant's argument also appears to rest on the erroneous assumption that no punishment which is "retributive" can also be "rehabilitative." On the contrary, we believe that allowing this defendant to come and go freely from the correctional facility---as still appears to happen even with the most violent criminals when the conditions of their [17ASR2d123] confinement are left in the sole discretion of prison officials(3)---would neither punish nor rehabilitate. While this defendant clearly needs help, much of the help he needs is to be taught that human actions have consequences. In our judgment, imposing a moderately serious punishment (one year and eight months of actual detention) for a most serious crime is more likely to bring about a genuine change of heart in this defendant than allowing him a chance to secure early release by "playing the system." Moreover, it is especially important in our judgment that defendant have no contact during the next few years with his victim or with her family. All these goals will be better served, in our judgment, by the sentence we imposed than by a "straight" sentence of five years with no conditions.(4)
[17ASR2d124] Finally, defendant notes that Atuatasi "did not address the constitutional issues raised by the [probationary detention] statute." He does not, however, go on to tell us what these issues might be.
The only trace of a constitutional attack on A.S.C.A. § 46.2206 in defendant's motion or supporting memorandum is a closing observation to the effect that "[i]n the end it is impossible for an individual defendant to determine from the written law what the punishment for crime will be and what rehabilitative help he will be able to receive." This observation has very little to do with the particular statutory provision to which defendant takes exception; rather, it applies as well or nearly as well to almost any modern statutory scheme providing for the punishment of crimes. The laws of American Samoa, without A.S.C.A. § 46.2206, provide not only for imprisonment and fines but also for parole and probation, which may be subject to a variety of conditions, some specified in the statute, some not. The law also provides for pardons at the entire discretion of the Governor. There is no way that a person who is thinking about committing a crime can know in advance exactly which combination of these punishments and exceptions to punishments he may receive.
What everyone can know, and is entitled to know, is that if he is convicted of a class D felony he can be sentenced to serve no more than five years in jail and to pay no more than a $5000 fine. Whether a particular person will actually serve or pay less than these maximum amounts is subject in varying degrees to the discretion of the Court, of the Governor, of the parole board, and of the people who happen to be running the prison at the time the person is sent there. The "unpredictability factor" posed by the additional discretion given the Court by A.S.C.A. § 46.2206 is certainly no greater than that inherent [17ASR2d125] in the pardon power, in the institution of parole, or in probation itself. Defendant had exactly the same notice at the time he committed his crime that he might receive probationary detention as that he might be sentenced to pay a fine or that he might become eligible for parole and yet not be paroled. That he could not know for sure about any of these things does not render the statutes governing them unconstitutional.(5)
IV. Departure from the Territory as a Condition of Probation
At the conclusion of his twenty months of detention in the correctional facility, defendant is to serve the remainder of his probationary period (about three years and six months) outside the Territory. Defendant now raises a host of objections to this condition.
Many of these objections find some support in
cases decided by
A. Cruel and Unusual Punishment
One case, and only one, has held that a condition
requiring a defendant to leave the
As has been noted by later courts and
commentators, the "cruel and unusual" part of the Dear Wing Jung
holding is without precedent and is difficult to reconcile with the historical
bases of the Eighth Amendment. See, e.g., U.S. v.
Martin, 467 F.2d 1366, 1368 (7th Cir. 1972) (citing Gordon &
Rosenfeld, Immigration Law and Procedure, at § 9.22); 21 Am.Jur.2d, Criminal
Law §§ 624, 627. Indeed, far from being considered cruel and unusual at
common law, "banishment and deportation to criminal colonies was a common
method of punishment in
This last observation by the Baum court is important. If it were truly "cruel and unusual" to send someone back to his home country because he had committed a crime, then such a requirement should be no less unconstitutional if imposed by an executive or administrative agency than if by a court. Yet the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service regularly deports people because they have been convicted of crimes. See 8 U.S.C. §§ 1251(a)(5), (11), (14), (15), (16). So does the Attorney General of American Samoa upon the recommendation of the territorial Immigration Board. See A.S.C.A. §§ 41.0616(4), (6), (9), (10), (11), (16). Although there are, as we shall discuss, persuasive arguments that judicial "banishment" of a criminal may be importantly different than "deportation" of the same criminal by an immigration board, these arguments have more to do with the sources and limitations [17ASR2d128] of institutional authority than with the nature of the punishment itself. The mere fact that a person who has committed a serious crime should be required on that account to return to his own country is not, absent extraordinary circumstances, either cruel or unusual.
