Benitez judge wants 287(g) info shared with criminal court system
By Jared Allen, jallen@nashvillecitypaper.com
June 21, 2007

Partially in response to news that illegal immigrant Victor Benitez — who police have charged with the vehicular homicide of TSU senior Joycelyn Gardiner — had twice been through the Nashville court system only to receive mild sentences, at least one Nashville judge is now saying that he will no longer accept plea agreements for known illegal immigrants.

In fact, General Sessions Court Judge Casey Moreland said on Wednesday morning that he notified Sheriff Daron Hall’s staff that he wants any and all immigration information — obtained by the Sheriff’s Office through the 287(g) immigration enforcement program — on criminal defendants listed next to their names on the case docket the judge receives each day.

Moreland said now that 287(g) is screening every foreign-born person booked into the Metro jail for near-instant information on their immigration status, there is no reason that General Sessions judges are not provided with that information by the time criminal defendants make their first court appearances.

“Ninety-five percent of what we do on this docket is accept plea bargaining agreements that have already been arranged between the District Attorneys and the defendant’s attorneys,â€