Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Federal Judge Blocks Major Parts Of Arizona's SB 1070 Making It Useless

U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton

Major legal victory for USDOJ and the majority of the public who opposed the Arizona SB 1070 state law

By H. Nelson Goodson
July 28, 2010

Phoenix, Arizona - On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton ruled to block major controversial parts of Arizona's SB 1070 making the state law useless until seven lawsuits are resolved. Bolton's ruling gave a big blow and setback to Governor Jan Brewer's anti-immigration law, which required state and local police officers to ask for legal status, if they suspected someone was illegally in the country during investigations. The decision sets precedent on how the actual case will be resolved and Arizona's anti-immigrant groups who supported the measure will needlessly spent millions of dollars to try and overturn the expected final ruling. The case could take up to 3 years to resolve and might end up in the U.S. Supreme Court.
Governor Brewer said, her lawyers are closely looking into Bolton's ruling to block certain provisions of SB 1070 and plans to appeal the decision on Thursday in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. But most likely, a federal appeals judge will concur with Judge Bolton.
Judge Bolton's SB 1070 injunction ruling blocks officers from asking the legal status of people during investigations, requiring people to carry alien registration documents at all times, making it a crime for undocumented immigrants to solicit, perform or apply for work, and warrantless arrests.
 "Requiring Arizona law enforcement officials and agencies to determine the immigration status of every person who is arrested burdens lawfully-present aliens because their liberty will be restricted while their status is checked... The court also finds that the United States is likely to suffer irreparable harm if the court does not preliminarily enjoin enforcement of these Sections of (the law) and that the balance of equities tips in the United States' favor considering the public interest," U.S. District Judge Bolton wrote in a 36-page decision.
Judge Bolton's ruling gave a major victory for the U.S. Department of Justice, six other groups and civil rigths organizations and the majoring of the public who opposed the discriminatory Arizona SB 1070 measure. The ruling sends the other 9 states that are considering a similar SB 1070 law a warning that the federal government will challenge their anti-immigrant state laws, resulting in an expensive legal battle as Arizona is facing today.
SB 1070 was scheduled to take effect by midnight.
On Tuesday, the Fremont Nebraska City Council decided to suspend the implementation of an anti-immigrant ordinance barring the hiring and renting to illegal immigrants. Fremont is facing several lawsuits and city officials expect to spent at least $1 million to enact the ordinance per year.
Two other cities had passed similar measures, but federal judges struck down those measures. In July 2007, the City of Hazleton, Pennsylvania measure in Lozano v Hazleton was ruled that immigration law should be left for the federal government and the federal judge declared it unconstitutional as well. Hazleton is appealing the ruling.
In May 2008, the Farmers Branch, Texas measure banning landlords from renting to illegal immigrants was declared unconstitutional by a federal court. Both cities have not been able to enact similar measures in four years, due to lengthy and costly court challenges.

To complete Judge Bolton's ruling click: http://bit.ly/aWVo5q


Text of Federal Judge Susan Bolton's Partial Injunction Against Arizona Immigration Law

FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

United States of America Plaintiff
vs
State of Arizona; and Janice K. Brewer Governor of the State of Arizona, in her Official Capacity Defendants

No. CV 10-1413-PHX-SRB


ORDER At issue is the Motion for Preliminary Injunction filed by Plaintiff the United States
("Pl.'s Mot.") (Doc. 27)

I. SUMMARY

Against a backdrop of rampant illegal immigration escalating drug and human trafficking crimes, and serious public safety concerns, the Arizona Legislature enacted a set of statutes and statutory amendments in the form of Senate Bill 1070, the "Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act," 2010 Arizona Session Laws Chapter 113, which Governor Janice K. Brewer signed into law on April 23, 2010. Seven days later, the Governor signed into law a set of amendments to Senate Bill 1070 under House Bill 2162, 2010 Arizona Session Laws, Chapter 211.

Among other things, S.B. 1070 requires officers to check a (Section 2) and authorizes officers to make a warrantless arrest of a person where there is probable cause to believe that the person committed a public offense that makes the person removable from the United States (Section 6). S.B 1070 also creates or amends crimes for the failure of an alien to apply for or carry registration papers (Section 3) the smuggling of human beings (Section 4), the performance of work by unauthorized aliens, and the transport or harboring of unlawfully present aliens (Section 5).

On July 6, 2010, the United States filed a Complaint with this Court challenging the constitutionality of S.B. 1070 and it also filed a Motion requesting that the Court issue a preliminary injunction to enjoin Arizona from enforcing S.B. 1070 until the Court can make a final determination as to its constitutionality. The United States argues principally that the power to regulate immigration is vested exclusively in the federal government, and that the provisions of S.B. 1070 are therefore preempted by federal law.