B. Other Constitutional Arguments
Much the same can be said for defendant's contention that requiring him to spend part of his probationary period outside the Territory violates his "due process rights, travel rights, and. ...equal protection rights." Defendant provides neither analysis nor authority for these assertions; deportation of convicted criminals under the immigration laws has consistently withstood challenges on all of the grounds now raised.
Equal Protection
Under the law of the
Assuming but not deciding that the federal equal protection clause is susceptible of any application at all to the immigration laws of American Samoa,(9) neither that provision nor any paramount interest of the federal government is offended by treating aliens differently from citizens with respect to the right to remain in the Territory after committing a crime.(10) [17ASR2d130]
Due Process
For the same reasons that requiring an alien to
leave the country does not deny him the equal protection of the laws,
"there is no substantive due process right not to be deported." Linnas v. Immigration and Naturalization Service,
790 F.2d 1024, 1031 (2d Cir. 1986); see Harisiades,
supra, 342
Right to Travel
It is undeniable that the defendant's sentence
restricts his freedom to travel, as criminal sentences tend to do. What has
been called the "right to travel," however, has generally been
grounded in the Privileges and Immunity Clause of the United States
Constitution (art. IV, § 2) or in other provisions having to
do with the peculiar inappropriateness of barriers to free passage of goods and
people within a federal union. See generally Zobel
v. Williams, 457
Moreover, the United States Supreme Court
"has often pointed out the crucial difference between the freedom to
travel internationally and the right of interstate travel." Califano v. Aznavorian,
439
Finally and most importantly, the freedom to
travel is perhaps the most obvious of the freedoms a person is liable to lose
when he is convicted of committing a crime. It would not be an unconstitutional
abridgement of a convict's right to travel if he should be sentence to serve
five years in a penitentiary that happened to be outside the Territory. Olim
v. Wakinekona, 461
There can be no doubt that [defendant's] right to interstate travel was extinguished upon his valid convictions and imprisonment. ...Since parole in a foreign state is clearly less punitive than imprisonment in a foreign state, it cannot be deemed unconstitutional.
See also People v. Ison, 346 N. W.2d 894, 896 (Mich. App. 1984) (citations omitted):
A criminal conviction constitutionally deprives the defendant of much of his liberty; convicts retain some constitutional rights, but those rights are subject to restrictions imposed by the nature of the regime to which they have been lawfully committed. ...A probationer retains only those rights which are consistent with his probationary status. ...A condition of probation restricting the probationer's right to travel may therefore be imposed without violation of the constitution.
In sum, the problem with "judicial
banishment" is clearly not that it violates an individual right of the
convict to remain in the jurisdiction where he committed his crime. Rather, the
problems found by
C. Federalism, Separation of Powers, and Statutory Interpretation
State courts are agencies of state governments, which have no power to regulate interstate or international immigration. Neither a state court nor any other state agency can require people to leave the country, because the Constitution commits exclusive power over international relations to the federal government. Nor can such an agency require people to leave the state, because open interstate borders are deemed an essential element of the federal union ordained by the Constitution:
The American states are not supreme, independent,
sovereign states in relation to those things delegated by the people to the
federal government, though the states are all in the
Baum, supra, 231 N.W. at 96.
