In re Naturalization of Russo

FRANKEL, District Judge.

The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, like its predecessors, requires aliens to demonstrate “good moral character” in order to qualify for citizenship, 8 U.S.C. § 1427(a) (3), or for other benefits, id., §§ 1254, 1259(c), 1435(b), 1438(b) (1), and 1439(e). In its application to the substantial fraction of us *232who are neither beasts nor angels, the required judgment is not necessarily an easy one. Notions of “character” and “morality” are, to say it briefly, diverse. They are compounded of complex, rarely articulated, and subjective premises. But it offends widely…