The Supreme Court of the United
States announced that it will hear arguments on the controversial anti-illegal
immigration law in Arizona known as S.B. 1070. President Obama’s most recent
SCOTUS appointee, Justice Elena Kagan, has announced that she will recuse
herself from the case.
Kagan had been Obama’s Solicitor
General when the federal government led the lawsuit against the state of
Arizona.
S.B. 1070 allows law enforcement to
check the immigration status of individuals who are subject to routine police
inspection, as in the case of a traffic stop. Critics say that the law violates
the civil rights of citizens of Arizona. A lower court struck down the law, but
the state's appeal has the support of 11 other states including Alabama, which earlier
this year instituted its own controversial illegal-immigration statue.
Kagan is under pressure to recuse
herself from the pending case against the government when they hear arguments against
the Affordable Care Act (AKA Obama’s healthcare reform effort). Kagan was
heavily involved in the government’s efforts to draft and pass that law and
some suspect that could constitute a conflict of interest in her role as a
neutral Supreme Court Justice.
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