SUPPRESSING DEFENDANTS IDENTITY AND OTHER STRATEGIES FOR DEFENDING AGAINST A CHARGE OF ILLEGAL REENTRY AFTER DEPORTATION

In this note, Daniel P. Blank explores an innovative defense to the fe deral crime of illegal reentry by an alien after deportation in violat ion of 8 U.S.C. 1326. Due to recent legislative and judicial developme nts regarding section 1326, few traditional defenses remain viable for the vast majority of defendants charged with illegal reentry. Since s uccessful prosecution requires only that a defendant be identified as a deported alien in the country without permission, most defendants ar e powerless to avoid federal prison terms of up to twenty years, even if the conduct of the federal officers in locating and arresting them was egregiously unconstitutional. To address this problem, Blank propo ses that, where the conduct of the officers is egregious, a defendant' s identity be excludable from criminal proceedings under section 1326.