Court: Just being in U.S. isn't illegal

While unauthorized entry into the United States is illegal, being in the country after having entered illegally is not necessarily a crime, according to a new ruling by the Kansas Court of Appeals.

In a Barton County case, a three-judge panel issued an opinion Friday that a judge could not deny probation and order jail time for convicted drug dealer Nicholas L. Martinez based solely on the grounds that Martinez is an unauthorized immigrant.

"While Congress has criminalized the illegal entry into this country, it has not made the continued presence of an illegal alien in the United States a crime unless the illegal alien has previously been deported and has again entered this country illegally," Judge Patrick McAnany wrote for the court majority.

What tortured logic this is. Working under this line of twisted rational a person robbing a bank would only be comitting a criminal during the actual taking of the money. If he gets out of the bank without getting caught he is no longer breaking the law so he would no longer be committing an illegality therefor couldn't be prosecuted. JEEEEZ.