Posted on 02/14/2017 10:04:13 AM PST by jazusamo
New Lawsuit Directly Counters San Franciscos Lawsuit against Trump Administration
(Washington, DC) Judicial Watch today announced that it filed a new taxpayer lawsuit against San Francisco Sheriff Vicki Hennessy and the San Francisco Sheriffs Department (SFSD) to prevent the use of taxpayer funds on policies that prohibit or restrict SFSD personnel from sharing immigration-related information with federal immigration law enforcement officials. The suit was filed on behalf of Cynthia Cerletti, a taxpayer of the City and County of San Francisco, in the Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco ( Cynthia Cerletti v. Vicki Hennessy (No. CGC-16-556164)). After Judicial Watch filed its suit, which invokes the federal governments preeminent authority over immigration, San Francisco filed its own lawsuit in which it asks that its sanctuary policy be declared legal.
Judicial Watchs lawsuit seeks to prevent Sheriff Hennessy and the San Francisco Sheriffs Department from:
[E]xpending or causing the expenditure of taxpayer funds and taxpayer-financed resources on policies and/or practices that prohibit or restrict SFSD personnel from sharing or exchanging immigration-related information with federal immigration law enforcement officials, including information about the citizenship or immigration status of individuals in the SFSDs custody and information about the release of individuals from the SFSDs custody.
Judicial Watchs lawsuit details how the San Francisco Sheriffs Departments sanctuary policy conflicts with the federal governments broad, undoubted power over the subject of immigration and the status of aliens. Judicial Watch also argues that Congress:
[H]as long sought to encourage full and open communication between states and local agencies and federal immigration law enforcement officials and to remove obstacles to such communication to aid in the enforcement of federal immigration laws.
On March 13, 2015, then-San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi, who oversaw San Franciscos jails, issued a directive prohibiting SFSD sheriffs deputies and other officials from providing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) with information about inmates citizenship or immigration status. Judicial Watch filed suit to challenge the directive ( Cynthia Cerletti v. Ross Mirkarimi (CGC-15-549250)).
Mirkarimi lost reelection to Hennessy, and, in April 2016, Hennessy replaced Mirkarimis directive with her own. Hennessys new directive still restricts the ability of sheriffs deputies to communicate freely with ICE about inmates citizenship/immigration status. On December 23, 2016, Judicial Watch dismissed its original lawsuit and filed a new lawsuit challenging Hennessys 2016 policy directive.
Five weeks later, on January 31, 2017, San Francisco filed suit against the Trump Administration ( City and County of San Francisco v. Trump, et al . , (No. 3:17-cv-00485)). San Franciscos lawsuit asks that the citys sanctuary ordinance and laws be declared lawful and that one of the longstanding federal immigration laws invoked in Judicial Watchs lawsuit, 8 U.S.C. § 1373, be declared unconstitutional. San Franciscos lawsuit also asks that the federal government be prohibited from enforcing President Trumps Executive Order barring sanctuary jurisdictions from receiving certain federal funds. San Franciscos lawsuit is in direct conflict with Judicial Watchs lawsuit.
Not including federal funds, the San Francisco Sheriffs Department receives over $200 million in taxpayer support annually to fund its operations, a portion of which is being spent to carry out the Hennessy policy directive and train personnel on its requirements. As California grants its taxpayers the right to sue government officials to prevent expenditures of taxpayer funds on unlawful activities, Judicial Watch filed suit against Mirkarimi and subsequently Hennessy, in their official capacities, on behalf of Cerletti.
San Franciscos sanctuary ordinance gained national attention on July 1, 2015, when Kathryn Steinle was gunned down at one of the citys most popular tourist spots, allegedly by Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, an illegal alien who had been released from the San Francisco Sheriffs Department despite a request from ICE that he be detained for possible deportation. The Sheriffs Department not only ignored ICEs detainer request, but also failed to notify ICE when it released Lopez-Sanchez on April 15, 2015, little more than a month after Mirkarimi issued the policy directive prohibiting sheriffs deputies from providing ICE information about any inmates citizenship/immigration status.
The San Francisco Sheriffs policy undermines enforcement of federal immigration law and is dangerous to public safety, said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. Neither local taxpayer dollars nor federal funds should be used to support dangerous, unwise, and unlawful sanctuary policies, and we are hopeful that the courts will agree.
Robert Patrick Sticht, a Los Angeles-based attorney, is serving as lead counsel in the Cerletti litigation.
Wow, what a revolting pic.
This is going to be very, very interesting. But, the Court being in the liberal wacko area San Francisco is, who knows?
Hurrah!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.