Tuesday, July 6, 2010

DOJ Files Lawsuit Against Arizona's Racial Profiling Bill sb1070

As expected, the U.S. Department of Justice filed suit in Federal District court today against the state of Arizona and Gov Jan Brewer over the racial profiling bill sb1070. (see .pdf here) In the lawsuit, the DOJ "seeks to declare (sb1070) invalid" because sb1070 is preempted by Federal law and therefore violates the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The Supremacy Clause asserts and establishes the Constitution as supreme law of the land and Federal laws are made in pursuance of the Constitution. Therefore Federal laws are the highest form of law in the land. The DOJ's action holds that the federal government has long been acknowledged as having purview over immigration-related matters and sb1070 preempts the Federal law. In the American legal system, if a state law preempts Federal law, both Federal and State courts must uphold Federal law.

The lawsuit reads: "In our constitutional system, the federal government has preeminent authority to regulate immigration matters. This authority derives from the United States Constitution and numerous acts of Congress.. Although states may exercise their police power in a manner that has an incidental or indirect effect on aliens, a state may not establish its own immigration policy or enforce state laws in a manner that interferes with the federal immigration laws. The Constitution and the federal immigration laws do not permit the development of a patchwork of state and local immigration policies throughout the country." This lawsuit asks the court to declare sb1070 "null and void, and to enjoin the state of Arizona from enforcing the statute."

This lawsuit should not be a surprise to anyone. The President said in early June and he reiterated last Thursday that we cannot have "a patchwork of state and local immigration policies."

The President said, "I think (SB 1070) puts American citizens who look Hispanic or are Hispanic, potentially in an unfair situation, and more importantly, it also creates the prospect of 50 different laws in 50 different states when it comes to immigration." I agree with the President.

There are several lawsuits filed by the ACLU, MALDEF and the NAACP due to be heard on July 22.

sb1070 is due to be enacted on July 29. However, if the Federal judge issues a preliminary injunction in the case, it will lessen the threat of this racial profiling bill being enacted on that date.

7 comments:

Anon1 said...

So much for your claims of racial profiling in this law. It specifically prohibits it and the DOJ knows it and that is why the accusations of racial profiling in this law was dropped from the lawsuit today.

Per Gov. Brewer today:

I am pleased that President Obama and the Department of Justice did not pursue the baseless claims of illegal racial profiling in the lawsuit. When signing S.B. 1070, I said, ‘My signature today represents my steadfast support for enforcing the law — both against illegal immigration AND against racial profiling.’ Arizona’s law expressly prohibits unconstitutional racial profiling. However, words are not enough. For this reason, I ordered the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board (AZPOST) to develop training on the new law for Arizona’s police officers. AZPOST has completed the training course and has published it for the all world to see at http://www.azpost.state.az.us/SB1070infocenter.htm . AZPOST has done its job professionally and served Arizona well.

Dee said...

Wrong again, anon 1.

Even though racial profiling aspects of sb1070 are obvious to anyone who has witnessed Arpaio and his masked goons racial profiling tactics during his supression sweeps (lawful stops) of latino neighborhoods in Maricopa county and even though the ACLU, MALDEF and the NAACP filed suit from this perspective, the DOJ chose to file suit from a Supremacy Clause perspective because it is the stronger argument and will allow the Federal Judge to issue a preliminary injunction and immediately delay and eventually prohibit the enactment of the racial profiling bill sb1070.

Pogo said...

I ask the same question as Governor Brewer. Why does the government NOT consider the flagrant violation of immigration law by “sanctuary” cities/states as being unconstitutional? Aren’t they usurping the feds by refusing to comply with the law which explicitly prohibits “aiding and abetting” illegal aliens?

Apparently, only laws or policies that ignore our immigration laws are deemed “constitutional” by our pandering government. Clearly, the feds don’t want our immigration laws to be enforced, and will demonize and attack all who choose to comply with the laws of this land. That’s a damn shame.

This lawsuit is as frivolous as they come, and will be a tremendous waste of taxes. Moreover, the fact that “racial profiling” and “discrimination” are not included in the suit speaks volumes. Isn’t that the primary reason pro-illegals bashed the law and protested, and opportunists like Al Sharpton jumped on the bandwagon as a “civil rights” issue?