Although
With respect to questions having to do with travel in and out of the jurisdiction. therefore. the High Court of American Samoa is not in the position of a state court. This Court is an agency of a government which does have the power to "exclud[e] legally and forcibly undesirable foreigners." Baum, supra, 231 N.W. at 96. In this respect the High Court is analogous to a federal court.
There appears to be no constitutional obstacle to
an order by a federal court that probation be served outside the jurisdiction
in which the crime was committed, and federal statutes clearly contemplate such
orders.(12) In Bagley, supra, a
federal parolee was required to move from
Federal court orders that a probationer remain
outside the
The federal immigration law charges the Attorney General with the administration and enforcement of the chapter of the United States Code pertaining to immigration d also of all other laws "relating to the immigration and naturalization of aliens." Hernandez, supra, at 351, quoting 8 U.S.C. § 1103(a). Significantly, the federal statute also provides:
In any case in which an alien is ordered deported
from the
8 U.S.C. § 1252 (emphasis added). This final authority of the Attorney General would appear to apply even when someone has been ordered to leave the country under an "other law or treaty" not specifically pertaining to immigration or naturalization. If, therefore, a federal court order that a probationer leave the country should be regarded as a lawful exercise of judicial authority under the probation statute, the order might then be subject to review and possible veto by the Attorney General under 8 U.S.C. § 1252. This scenario "raises difficult questions about possible conflicts between judicial independence and the Attorney General's final authority under section 1252" and therefore "suggests that the probation statute. ..should not be read to authorize de facto deportation orders." Jalilian, supra, at 448-49.
It is important to notice that the exclusive power of the Attorney General over admission and deportation of aliens, although sometimes described in terms of "separation of powers," is a matter of statutory interpretation rather than constitutional command. The federal cases do not stand for the proposition that there is anything inherently "executive" rather than "judicial" about ordering a convicted criminal to leave the country. On the contrary, "Congress might have given the courts a role in determining deportability" but "chose not to." Hernandez, supra, at 351. [17ASR2d136]
The federal decisions, with the exception of Dear
Wing Jung, also seem to recognize that in the absence of a pre-emptive
commitment of exclusive power to another branch, an order that a probationer
move from the scene of his crime to the place of his birth and citizenship
would at least sometimes be within the general authority of courts to grant
probation "upon such terms and conditions as the court deems best."
18 U.S.C. § 3651, quoted in
The decisions holding that this otherwise broad
power stops at the water's edge have relied not only on the explicit language
of the federal immigration statutes, but also on a long and unbroken tradition
that the power to expel aliens is" a fundamental sovereign attribute
exercised by the Government's political departments largely immune from
judicial control." Jalilian, supra,
at 448 (quoting Fiallo v.
any policy toward aliens is vitally and intricately interwoven with contemporaneous policies in regard to the conduct of foreign relations, the war power, and the maintenance of a republican form of government. Such matters are so exclusively entrusted to the political branches of government as to be largely immune from judicial inquiry or interference.
Harisiades, supra,
342
The situation of
Moreover, the tradition here with respect to
judicial involvement in immigration matters is quite different than the
tradition in the
This difference between the historic allocation
of authority among the co-ordinate branches of government in
The sole stated purpose of the territorial
immigration statute is to preserve the "limited land resources, water,
sewage facilities, and educational and economic opportunities" on the
seventy-six square miles that comprise
The executive power to deport "undesirables" and the judicial authority over probationers differ markedly not only in purpose but also in scope. Persons deemed deportable under the immigration statute are almost invariably deemed excludable from readmission. See A.S.C.A. §§ 41.0615-41.0616. Such persons may, however, in many [17ASR2d139] circumstances be readmitted at the discretion of the Immigration Board and the Attorney General. See, e.g., A.S.C.A. §§ 41.0613, 41.0617. The practical result is that the Attorney General often has discretion to deport someone and keep him out for life. The Court's power over probationers, in contrast, is strictly limited to the term of the probation, which may not exceed five years. A.S.C.A. § 46.2204. At the end of this time the probationer may be readmitted by the Immigration Board and the Attorney General whether or not the Court considers readmission to be a good idea.
