Pubdate: Fri, 13 Feb 2004 Source: Register-Guard, The (OR) Copyright: 2004 The Register-Guard Contact: http://www.registerguard.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/362 Author: Rukmini Callimachi, Associated Press Related: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04/n156/a02.html?397, Related: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04/n161/a01.html?5657 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/kari+rein PARDON COULD HELP WOMAN STAY HERE PORTLAND - A Norwegian woman facing deportation for a 12-year-old marijuana conviction is eligible for a pardon, a federal judge said Thursday. But Kari Rein's chance to prove that growing six plants of marijuana in 1992 is not an offense large enough to warrant losing her right to live in the U.S. will not come for another three months. Rein, 42, an Oregon resident since 1988, is entangled in a web of laws dating to 1996, three years after she performed 240 hours of community service and paid a $1,200 fine for growing marijuana in her Southern Oregon mobile home. The new law calls for immigrants who have committed one of 40 minor crimes, including first time drug offenses, to be deported - even if they have already fulfilled their sentence. But the law also allows for a trial before an immigration judge, to seek a permanent pardon for the earlier crime. In December, Rein, 42, was separated from her husband and children at the Seattle airport, as they returned from a vacation to Norway. It was her eighth trip back to Oslo since her 1993 marijuana conviction, but using new security technology installed after Sept. 11, that time customs officials her green card. She was sent to an Oregon jail where she waited for three weeks without bail, until a lawyer intervened. Judge Michael Bennett said media reports had incorrectly described the government's actions as tied to the Patriot Act. ``This is not a national security case - it's a perfectly ordinary case,'' he said. The new technology installed at the nation's airports is intended to catch potential terrorists. But because it also brings up an immigrant's past conviction record, it catches people such as Rein. Norwegian newspapers, which have taken an intense interest in Rein, have used her case as an illustration of America's exaggerated vigilance. One of the main issues on the table, Bennett said, is whether or not Rein's crime counts as an ``aggravated felony'' as defined for the purpose of an immigration hearing. The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which oversees cases in Oregon as well, ruled that possession of small amounts of marijuana is not an aggravated felony. ``Growing marijuana is always different than possession,'' Bennett said. Rein's attorney plans to argue that, like a possession of less than an ounce of marijuana, growing six plants is too minor of an infraction to warrant deportation. But prosecuting attorney Margaret Rosenat said, ``It does still appear to be a trafficking offense on its face.'' ` `It doesn't feel quite real,'' said Rein, flanked by her husband of 16 years, who is a U.S. citizen. ``What people don't realize is that immigration laws have been continually tightened up. This new law is breaking families apart.'' - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin