The Washington Post:

A federal appeals court ruled Monday that the most contested provisions of an Arizona immigration law passed last year will remain blocked from taking effect, handing the Obama administration a victory in its efforts to overturn the legislation

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit upheld a lower court ruling that put on hold key provisions of the Arizona law, which empowers police to question people whom they have a “reasonable suspicion” are illegal immigrants. The measure has triggered a fierce national debate, and the legal case is being watched by other states and advocates on both sides of the issue.

In a split decision, a three-judge panel found that U.S. District Judge Susan R. Bolton “did not abuse” her discretion in blocking parts of the law that, among other things, require police to check immigration status if they stop someone while enforcing other laws.

 The 8th Circuit ruling  should not affect how things are run in Prince William County since our law enforcement officers must check all immigration status upon arrest, regardless of the person.  We need to watch carefully to make sure that none of our elected officials get some bee in the bonnet to start it up again.

The WaPo  further adds:

Judge Richard A. Paez, who wrote the majority opinion, used strong language as he appeared to endorse the administration’s position that Arizona’s law intrudes on federal immigration enforcement and is “preempted” by federal law.

“Arizona has attempted to hijack a discretionary role that Congress delegated to the Executive,’’ the decision said, adding that the Arizona law would “usurp” the U.S. attorney general’s role in directing any state enforcement of federal immigration laws.

Judge Carlos T. Bea dissented from parts of the ruling.

Where does SB 1070 go now?  Was it just a national attention-getter to pump up the immigration issue to get Jan Brewer elected?  Will the components from SB 1070 go to the Supreme Court or more to the point, will they agree to hear the case?

For those of us here in Prince William County, does this ruling affect us?  Does it affect Corey Stewart’s Rule of Law Campaign? 

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit will hear Arizona’s appeal of a lower-court ruling that blocked the most-contested provisions of the law from taking effect. The law, signed in April by Gov. Jan Brewer (R), empowers police to question people whom they have a “reasonable suspicion” of being in the country illegally.

Amid a fierce debate over the measure, the Justice Department sought to overturn the law by taking the rare step of suing Arizona. Government attorneys won the first round in July when U.S. District Judge Susan R. Bolton, seated in Phoenix, put on hold provisions that would require police to check immigration status if they stop someone while enforcing other laws, allow for warrantless arrests of suspected illegal immigrants and criminalize the failure of legal immigrants to carry their registration papers.

The case will be heard by a 3 judge panel.  2 judges were appointed bya Republican and 1 by a Democrat.  Either Arizona or the U.S. government can appeal the panel’s decision.  Should that happen the case will go to the full  9th Circuit Court.  The WaPo further adds:

Brewer, whose outspoken criticism of the federal lawsuit has helped her popularity at home, has vowed to take her appeal of the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. The 9th Circuit hearing in San Francisco is the next step, and legal experts say the case likely will wind up before the high court within several years.

The lawsuit ratcheted up the political and legal debate over the nation’s estimated 12 million illegal immigrants, with Republicans condemning the administration and civil rights groups praising it for fighting a law that they contend targets Hispanics.

Talk of immigration has receded somewhat in the runup to the elections, especially compared to the economy, but it has been a key factor in a number of races. Monday’s argument, which Brewer plans to attend, will shine an even brighter light on the issue.

Perhaps all will become quiet once this election is over.  Arizona has problems for sure.  So does California, New Mexico and Texas.  The drug violence along the border towns in Mexico continues to rage on.  Our border states must be vigilant that the violence doesn’t creep or stampede into our country.  However, SB 1070 isn’t the way to stop the drug violence and that is what Arizona should be worried about.

Probable cause as a police tool is always rife with problems.  There are other ways, such as PWC recently found out, that are far better.  And like PWC, Arizona probably doesn’t have the money to waste on endless lawsuits.

The Logo of Cave 97.7 FM

Editorial for Oct 23-25, 2010

I’m CAVE MANager Paul Lotsof. Many years ago I was living in California and had some dirty clothes to wash. I put them in a basket and walked into a laundromat in Rialto. I found a washing machine and put my clothes in it, poured in some detergent and inserted some quarters. Not wanting to read the religious literature that is found in all laundromats, I just sat and stared at the washing machine while it did its thing.

A few minutes later, two police officers walked into the laundromat and headed to the rear of the building where they had a brief conversation with someone. Then the officers walked up to me and started asking questions: “What are you doing here?”