There is, in other word, no necessary conflict
between the two statutory schemes relating to probation and to immigration,
although they may sometimes generate similar results. The very worst that can
be said is that some probation orders might seek to reform an offender or to
protect his victims at the expense of what would otherwise be considered an
optimal allocation of water, sewage facilities, or educational opportunity; or
that some administrative deportation orders might seek to conserve such
resources by ridding the Territory of convicts who, from the standpoint of
rehabilitation and public protection, might just as well be allowed to stay.
These risks are a far cry from the spectre of
interference with "foreign relations, the war power, and the maintenance
of the republican form of government." Harisiades,
supra, 342
In any event, the judiciary has exercised this
facet of the probation power for a period spanning at least ten Chief Justices,
even more Attorneys General, and any number of Legislatures. Its exercise has
had but little quantitative effect on immigration policy taken as a whole, but
has figured importantly in the administration of justice. In
Since 1964 the Fono has substantially revised and/or recodified the immigration statutes on at least eight occasions. Act of 10 Jan 1972, P.L. No. 12-50; Immigration Act of 1984, P.L. No. 18-52; P.L. No. 10-65 (1968); P.L. No. 11-58 (1969); American Samoa Criminal Justice Act of 1979, P.L. No. 16-43 § 2 (1979); P.L. No. 18-16 § 1 (1983); P.L. No. 20-15 § 1 (1987); P.L. No. 20-56 (1988). It would be fatuous to suppose that the members of the Fono have been unaware during all this time of the frequent and open resort by the judiciary to conditions of probation such as the one to which defendant now objects. Had the Fono disapproved of this long-standing judicial application of the probation statute (or of the equally obvious practical construction of the [17ASR2d140] immigration statute as imposing no restriction on judicial power to prescribe the conditions of probation), it had the power to abolish the practice by statute. On the contrary, however, the only legislative actions that can be construed as expressing legislative approval or disapproval of judicial policy with respect to probation were the 1983 and 1987 amendments to A.S.C.A. § 46.2206. These amendments sought explicitly to increase the flexibility afforded the judiciary with respect to probation, and implicitly abolished any previous requirement that terms of probation be designed exclusively to rehabilitate. See Atuatasi, supra, 9 A.S.R.2d at 78.
Legislative inaction in such circumstances
strongly suggests agreement with, or at least acquiescence in, the judicial
interpretation of the laws in question.
The practical construction long placed on the American Samoa probation and immigration statutes,(16) together with the Fono's conspicuous failure for least a quarter of a century to restrain the Court from imposing conditions like the one now at issue, convince us that such conditions encroach neither upon the legislative power to prescribe punishment nor upon the powers delegated to the executive branch by the immigration statute.
D. Public Policy
Having determined that the disputed condition of defendant's probation is neither unconstitutional nor prohibited by law, we are left to decide whether such a condition is a reasonable exercise of our probation power. [17ASR2d141]
The reported opinions rejecting "judicial banishment" as a sentencing option seem to have been motivated not so much by the specific constitutional and statutory arguments raised therein as by related questions of public policy. Some courts have gone so far as to lay down a rule that it is always contrary to public policy for one jurisdiction to "dump" a convict on another. See, e.g., State v. Doughtie, 74 S.E.2d 922 (N.C. 1953); Johnson v. State, 672 S.W.2d 621 (Tex. App. 1984). The forcefulness with which this rule is stated tends to vary inversely with the analysis offered in its support; in most cases the court simply invokes a term such as "dumping" or "banishment" and considers the point won. See, e.g., Dear Wong Jung, supra; Johnson, supra. In other cases, however, the anti-dumping rule has been explained by reference to three main arguments:
1) That requiring a person to leave or stay out
of the state is inconsistent with federalism. This concern was best articulated
by the
2) That such a condition cannot be consistent with rehabilitation, since the Court cannot supervise the probationer once he is outside the Court's jurisdiction, and cannot be consistent with public protection, since the probationer is no less likely to commit crimes in one jurisdiction than in another. See Abushaar, supra, at 761 F.2d at 959- 60, and authorities cited therein.