Funny, Prince William County, VA and other jurisdictions successfully implemented anti-illegal laws. I wonder why those laws aren’t deemed unconstitutional while SB 1070 is? I guess the fact that VA is not a border state made it a non-issue. After all, we wouldn’t want to do anything to offend Mexico, or impede the flow of cheap labor or drugs across our southern border, now would we?

Defensores de Democracia said...

Ann Arbor Michigan, opposes and condemns Arizona Immigration Law SB1070 - On July 6, 2010 - See my big list of cities that condemn Arizona



Growing list of City Boycotters and City Condemners of Arizona :

Ann Arbor MI, Austin TX, Amherst MA, Baltimore MD,Berkeley CA, Boston MA, Bloomington IN, Boulder CO, Brownsville TX, Burlington VT, Calexico CA, Chula Vista CA, Coachella CA, Chicago IL, Columbus OH, Cook County IL ( Chicago is inside ), Durham NC, El Paso TX, Fulton County GA, Gallup NM, Hartford CT, Los Angeles City CA, Los Angeles County CA, Lucas County OH ( Toledo inside ), New York State Senate ( in Albany NY ), Oakland CA, Pasadena CA, Paterson NJ, Portland OR, Richmond CA, San Antonio TX, San Diego CA, San Jose CA, San Pablo CA, Santa Ana CA, St. Paul MN, Santa Monica CA, San Francisco CA, Seattle WA, Tacoma WA, Washington DC, West Hollywood CA, etc ...


Raciality.com

Vicente Duque

Dee said...

Pogo,
Arpaio and his masked goons have already illustrated racial profiling will be, particularly in Latino Neighborhoods, with sb1070.

Arpaio is currently under investigation by the DOJ for his heinous racial profiling. Hopefully he will be indicted soon and put in chains and pink underwear, as he has done to so many innocents. Just look at the terror in the childrens' faces at their Confirmation Mass or the innocent latino citizens shackled by his masked goons.
http://tiny.cc/fbyqx

Dee said...

Additionally, Brewer "la bruja" herself has said "I dunnoooo what an illeegal looks like." And the so called training (which I have reviewed and reported upon) is a BIG Joke:
Reasonable suspicion: Rely on more than one. Carefully document what it was that was reasonable suspicion
1. No English skills or speaks English poorly.
2. No ID
3. ID Card from foreign country & no other id from US
4. Admits he is not us citizen & refuses to answer questions
5. By his Appearance
6. Location of the stop has specific reputation
7. Appears In transit or recently travelled
8. Demeanor indicates it – takes flight.
9. Vehicle overcrowded
10. Passengers attempting to hide
11. Time of day; type of vehicle; area where human smuggling occurred in past
12. Police Knowledge of area
13. On road known for human smuggling corridor. Ex: Highway 87 in phoenix
14. Evasive maneuvers
15. Presence of individuals – acts as look out place
16. Vehicle foreign id out of country license plates
17. In company of Persons known to be unlawfully present
18. Dress or appearance
19. Vehicle been on long trip
20. Not making eye contact


See...their so called training says by "looks" and "speech" ...RACIAL PROFILING.

dmgg711 said...

There has been quite a bit of killings of migrant workers, Mexican American citizens, legal residents and just killing of what vigilantes think are undocumented immigrants. The news media and law enforcement has been keeping these killings undercover in Arizona.

Another person of interest is a border vigilante rancher, Roger Barnett who lives near Douglas, Arizona. There has been several lawsuits against him one filed by a Mexican American family, who won their lawsuit and another lawsuit that is pending filed by 16 illegals against Mr. Barnett.

3 Minuteman murdered a father and his 8year old daughter during a home invasion looking for drugs and money, a white neighbor killed his Mexican American neighbor while yelling racial slurs at his neighbor before pulling a gun and shoting his neighbor in the neck. A migrant worker was hung by the neck and it appears it was done by vigilantes and the list goes on.

Governor Brewer has declared open season on all Mexicans and the killing is on the rise with little fanfare from the media and law enforcement. Sheriff Arapio, Senator Pearce and Governor Brewer condone J.T. Hardy and his neo-nazis goons and the Minuteman Groups patroling as vigilantes along the Arizona Borders. How many Mexicans, whether legal or illegal are they going to continue killing before it's stopped and these killers are brought to justice?

Page Hits