“I’m washing my clothes. What does it look like I’m doing?”

“How long have you been here? Where do you live? How long have you lived there? Where do you work?” The questions went on and on. Finally when I was able to get a word in edgewise, I asked the officers why they had singled me out for questioning. Their answer was that someone had complained that I appeared to be suspicious and they had to respond to the complaint. Eventually the officers decided that it was perfectly legal to wash clothes and they left.

After this incident I began to wonder what would have happened if the officers had checked their computer and found that I was wanted for not paying a speeding ticket? Would they have had grounds to arrest me? And if they had arrested me, could I have gotten off because they had no reasonable grounds to detain me? I think that I would have had a good case in arguing that the officers lacked reasonable cause.

In this country, the police don’t have the right to stop you just because they don’t like the look on your face or because they think your hair is too long. Similarly, they can’t stop you because of the color of your skin or because you’re speaking Spanish. And there lies a major flaw in SB-1070 which is the recently passed Arizona law that supposedly is going to force vast numbers of illegal aliens to return to Mexico. SB-1070 requires police officers to demand evidence of citizenship if they have reasonable cause to believe that someone is in this country illegally.

But what would be considered reasonable cause? Being caught selling tamales? I don’t think so. Even if someone had dark skin and was smoking a joint that wouldn’t constitute reasonable cause for suspecting that the person is in this country illegally.

SB 1070 has been the law for three months and I haven’t heard of vast numbers of Mexicans being arrested because of it. Of course, a federal judge has barred enforcement of much of 1070 because it is of doubtful constitutionality but even if the questionable provisions are upheld, it is highly unlikely that 1070 will have much impact. Why? Because the state government is nearly broke and it lacks the resources to kick tens of thousands of people out of the state.

1070 has a nice emotional appeal because we’re saying that if the Federal Government won’t do its job the State will step in and do it. But the truth is that 1070 is much less than it is cracked up to be. 1070 is all smoke and no fire to speak of. SB 1070 is a farce and its purpose is to get poorly informed people to vote for Republicans. That’s what its supporters are trying to accomplish and getting Republicans elected is all it will accomplish .

I’m CAVE MANager Paul Lotsof and the opinions you’ve just heard are mine and not necessarily anyone else’s. If you’d like a copy of this editorial or you’d like to express your opinions, go to the CAVE web site at www.cavefm.com That’s cavefm.com.

Where does this case go?

Most people feel it will eventually go to the Supreme Court. Will the law be in effect until the case gets to the Supreme Court? Private lawyers are representing Arizona in this case.

Michael Nowakowski, vice mayor of Phoenix, paints a different picture of what is going on in Arizona. He also feels that sb 1070 is being used to parlay people’s fears into an election win for the current governor. He speaks of the crime rate being down in his state. He believes people being scared off and he is tired of the governor telling the nation that people are being beheaded in Arizona all as a political ploy.

Maybe the vice mayor isn’t running for re-election this cycle?   A ruling is expected today or tomorrow ruling whether the injunction to halt 1070  going in to effect is granted.

How can 2 people tell such vastly different stories?

All eyes are still on Prince William County as the residents of Arizona feel our pain at the Harkins Valley Art Theater near Phoenix.  The theater has been packed each night for screenings of 9500Liberty. Eric Byler has been in the Phoenix area for approximately a week now.  This afternoon he hosted a radio show with 3 Republican business people who disapprove of the law passed, SB 1070.

Many folks from Arizona now know all about 0ur county.  A write up in AZ newspaper Phoenix New Times revealed:

The film chronicles the heated battle over an Immigration Resolution (drafted by the same folks who brought us SB 1070), in Prince William County, Virginia that passed in 2008 and was quickly repealed because of devastating economic effects (read more about it here). 9500 Liberty captures both sides of the battle in Prince William County through numerous interviews and video clips, some of which provoked the audience at Harkins into both jeers and cheers.

For example, when a woman tells the Prince William County Board of District Supervisors that they must “Never forget 9/11 and who did that to us – illegals,” the audience at Harkins Valley Art let out a collective grumble. Minutes later, they roared in unified laughter when a man tells the Supervisors, “Don’t confuse the 9/11 with the 7-11.”

“If [co-director] Annabel [Park] were here, I know what she’d say,” Byler replied. “The biggest lesson is that the immigrants in our community are already integrated into the economy, because the economy does not discriminate based on your national origin. A dollar is a dollar.”