3) That "banishment, " although perhaps not a cruel and unusual punishment within the meaning of the Constitution, is nevertheless a harsh one. "Through the ages the lot of the exile has been hard." Doughtie, supra, 74 S.E.2d at 924; see Abushaar, supra, 761 F.2d at 959.
For reasons we have discussed, federalism is not
a major concern in
The remaining arguments are not without force, but they state only one side of the case and they depend heavily on the circumstances.
One of the most important circumstances of the present case is that the defendant chose to commit his crime in a tiny jurisdiction in [17ASR2d142] which, if neither incarcerated nor "banished," he is virtually certain to have frequent chance encounters with his terrified fourteen-year-old victim and with members of her family. The condition that defendant leave the Territory was imposed by the Court primarily in the belief that the young victim of this crime is entitled to a longer respite from contact with the defendant than can be afforded by the twenty-month detention period. This concern is manifestly related to public protection, at least in light of the pre-sentence investigator's findings about the victim's mental state. Although it is always possible that the defendant could commit another crime no matter where he might be, our primary concern at the time of sentencing was that the defendant would do further harm to his victim in American Samoa, whether or not he should commit another crime.
Nor is it always true that a condition can have no rehabilitative effect simply because it will not be administered by a probation officer. In this case it was deemed important for the defendant's own good to insulate him from contact with the victim's family and with his companions in crime.
Finally, the Court was of the opinion that a
sojourn in his native village in
Recent cases have recognized that rehabilitation
may sometimes be served by keeping a person away from the environment that
contributed to his crime ---and that putting some distance between the criminal
and his victim may be justified as reasonably related to public protection.
Thus, in Cothran, supra, a probationer
was required to stay [17ASR2d143] out of his home county,
which includes
A requirement that a probationer live outside
American Samoa is equivalent in many ways to a requirement that he live outside
a particular township or a very small county in the United States. The
practical effect of the order in the present case is that the defendant will
almost certainly reside sixty miles away on his native
Nor (although this would not necessarily be dispositive) can we discern that the condition will bring about any important changes in defendant's immigration status. He would presently appear to be deportable under A.S.C.A. § 41.0617(4) as a person who has been "convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude committed within 5 years after any entry, " and if he were out of the Territory he would be excludable as a convicted felon under A.S.C.A. § 41.0615(8). In either event the Attorney General may have discretion to allow him to return and/or remain. See A.S.C.A. § 41.0617. Any other practical effects on defendant's life are likely to be wholly salutary.
We conclude that the condition that defendant reside outside the Territory during part of his probation is not unduly harsh and is reasonably related to the purposes of probation. We therefore decline to revoke the condition.
V. Conclusion and Order
Insofar as the motion is intended as a motion for new trial under A.S.C.A. § 46.2402(a) or is intended to be in lieu of such a motion, it is denied for want of jurisdiction.
Insofar as the motion is addressed to our discretion under A.S.C.A. § 46.2205 to revoke or modify the conditions of probation at any time during the period of probation, it is denied on the merits.
It is so Ordered.
********
1. In Fanene
the defendant argued that he had the right to appeal an allegedly unlawful
sentence some six months after it had been announced, on the ground that under
the Revised Constitution of American Samoa "the legislature had no power
to enact C.A.S. 3.0502 [the then-applicable thirty-day time limit for appeals]
or any laws governing the jurisdiction, operations or procedures of the
Judiciary." 4 A.S.R. at 961. The Appellate
Division rejected this contention and held that the sentence could only have
been appealed within thirty days of the time it was announced.
