A Breakdown of Legal Challenges to SB 1070
A federal judge has blocked the most controversial portions of the law while lawyers battle over it in court. But the case—or cases—move on. Here’s a look at the seven lawsuits challenging Arizona’s anti-immigrant law, along with a breakdown of the constitutional protections the critics argue the law violates.
- via ColorLines
Department of Justice and MALDEF Go To Federal Court Today To Stop SB 1070 A federal judge in Phoenix will hear what may be the two strongest challenges to Arizona’s immigration law Thursday. The new law requires local police to verify a person’s status during any stop if there is reasonable suspicion that the person is in the U.S. illegally. The two lawsuits are seeking an injunction to keep the immigration law from taking effect next week. One focuses on the idea that the law, known as SB 1070, will promote racial profiling; the other, brought by the U.S. Justice Department, says that only Congress, not states, can enact immigration laws. Read More, Here. - via npr.org
Almost immediately after Arizona governor Jan Brewer signed S.B. 1070 into law, lawsuits were filed in federal court in Arizona challenging the law. The lawsuits all seek the same result—a halt to the law’s enforcement—although each suit argues different grounds. Some suits cite civil liberty violations, racial profiling and unlawful regulation of federal immigration law, while another suit states that the police training videos exacerbate conflicts between federal and state law. As July 29, 2010, the date S.B. 1070 is set to go into effect, draws near, litigants and supporters on both sides of the lawsuits are seeking swift resolutions. Ultimately though, the timing of any resolution will depend on the court.
Read More, Here.
- via Immigration Impact
Related: Secretary Solis Continues the Drum Beat for Immigration Reform, But Is Anyone Listening?
Arizona shouldn’t have to suffer from the country’s broken immigration system when it has 15,000 police officers who can arrest illegal immigrants, state attorneys argued Thursday in the first major hearing on challenges to a strict new immigration law.
John Bouma, an attorney representing the state, said federal authorities haven’t done an adequate job of lessening Arizona’s immigration woes, such as criminal immigrants who have assaulted police officers.
But allowing Arizona to carry out its own immigration law violates all court decisions that hold that only the federal government can handle immigration, said Stephen Montoya, an attorney for Phoenix police Officer David Salgado, who filed the lawsuit.
Read More, Here.
- via The AP/Matt York
A federal judge will hold the first major court hearing in one of the seven legal challenges to Arizona’s new immigration law.
U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton was scheduled to hear arguments Thursday over Gov. Jan Brewer’s request to dismiss the challenge filed by Phoenix police Officer David Salgado and the statewide nonprofit group Chicanos Por La Causa.
Read More, Here.
The Department of Justice Officially Files Lawsuit Challenging SB 1070
“In this action, the United States seeks to declare invalid and preliminarily and permanently enjoin the enforcement of S.B. 1070, as amended and enacted by the State of Arizona, because S.B. 1070 is preempted by federal law and therefore violates the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution.”
Read complaint, here. Read personal declarations, here. - via DoJ
Mexico on Tuesday asked a federal court in Arizona to declare the state’s new immigration law unconstitutional, arguing that the country’s own interests and its citizens’ rights are at stake.
Lawyers for Mexico on Tuesday submitted a legal brief in support of one of five lawsuits challenging the law. The law will take effect July 29 unless implementation is blocked by a court.
The law generally requires police investigating another incident or crime to ask people about their immigration status if there’s a “reasonable suspicion” they’re in the country illegally. It also makes being in Arizona illegally a misdemeanor, and it prohibits seeking day-labor work along the state’s streets.
Citing “grave concerns,” Mexico said its interest in having predictable, consistent relations with the United States shouldn’t be frustrated by one U.S. state.
Read More, Here.
- via The AP
Piénsenle. Si van más de 23 Mil asesinados en la guerra contra el crimen, entonces 49 niños son ‘daños colateral’.
Link: Mexican High Court Unwilling to Point Fingers in Daycare Blaze - via EFE
CHIRLA: Know Your Rights! + ACLU Downloadable Card
Produced by the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of L.A., shows you your rights in case of a raid by immigration authorities or a police intervention. To order a high quality, full-length version of this film with subtitles and dubbing copy of DVD for classroom or business use, go to chirla dot org.
Download: ACLU’s ‘Know Your Rights Card’, Here. More Information, Here.
Arizona Legal Expert Discusses Pearce’s SB 1070
“It puts Arizona in the same position in 2010… as the segregationists were in in the South in the 1960’s.” - David Seldon
Millions of cell phone customers risk losing service in Mexico because they have not registered with the government, as now required by law. Mexico’s government had hoped to crack down on rampant extortion and kidnapping threats, but about 25 percent of customers appear to be reluctant to share their private information. “Alex,” who did not wish for his last name to be used, said he is familiar with the extortion attempts. “Sometimes they just call you and tell you, ‘I know who you are, and your family,’ and they scare you,” he said. “It’s frightening. That’s why I’d rather not register it.” Alex is one of many Mexicans who don’t trust the government to protect their personal information from criminals. Already, many phone users have had their service disconnected. Alex carries two phones. If his Mexican phone is shut off, he hopes to be able to use another handset from a U.S. cell phone carrier that works on both sides of the border. Two phone companies in Mexico are challenging the law in court, and there are still questions about when the government will verify all the information. Several customers have reportedly registered as “Felipe Calderon, Mexico’s President.” Americans who bring their cell phones into Mexico are exempt from the registration requirements. - via wfaa-tvCell Phone Law Leaves Some Mexicans Wary
Mendez vs. Westminster: Para Todos Los Ninos/For All the Children Part II
Learn More About This Historic Case: Here and Here.
Mendez vs. Westminster: Para Todos Los Ninos/For All the Children Part I
Tells the story of segregation and discrimination in Orange County schools. Mendez vs. Westminster offers a living history of one of the most important stories in the American Civil Rights Movement. In May 2004, America celebrated the 50th anniversary of the historic Brown v. Board of Education decision that ended legalized segregation.
Sylvia Mendez was a third-grader in 1943, a time not so long ago, when students from different races were required to enroll at separate campuses. When she and her siblings were banned from attending the segregated all-white campus near their Orange County home, the Mendez family fought back. Their 1946 victory desegregated public schools in Orange County and became a precedent for broader decisions.
One year later, upon the victory of the appeal in the Ninth Circuit Court, then Governor Earl Warren stopped segregation in all California public schools.
Read More, Here.
Several couples wed at the Municipal Palace in Mexico City, which legalized same-sex marriage in December. The law has been challenged by the federal government.
The mayor was there. So were the protesters. Judith Vazquez wore an ivory wedding dress. So did her bride.
Vazquez and Lol Kin Castaneda on Thursday became the first gay couple to marry in Mexico under a new law that allows same-sex couples to wed and to adopt children.
The law was passed by the Mexico City legislature in December and applies only to the capital. It is the most far-reaching gay-rights law in Latin America and one of several measures that have put the city and its leaders at odds with the more conservative country.
“This is a historic day,” presiding judge Hegel Cortes said shortly after pronouncing Vazquez and Castaneda “legitimately united in matrimony.” Three other same-sex couples also tied the knot.
Actress and feminist activist Jesusa Rodriguez’s flight was delayed and she missed the event; she and her partner of 30 years were wed later in a separate ceremony.
The city put on quite a show, despite harsh criticism from the conservative ruling party that governs the nation and from the influential Roman Catholic Church.
Read More, Here.
- via latimes.com
