The DOJ’s suit against AZ: A BLT perspective

The DOJ’s 25-page complaint can be read here (PDF). From the BLT (Blog of the Legal Times) comes this explanation of the suit:

The lawsuit makes sweeping claims about the federal government’s power to develop immigration policy. It cites the federal government’s power under the Constitution to establish a “uniform Rule of Naturalization” — translating, it says, to the regulation of aliens within U.S. boundaries and to the terms and conditions for entry and continued presence.

With the State Department joining as a plaintiff, the lawsuit also cites the president’s authority over foreign affairs. “Immigration law, policy, and enforcement priorities are affected by and have impacts on U.S. foreign policy, and are themselves the subject of diplomatic arrangements,” it says.

Together with the complaint, the department is filing a 58-page motion (PDF) for a preliminary injunction. The law is scheduled to go into effect July 29.

*snip*

The DOJ lawsuit does not seek to invalidate the entire Arizona immigration law, known as S.B. 1070. It targets sections 1 through 6 of the law (PDF), leaving alone sections about employment and the impounding of vehicles. By contrast, the complaint (PDF) filed by in May by the ACLU and others asks to have the law struck down in its entirety.

The BLT is a great resource for breaking down legal mumbo-jumbo for non-legal minded folks. I get their daily breaking newsletter.

So, Holder and Company, unlike the coalition of rights groups (ACLU,the NAACP, and the National Immigration Law Center) are not seeking to kill the entire bill….interesting. As for who is representing whom…here is the list, also from the BLT article:

To defend the state, Brewer has hired John Bouma, chairman of Snell & Wilmer in Phoeniz, because Arizona’s attorney general, Terry Goddard III (D), has removed himself.

Five DOJ lawyers have their names on the complaint: Assistant Attorney General Tony West, who heads the Civil Division; U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke; Arthur Goldberg, an assistant director in the Federal Programs Branch; and trial attorneys Varu Chilakamarri and Joshua Wilkenfeld.

Bouma is a big gun, according to his bio at Snell & Wilmer. He is also a conservationist I noticed. AZ’s Attorney General Goddard, didn’t have a whole lot of nice things to say about Governor Brewer in the AZ Central article linked above. Gov Brewer threatened to shit-can AG Goddard over this entire fiasco. Quite telling I think, don’t you?

Ale to The Chief!

I will readily admit I stole the title from Tweety on Hardball this afternoon. The Big O and his new bud’s The Professor and the lying sack of batshit Officer Crowley will be sitting down to a couple of brewski’s this afternoon.

Crowley is such a liar and for that..I have nothing but contempt for him. The 911 call and the radio transmissions(transcripts at the link) bears out everything that The Professor said and nothing that Crowley said or put into his report.

If The Big O wants to spend his afternoon with an intelligent African-American Professor and a lying sack of shit white cop..it’s up to him..but personally I couldn’t stomach Crowley for even five-fucking-minutes. From The American Prospect:

The problem is that the police report written by Sgt. James Crowley states that “[Whalen] observed what appeared to be to black males with backpacks on the porch of Ware Street.” Except Whalen said no such thing. Furthermore, the tapes are notable for what they don’t contain–any audio that indicates Gates was shouting as Crowley claimed in his police report. The tapes do contain audio of Crowley saying Gates was being uncooperative and asking for more backup, reportedly saying “keep the cars coming.”

Here’s the thing: This is the second discrepancy from the police report, the first being that Gates claims he showed Crowley his Harvard ID and his driver’s license, while the report says that he only showed his Harvard ID. The reason I find this odd is that Crowley seems to have believed it was Gates’ residence–but how could he be sure if he hadn’t seen Gates’ Driver’s License as he claims? Now, we also know that the claim that it was Whalen who identified Gates and his driver by their race was completely false. The Cambridge Police’s explanation, that the report merely represents “a summary” of what happened seems inadequate–how useful could a factually inaccurate summary really be? And what–if anything else–is inaccurate but is asserted as fact in the police report?

Crowley is a racist and tried to cover his ass, plain and simple.

This guy taught classes on how to avoid racial profiling? WTF does that say about the Cambridge Police Department?

Nothing good folks..nothing good.

U.S. and the CONVENTION ON ELIMINATION OF all forms OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION.

Surely as there is a sunrise tomorrow, the United States has once again blow off something they swore to uphold. This time around its the United Nations CONVENTION ON ELIMINATION OF all forms OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION.

In 1994, the US Senate ratified this treaty, wherein they promised to “provide reports every two years on racial discrimination in the United States. The reports were to include anywhere in the world where the US military is in charge. In other words, the United States military, no matter where it was on the globe, agreed to report discrimination. That now includes Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib.”

One Hundred and Seventy-three nations signed this treaty. All of them, including the US, promised to provide reports on their countries progress or lack of it in certain areas such as health care, education and prison terms. There was a two day meeting on the most recent reports submitted by the participating nations. The U.S. government submitted a 115-page report (pdf) and sent a 25 person delegation to Geneva to defend its..cough.. record. Who contributed to this report?

This report was prepared by the U.S. Department of State with extensive assistance from the White House, the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and other relevant departments and agencies of the federal government and of the states. Contributions were also solicited and received from interested members of the numerous non-governmental organizations and other public interest groups active in the area of civil rights, civil liberties, and human rights in the United States.

As to how many outside groups actually participated it’s unknown. My guess is the bulk of the report was prepared by “Bushies” which control all areas of the federal government as we all are aware of at this point in time. Especially after numerous Congressional hearings regarding the dismissed AG’s and the politicization of all branches of our federal government.

A coalition of 250 delegates has taken issue with the US and it’s handling of discrimination at the conference, stating we, as a nation, have failed dismally to live up to our obligations. U.S. Human Rights Network Executive Director, Ajamu Baraka gives us his take on the matter:

“The persistent and systematic issues of racial discrimination have not been addressed by this government,” said Baraka. “From Katrina, the ongoing crisis of Katrina in the Gulf Coast in the south, migrant rights, the ongoing police brutality, housing issues-we find that these issues have escaped the scrutiny and the readjustment by the U.S. government in their obligation to the CERD (Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination) treaty.”

To continue reading, click here.

tags: Rendition, Human Rights, Racial discrimination, Guantanamo, Abu-Gharaib, racial profiling