2. In rejecting the contention that detention under A.S.C .A. §§ 46.2206 must be "rehahibitative" rather than "retributive," the appellate opinion in Atuotosi referred to the legislative history of the statute ''as detailed by the court below." 9 A.S.R.2d at 78. That account of the legislative history is reported in the trial court opinion at 8 A.S.R.2d at 60-It includes the observation that prior to 1987
[a] convict's access to various forms of early release depended more on having a personal relationship with some government official inside or outside the prison ---for a time it seemed that almost any official would do, and that almost every prisoner had some such relationship ---than with any formal criteria.
3. See, e.g., In
re A Juvenile, UTC 103186 (partial transcript of
Initial Appearance,
THE COURT: Sir, what's your name?
MR. TALAMOA: Paulo Talamoa.
THE COURT: Aren't you supposed to be serving a court sentence at this time?
MR. TALAMOA: Yes, Your Honor. I've been released on work release, Your Honor.
THE COURT: Who released you on work release?
MR. TALAMOA: I do not have an understanding of that, but I think it's from the Commissioner and also from the Correctional Facility.
THE COURT: How long have you been on work release?
MR. TALAMOA: It's not a year now.
About eighteen months before, the Chief Justice
had sentenced Mr. Talamoa to serve forty years in the
Correctional Facility for two counts of Murder in the Second Degree.
4. Defendant's argument that no condition of probation is valid unless it will help to rehabilitate the probationer relies heavily on the fact that our probation statute, A.S.C.A. § 46.2201 et seq., is modeled after the recently repealed federal probation statute. Contrary to defendant's position, however, the federal circuit courts were unanimous in recognizing that a condition was valid under the former statute if it served the purpose of rehabilitation or public protection. See, e.g., United States v. Stine, 646 F.2d 839, 843 n.7 (3d Cir. 1981); United States v. Tomy, 605 F.2d 144, 148 (5th Cir. 1980); United States v. Torrez-Flores, 624 F.2d 776, 783-84 (7th Cir. 1980); United States v. Consuelo-Gonzalez, 521 F.2d 259, 263-64 (9th Cir. 1975). "Public protection" includes the protection of particular people from the probationer as well as the deterrence of future misconduct by the probationer himself ("specific deterrence"). See Tomy, supra, 605 F.2d at 148; United Slates v. Abushaar, 761 F.2d 954, 959 (3d Cir. 1985).
The only substantial disagreement among the
circuits has been about whether a condition can be upheld on the sole ground
that it is a form of punishment, or that it will deter others from committing
offenses such as that of the defendant ("general deterrence"). Compare
Tomy, supra, 605 F.2d at 148 with Abushaar, supra, 761
F.2d at 959. Some Ninth Circuit cases
suggest a somewhat different test: that particular conditions can be designed
primarily for public protection or even for general deterrence so long as all
the conditions construed together should contribute to rehabilitation. See, e.g., Consuelo-Gonzalez, supra, at
266-67. Even the Ninth Circuit has recognized that provisions designed
to rehabilitate and/or to protect the public may have an incidental punitive
effect. Higdon v.
Even prior to the 1987 amendment, therefore, conditions of probation were valid under A.S.C.A. § 46.2205 provided that they were reasonably related either to rehabilitation or to public protection, at least if the entire sentence considered as a whole was reasonably calculated to achieve both of these purposes. Since the 1987 amendment, moreover, sentencing judges are free to impose probation "precisely the opposite reasons" than the rehabilitation-related recitals contained in A.S.C.A, § 46.2203 and in the parallel provision of the former federal law. Alualasi, supra, at 79.
5. To answer a constitutional
argument hinted at even more obliquely by the defendant, there is no
constitutional right to rehabilitation at public expense. Marshall v. Parker,
470 F.2d 34, 38 (9th Cir. 1972), aff'd 414
U.S. 417 (1974). Nor does the enactment of statutes authorizing the creation of
particular rehabilitative programs---or , more to the present point, of
opportunities for early release ---give any particular criminal a
constitutionally protected "liberty interest" in being allowed to
participate in them. See Greenholtz
v.
