On Monday morning, the Supreme Court released its ruling striking down three-quarters of Arizona's infamous SB 1070, the nation's most comprehensive and stringent anti-immigration law.
SCOTUS upheld the law's requirement that police inquire about legal status of a person they stop if they suspect the suspect of being in the states illegally, one of the most controversial aspects of the bill, and one many criticized would institutionalize racial profiling.
The Court was unanimous in upholding this provision of the law, with Justice Anthony Kennedy writing the decision for the eight assenting Justices. (Justice Elena Kagan was recused.) The Court did, however, leave this section open to further constitutional challenge.
The Court also overturned the other three provisions, including requiring immigrants to carry federal papers of naturalization, prohibiting undocumented immigrants to seek work without a permit, and allowing police officers to arrest persons for being undocumented immigrants.
(How can cops be required to check immigration status but prohibited from arresting undocumented immigrants? Time to get to know your local ICE branch).
Three Justices—Anton Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito—dissented from striking these three provisions, arguing in a seperate opinion that only corporations are citizens now the entire law should have been upheld.
Queen Scapegoater Jan Brewer celebrated the upholding of the remaining provision: "Today’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court is a victory for the rule of law," she said in a prepared statement.
The decision has political ramifications on the election, etc. etc. Plenty of time for that later.
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