Categories
Join Us At:
|
We Won! Appeals Court Finds Anti-Immigrant Law UnconstitutionalToday, the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals found the city of Hazleton, Pennsylvania's anti-immigrant laws unconstitutional. In August 2006, the city of Hazleton passed a law that would punish landlords and employers accused of renting to or hiring anyone the city deems an "illegal alien." We challenged that law in district court and won in 2007, and the city of Hazleton appealed that ruling to the 3rd Circuit. Hazleton's law spawned several copycat measures in other places, including Arizona, so the case has attracted very close interest from supporters of such discriminatory laws as well as their opponents. In today's unanimous opinion, the court stated that it was "required to intervene when states and localities directly undermine the federal objectives embodied in statutes enacted by Congress." The Hazleton law, the court said, "attempted to usurp authority that the Constitution has placed beyond the vicissitudes of local governments" and "could not possibly be in greater conflict with Congress's intent" as reflected in federal law. In a statement today, Omar Jadwat, ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project staff attorney and one of the attorneys who argued the case, called the decision "a major defeat for the misguided, divisive and expensive anti-immigrant strategy that Hazleton has tried to export to the rest of the country." Today's decision comes on the heels of a recent legal victory against S.B. 1070, the racial profiling law law passed in Arizona this summer, and several cities' decisions to suspend or abandon housing laws modeled after Hazleton's. We hope this decision causes other cities and towns who have considered or adopted laws like Hazleton's to abandon this unconstitutional and unwise approach.
We intend the comments portion of this blog to be a forum where you can freely express your views on blog postings and on comments made by other people. Given that, please understand that you are responsible for the material you post on the comments portion of this blog. The only postings that we ask that you refrain from posting and that we cannot permit on our website are requests for legal assistance and postings that could cause ACLU to incur legal liability.
One important law in that regard is the prohibition on politically partisan activity. Given our nonprofit status, we may not endorse or oppose candidates for elective office. That means we cannot host comments on our site that show a preference for one candidate or party. Although we in no way wish to discourage you from that activity elsewhere, we ask that you not engage in that activity on our website (or include links to other websites that do so). Additionally, given that we are subject to very specific rules concerning the collection of personally identifying information through our website (names, email addresses, home address, financial information, etc.), we ask that you not use the comments portion of this blog to solicit this information from users of our website. We also ask that you not use the comments portion for advertising or requests for legal assistance, and do not add to your comment links to other websites, as we cannot be responsible for the content on other websites. We are not able to respond to unsolicited inquiries, complaints or requests for assistance sent to this blog. Please direct your complaint or request for assistance to the ACLU affiliate in your state. Requests for legal assistance left in the blog comments will not receive a response or be published. Finally, the ACLU cannot guarantee the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any information in the comment section and expressly disclaims any liability for any information in this section. 11 Responses to "We Won! Appeals Court Finds Anti-Immigrant Law Unconstitutional" |
|
Today, the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals found the city of Hazleton, Pennsylvania's anti-immigrant laws unconstitutional.
|
© ACLU, 125 Broad Street, 18th Floor New York, NY 10004 |
Sep 9th, 2010 at 6:49pm
I would trust that the ACLU would also go after "sanctuary cities" that hide those who are in this country illegally.
Sep 9th, 2010 at 6:50pm
I would trust that the ACLU would also go after "sanctuary cities" that hide those who are in this country illegally.
Sep 9th, 2010 at 11:19pm
Good thing those who illegally enter the country have you to help subvert the justice system. Cheap labor for all!
Sep 10th, 2010 at 9:30am
This is absurd. Send the illegal aliens packing....
Sep 15th, 2010 at 11:57am
Remember the Hero of PA!! When Gov Brewer wins, we can re-visit this. You did not win you out spent.
Sep 19th, 2010 at 12:50pm
Brewer doesn't stand a chance. Her appeal will also go down like all the rest.
Sep 21st, 2010 at 7:39pm
I hope hazelton appeals
Sep 21st, 2010 at 7:39pm
I hope hazelton appeals
Sep 22nd, 2010 at 7:25pm
Governer Brewer will fall. One by one they will continue to fall. The Constitution of this great country will always prevail over ignorance.
Sep 25th, 2010 at 4:44pm
There was a time for you. It has passed. Ypu are no longer The AMERICAN civil liberties union.
Nov 4th, 2010 at 10:31am
illega; immigrants key word
ILLEGAL! get the picture?