Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
In a simple three-paragraph ruling drafted jointly by the U.S. Department of Justice and lawyers for the state of Arizona, U.S. District Court Judge Susan Bolton ordered that the injunction be dissolved against the "show me your papers clause" of SB 1070. That provision, Section 2B, requires officers to make a reasonable attempt to determine the immigration status of a person stopped, detained or arrested if there is reasonable suspicion that the person is in the country illegally. Police can start enforcing Ariz. immigration law, judge rules:
Bolton also ordered Tuesday that two other sections SB 1070 be permanently enjoined. Those sections required immigrants to carry immigration papers, required police to determine whether a person had committed an offense that could lead to deportation and barred illegal immigrants from seeking work.
Two other components, one that prohibited day laborers from blocking traffic while seeking work and another that forbade harboring or transporting illegal-immigrant criminals, have been enjoined as well.
Bolton had originally imposed the injunction of key parts of SB 1070 in July 2010 at the request of the Department of Justice, which sued to block the law from taking effect. The injunction was upheld by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Then, in late June, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld all but one part of the injunction, Section 2B, and sent the case back to Bolton through the 9th Circuit.
[The high court ruled that Section 2B did not automatically violate constitutional rights and was not necessarily pre-empted by federal immigration law. But the justices suggested the matter could be reconsidered if evidence of violations surfaced after the law went into effect.]
A coalition of civil rights and immigrant advocacy groups tried to get the injunction reinstated on different grounds, but on Sept. 5, Bolton denied the request and ordered the state and the Justice Department to work out the wording of the order dissolving the injunction.
The civil rights coalition, meanwhile, has appealed Bolton's decision to the 9th Circuit.
The U.S. Supreme Court expressed skepticism that the "show me your papers clause" of SB 1070 could be enforced in a constitutional manner. In fact, the Court inferred that a legal challenge would find its way back to the Court and that it would likely find it unconstitutional. The only question now is how long it will take before that case arises. With crazy Uncle Joe Arpaio, probably before the end of the week.
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