| PHOENIX - At a hearing today in a federal court in Phoenix, the American Civil Liberties Union and a coalition of civil rights groups argued that Arizona's discriminatory new law, known as SB 1070, should be blocked pending a final court ruling on its constitutionality. The law, scheduled to go into effect on July 29, 2010, requires police to demand "papers" from people they stop who they suspect are "unlawfully present" in the U.S. According to the coalition, the law would subject massive numbers of people --both citizens and non-citizens-- to racial profiling, improper investigations and detention.
The U.S. Department of Justice, in a separate lawsuit, will also ask the court to block SB 1070 in a hearing later today. The court, in the civil rights coalition's case, will also hear arguments on the state of Arizona's motion to dismiss the case.
The civil rights coalition includes the ACLU, MALDEF, National Immigration Law Center (NILC), Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC) – a member of the Asian American Center for Advancing Justice – ACLU of Arizona, National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON) and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The law firm of Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP is acting as co-counsel in the case.
Omar Jadwat, staff attorney with the ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project and Nina Perales, Southwest Regional Counsel for MALDEF, argued the case on behalf of the civil rights groups.
In May, the coalition filed a lawsuit challenging the extreme law charging that it invites the racial profiling of people of color, violates the First Amendment and interferes with federal law. Friday's filing seeks to halt implementation of the law while the case is litigated.
"We are asking the court to block SB 1070 right now because if this discriminatory law went into effect for even one day, it would be one day too many," Jadwat said. "Any law that requires law enforcement to ask people they stop and suspect of being undocumented for their 'papers' violates the U.S. Constitution and the American values of fairness and equality. This law is a clear invitation for racial profiling, and we're confident that the court will understand the importance of preventing it fromever taking effect." Go Back |