6. See, e.g., Dear
Wing Jung v. United States, 312 F.2d 73 (9th Cir. 1962); United States
v. Abushaar, 761 F.2d 954 (3d Cir. 1985); United
States v. Hernandez, 588 F.2d 346 (2d Cir. 1978); Dear Wing Jung v.
United States, 312 F.2d 73 (9th Cir. 1962); People v. Baum, 231 N.W.
95 (Mich. 1930), 70 A.L.R. 99 (1931); State v. Doughtie,
74 S.E.2d 922 (N.C. 1953); Johnson v. State, 672 S.W.2d 621 (Tex. App.
1984). But see
United States v. Cothran, 855 F.2d 749 (11th Cir.
1988); United States v. Martin, 467 F.2d 1366 (7th Cir. 1972); State
v. Collett, 208 S.E.2d 472 (
7. See, e.g., Government of American Samoa v. Aonga, CR No. 93-1964 (leave Territory and not return); Government of American Samoa v. Vaoga, CR No. 91-1964 (leave Territory and not return); Government of American Samoa v. Patu, CR No.48-1966 (leave and never enter illegally again); Government of American Samoa v. Mamoe, CR No. 1001-74 (three years outside Territory); Government of American Samoa v. Moamoa, CR No. 928-73 (live years outside Territory); Government of American Samoa v. Vatuia, CR No.157-75 (never return to Territory except to change planes or ships); Government of American Samoa v. Pauli, CR No.138-75 (leave Territory forever); Government of American Samoa v. Wootton, CR No. 119-75 (one year outside Territory); Government of American Samoa v. Ieremia, CR No.1081-74 (leave Territory for unstated term); Government of American Samoa v. Leilua, CR No.51-81 (eighteen months outside Territory) Government of American Samoa v. Tunu, CR No.39-81 (five years outside Territory) Government of American Samoa v. Fuimaono, CR No.35-81 (two years outside Territory) American Samoa v. Uiliata, CR No. 2-86 (fifty weeks in detention, leave Territory for the remainder of five-year probation); American Samoa Government v. Haro, CR No. 7 (four years outside Territory); American Samoa Government v. Lloyd, CR No. l0-87 (leave the Territory after serving three years of detention and not re-enter for balance of twenty-five year sentence); American Samoa Government v. Wong, CR No. 86-88 (ninety days detention, depart American Samoa and not return during the remainder of five years probation); American Samoa Government v. Tualevao, CR No. 93-88 (two years detention. remainder of five-year probationary period outside Territory); American Samoa Government v. Fa'atiga, CR No.29-89 (six months confinement, leave Territory for remainder of five-year probation); American Samoa Government v. Lia, CR No.67-89 (twenty months incarceration, remainder of five year probation outside Territory). See also Government of American Samoa v. Mata'afa, CR No.13-82 (reside with uncle on the island of Ta'u during three year probation period, not return to island of Tutuila without permission of Court). This list is illustrative and includes only a fraction of the cases in which such a condition has been imposed.
8. In American Government
v. Meleisea, CR No. 84-89, the
Court sentenced the defendant to serve two years of probation outside the
Territory. The defendant moved for a new trial on the ground that this part of
the sentence was illegal. The Court then modified the sentence so as to
eliminate the condition, basing its decision solely on the ground that (1)
although originally charged with a felony, the defendant had been convicted
only of a Class C misdemeanor for which the maximum jail term was fifteen days;
and (2) defendant had already been incarcerated for more than fifteen days
before posting bail. The Court stated from the bench, however, that conditions
requiring probationers to spend some time outside the Territory were frequently
imposed and were appropriate in some circumstances.
9.
The Revised Constitution of American Samoa, promulgated in 1967 under the authority of the Secretary of the Interior, contains no equal protection clause.
