Kansas Judge Throws Out Convictions Of Undocumented Immigrants, Ruling In Favor Of Free Speech

Thank you, my friend PO1 William "Chip" Nagel for making us aware.
"U.S. District Judge Carlos Murguia's ruling concerned a law passed by Congress in 1952 and amended several times since." is unconstitutional.
I expect that U.S. District Judge Carlos Murguia's ruling is focused U.S. Code § 1324.(B) (i) and (ii)
U.S. Code § 1324. (B) A person who violates subparagraph (A) shall, for each alien in respect to whom such a violation occurs—
(i) in the case of a violation of subparagraph (A)(i) or (v)(I) or in the case of a violation of subparagraph (A)(ii), (iii), or (iv) in which the offense was done for the purpose of commercial advantage or private financial gain, be fined under title 18, imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both;
(ii) in the case of a violation of subparagraph (A)(ii), (iii), (iv), or (v)(II), be fined under title 18, imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both; "

According to the statute:
U.S. Code § 1324. (B) A person who violates subparagraph (A) shall, for each alien in respect to whom such a violation occurs—
U.S. Code § 1324. (B) (iii) during and in relation to which the person causes serious bodily injury (as defined in section 1365 of title 18) to, or places in jeopardy the life of, any person, be fined under title 18, imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both;
U.S. Code § 1324. (B) (iv) "resulting in the death of any person, be punished by death or imprisoned for any term of years or for life, fined under title 18, or both. "

U.S. Code § 1324.Bringing in and harboring certain aliens
"(a)Criminal penalties
(1)
(A)Any person who—
(i)knowing that a person is an alien, brings to or attempts to bring to the United States in any manner whatsoever such person at a place other than a designated port of entry or place other than as designated by the Commissioner, regardless of whether such alien has received prior official authorization to come to, enter, or reside in the United States and regardless of any future official action which may be taken with respect to such alien;
(ii)knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that an alien has come to, entered, or remains in the United States in violation of law, transports, or moves or attempts to transport or move such alien within the United States by means of transportation or otherwise, in furtherance of such violation of law;
(iii)knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that an alien has come to, entered, or remains in the United States in violation of law, conceals, harbors, or shields from detection, or attempts to conceal, harbor, or shield from detection, such alien in any place, including any building or any means of transportation;
(iv)encourages or induces an alien to come to, enter, or reside in the United States, knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that such coming to, entry, or residence is or will be in violation of law; or
(v)
(I)engages in any conspiracy to commit any of the preceding acts, or
(II)aids or abets the commission of any of the preceding acts,
shall be punished as provided in subparagraph (B).
(B)A person who violates subparagraph (A) shall, for each alien in respect to whom such a violation occurs—
(i)in the case of a violation of subparagraph (A)(i) or (v)(I) or in the case of a violation of subparagraph (A)(ii), (iii), or (iv) in which the offense was done for the purpose of commercial advantage or private financial gain, be fined under title 18, imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both;
(ii)in the case of a violation of subparagraph (A)(ii), (iii), (iv), or (v)(II), be fined under title 18, imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both;
(iii)in the case of a violation of subparagraph (A)(i), (ii), (iii), (iv), or (v) during and in relation to which the person causes serious bodily injury (as defined in section 1365 of title 18) to, or places in jeopardy the life of, any person, be fined under title 18, imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both; and
(iv)in the case of a violation of subparagraph (A)(i), (ii), (iii), (iv), or (v) resulting in the death of any person, be punished by death or imprisoned for any term of years or for life, fined under title 18, or both.
(C)It is not a violation of clauses [1] (ii) or (iii) of subparagraph (A), or of clause (iv) of subparagraph (A) except where a person encourages or induces an alien to come to or enter the United States, for a religious denomination having a bona fide nonprofit, religious organization in the United States, or the agents or officers of such denomination or organization, to encourage, invite, call, allow, or enable an alien who is present in the United States to perform the vocation of a minister or missionary for the denomination or organization in the United States as a volunteer who is not compensated as an employee, notwithstanding the provision of room, board, travel, medical assistance, and other basic living expenses, provided the minister or missionary has been a member of the denomination for at least one year.
(2)Any person who, knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that an alien has not received prior official authorization to come to, enter, or reside in the United States, brings to or attempts to bring to the United States in any manner whatsoever, such alien, regardless of any official action which may later be taken with respect to such alien shall, for each alien in respect to whom a violation of this paragraph occurs—
(A)be fined in accordance with title 18 or imprisoned not more than one year, or both; or
(B)in the case of—
(i)an offense committed with the intent or with reason to believe that the alien unlawfully brought into the United States will commit an offense against the United States or any State punishable by imprisonment for more than 1 year,
(ii)an offense done for the purpose of commercial advantage or private financial gain, or
(iii)an offense in which the alien is not upon arrival immediately brought and presented to an appropriate immigration officer at a designated port of entry,
be fined under title 18 and shall be imprisoned, in the case of a first or second violation of subparagraph (B)(iii), not more than 10 years, in the case of a first or second violation of subparagraph (B)(i) or (B)(ii), not less than 3 nor more than 10 years, and for any other violation, not less than 5 nor more than 15 years.
(3)
(A)Any person who, during any 12-month period, knowingly hires for employment at least 10 individuals with actual knowledge that the individuals are aliens described in subparagraph (B) shall be fined under title 18 or imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or both.
(B)An alien described in this subparagraph is an alien who—
(i)is an unauthorized alien (as defined in section 1324a(h)(3) of this title), and
(ii)has been brought into the United States in violation of this subsection.
(4)In the case of a person who has brought aliens into the United States in violation of this subsection, the sentence otherwise provided for may be increased by up to 10 years if—
(A)the offense was part of an ongoing commercial organization or enterprise;
(B)aliens were transported in groups of 10 or more; and
(C)
(i)aliens were transported in a manner that endangered their lives; or
(ii)the aliens presented a life-threatening health risk to people in the United States."
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/8/1324

The 1952 Law "authorizes up to five years in prison for anyone who "encourages or induces an alien to come to, enter, or reside in the United States, knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that such coming to, entry, or residence is or will be in violation of law."
The statute tacks on another five years to the sentence if the defendant acted "for the purpose of commercial advantage or private financial gain."

I had to chuckle when I read "The company and its principal owner, Keith L. Countess, were also indicted for violating the statute" I certainly understand why the principal owner was indicted. However indicting a company seems to se ludicrous to me :-)

No surprise that the "9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco found the law violated the First Amendment, saying it was "unconstitutionally overbroad” because it "criminalizes a substantial amount of protected expression."

The [Federal] "government is likely to appeal Murguia's decision to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers Kansas. A decision by the 10th Circuit overturning Murguia's ruling would create a conflict between two federal circuits, setting the stage for a possible Supreme Court decision to resolve the issue.
Jim Cross, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney for the District of Kansas, said in an email that his office "is evaluating the judge’s ruling at this time" and had not made a decision about its next step."
FYI LTC John Shaw SFC Jack Champion SGT Steve McFarland LTC (Join to see) SGT Jim Arnold SPC Woody Bullard SPC Jon O. COL Mikel J. Burroughs

Interesting read.