Yesterday the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit decided to uphold US District Judge Susan Bolton’s ruling to block portions of Arizona’s immigration law. The three judge panel ruled that Judge Bolton “did not abuse” her power in her decision to block portions of the law. However, the court did not rule on the constitutionality of the Arizona law. Arizona Governor Jan Brewer (R) continues to defend the immigration law and stated that she is considering whether to take the case to the US Supreme Court.
Omar Jadwat, staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union’s (ACLU) Immigrants’ Rights Project, stated “Today’s decision rightly rejects SB 1070’s assault on the core American values of fairness and equality. Legislators in other states should pay close attention to today’s ringing condemnation of Arizona’s racial profiling law and refrain from going down the same unconstitutional path.”
In July, Judge Bolton ruled against multiple sections of the Arizona law, including a requirement that police check the immigration status of criminal suspects that they had stopped while enforcing other laws and a provision that would make it a crime not to carry immigration papers. She also ruled against a section that would make it a crime for undocumented workers to seek a job.