10. In any event, the premise of defendant's equal protection argument ---that requiring probation to be spent outside the Territory "is merely a punitive measure" which "is only used against foreign nationals"---is incorrect. Although the imposition of such a condition on a citizen presents somewhat different constitutional, philosophical, and practical problems than in the case of an alien, this is an extraordinarily small island, and the Court has occasionally ordered a particularly troublesome or troubled convict to leave it for a while even though he was not only a resident but also a citizen.
Thus, in American Samoa Government v. Haro, CR No.8-87, an American Samoan who had been raised in California and who had committed manslaughter shortly after returning to Samoa was required to spend a year of his probation in detention and the remaining four years outside the Territory; the record reflects that the Court expected him to reside with his grandmother in the United States.
In American Samoa Government v. Satele, CR No. 8-81, the defendant was found to have
committed two homicides but to have been not guilty of murder by reason of
insanity. The court accepted psychiatric testimony offered by defendant to the
effect that temporary insanity had been triggered by the strains of living on a
small island and by pressures imposed by the matai
system. Among other conditions of defendant's release from a psychiatric
hospital was that he "reside with his wife in
In American Samoa Government v. Mata'afa, CR No. 12-82, a young first offender who had been born on the
We express no opinion on the constitutionality of the "banishments" in Haro, Satele, and Mata'afa other than to observe that they suggest the Court has not traditionally viewed such conditions as punishment or as a back-door way of deporting undesirable aliens. Rather, the conditions appear to have been imposed for the same reasons we imposed a similar condition on the present defendant: for the protection of the public, with particular reference to the victim and others who may have assisted in the prosecution, and to remove the defendant from an environment found to have contributed to his criminal behavior.
11. See note 9, supra,
and authorities cited therein. Cf. Barnard v. Thorsten, 489
12. See 18 U.S.C. § 3563(b)(14) (court may require a probationer to "reside in a specified place or area, or refrain from residing in a specified place or area"); id. § 3605 (" A court, after imposing a sentence, may transfer jurisdiction over a probationer. ..to the district court for any other district to which the person is required to proceed as a condition of his probation or release. ..."). Cf. 28 C.F.R. § 2.33(b) (a parolee should be released to the place of his residence "unless. ..another place of residence will serve the public interest more effectively or will improve the probability of the applicant's readjustment.").
13. See also Alonzo v. Rozanski, 808 F.2d 637 (7th Cir. 1986), upholding the
refusal of a probation officer to let a paroled drug offender move to a house
he had bought in Florida, where there were already too many drug offenders for
probation officers to supervise." Alonzo's control of abode was
extinguished for the entire term of his sentence, by the judgment of
conviction."
14. 18 U.S.C. § 3651 has
recently been repealed and replaced by 18 U.S.C. §§ 3563, quoted in note 12
supra, which explicitly gives courts the power to require probationers to
reside in or outside of particular places. However, in Jalilian,
supra, the Tenth Circuit held that even this language should not be read as a
grant of power to require a probationer to leave the country. As discussed in
the text supra, this holding rested not on the language of the new probation
statute itself, but on the possibility that "de facto deportation
orders" might be reviewable by the Attorney
General and thus raise questions about the independence of the judiciary.
15. We do not know just when the practice began, because the records of our criminal cases before the mid-1960s are practically nonexistent. The presiding judge in the two 1964 cases was Chief Justice Morrow, who had held that office since 1937; to say that a practice or procedure in the High Court of American Samoa dates back to Morrow is to say that the memory of man runs not to the contrary.
16. It is a measure of the breadth of the consensus behind this construction that the Attorney General, whose power the defendant says we are usurping, has frequently recommended that the Court require convicts to spend part or all of their probationary period outside the Territory.
17. Although it was and is
our intention that defendant should go to live with his extended family in Lepa or in some similar village, our order does not
strictly require this. Rather, the defendant is effectively given the run of