http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/knau/local-knau-921924.mp3
Phoenix, AZ – Martin Escobar pointed to a provision of SB 1070 which requires
police who have stopped someone to check that person's
immigration status if there's reasonable suspicion he or she is
in the country illegally. Escobar said he believes enforcing that
will put him in violation of some people's rights. But he also
said he fears discipline from superiors or lawsuits if he doesn't
fully enforce the law. Judge Susan Bolton said the problem with
the claim is that any injuries he might suffer are speculative at
best. And that, she said, means he has no legal standing to sue.
But Bolton's ruling still leaves alive a separate claim by the
city of Tucson that the mandates of the law will force the city
to alter its law enforcement priorities, paying more attention to
illegal immigration and less to violent crime. Nothing in
Tuesday's action changes the fact that Bolton, ruling in a
separate lawsuit brought by the Justice Department, blocked the
state from enforcing several key provisions of the law --
including the one in Escobar's claim -- until there can be a full
trial, something not likely to occur this year. But Gov. Jan
Brewer, empowered by the Legislature to defend the law, is hoping
to get the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to dissolve that stay.
For Arizona Public Radio this is Howard Fischer.