The Court notes that S.B. 1070 is not a freestanding statute rather, it is an enactment of the Arizona Legislature that adds some new sections to the Arizona Revised Statutes ("A.R.S.") and amends some preexisting sections. S.B. 1070 also contains a severability clause, providing that,

[i]f a provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of the act that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this act are severable.

S.B. 1070 § 12(A). Therefore, the Court cannot and will not enjoin S.B. 1070 in its entirety, as certain parties to lawsuits challenging the enactment have requested. The Court is obligated to consider S.B. 1070 on a section by section and provision by provision basis.

Other than seeking a preliminary injunction as to "S.B 1070," the United States has not made any argument to preliminarily enjoin and the Court therefore does not enjoin the following provisions of S.B. 1070.

[SECTIONS NOT BLOCKED]

Section 1 of S.B. 1070

no A.R.S. citation: providing the intent of the legislation

Portions of Section 2 of S.B. 1070

A.R.S. § 11-1051(A): prohibiting Arizona officials, agencies and political subdivisions from limiting enforcement of federal immigration laws

A.R.S. § 11-1051(C)-(F): requiring that state officials work with federal officials with regard to unlawfully present aliens

A.R.S. § 11-1051(G)-(L): allowing legal residents to sue any state official, agency, or political subdivision for adopting a policy of restricting enforcement of federal immigration laws to less than the full extent permitted by federal law

Section 4 of S.B. 1070 A.R.S. § 13-2319: amending the crime of human smuggling

Portion of Section 5 of S.B. 1070

A.R.S. § 13-2928(A)-(B): creating a crime for stopping a motor vehicle to pick up day laborers and for day laborers to get in a motor vehicle if it impedes the normal movement of traffic

Section 7 of S.B. 1070

A.R.S. § 23-212: amending the crime of knowing employment of unauthorized aliens

Section 8 of S.B. 1070

A.R.S. § 23-212.01: amending the crime of intentional employment of unauthorized aliens

Section 9 of S.B. 1070

A.R.S. § 23-214: amending the requirements for checking employment eligibility

Section 11 of S.B. 1070

A.R.S. § 41-1724: creating the gang and immigration intelligence team enforcement mission fund

Sections 12 & 13 of S.B. 1070

no A.R.S. citation: administering S.B. 1070

[SECTIONS BLOCKED]

Applying the proper legal standards based upon well- established precedent, the Court finds that the United States is not likely to succeed on the merits in showing that the following provisions of S.B. 1070 are preempted by federal law, and the Court therefore does not enjoin the enforcement of the following provisions of S.B. 1070.

Portion of Section 5 of S.B. 1070 A.R.S. § 13-2929: creating a separate crime for a person in violation of a criminal offense to transport or harbor an unlawfully present alien or encourage or induce an unlawfully present alien to come to or live in Arizona

Section 10 of S.B. 1070 A.R.S. § 28-3511: amending the provisions for the removal or impoundment of a vehicle to permit impoundment of vehicles used in the transporting or harboring of unlawfully present aliens

Applying the proper legal standards based upon well- established precedent, the Court finds that the United States is likely to succeed on the merits in showing that the following Sections of S.B. 1070 are preempted by federal law

Portion of Section 2 of S.B. 1070

A.R.S. § 11-1051(B): requiring that an officer make a reasonable attempt to determine the immigration status of a person stopped, detained or arrested if there is a reasonable suspicion that the person is unlawfully present in the United States, and requiring verification of the immigration status of any person arrested prior to releasing that person

Section 3 of S.B. 1070

for or carry alien registration papers Portion of Section 5 of S.B. 1070

A.R.S. § 13-2928(C):

creating a crime for an unauthorized alien to solicit, apply for, or perform work Section 6 of S.B 1070

A.R.S. § 13-3883(A)(5):

authorizing the warrantless arrest of a person where there is probable cause to believe the person has committed a public offense that makes the person removable from the United States

The Court also finds that the United States is likely to suffer irreparable harm if the Court does not preliminarily enjoin enforcement of these Sections of S.B. 1070 and that the balance of equities tips in the United States' favor considering the public interest. The Court therefore issues a preliminary injunction enjoining the enforcement of the portion of Section 2 creating A.R.S. § 11-1051(B), Section 3 creating A.R.S. § 13-1509, the portion of Section 5 creating A.R.S. § 13-2928(C), and Section 6 creating A.R.S. § 13- 3883(A)(5) ...

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