(Federal) Judge Strikes Down Hazleton's Illegal Immigrant Law

Yahoo! News ^ | 7/26/2007 | Michael Rubinkam

[Pyro7480]

ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) -- A federal judge on Thursday struck down the city of Hazleton's tough immigration law, which has been emulated by cities around the country. The Illegal Immigration Relief Act sought to impose fines on landlords who rent to illegal immigrants and deny business permits to companies that give them jobs. Another measure would have required tenants to register with City Hall and pay for a rental permit.

It was pushed by Hazleton's Republican mayor last summer after two illegal immigrants were charged in a fatal shooting.

Hispanic groups and illegal immigrants sued in federal court to overturn the measures, saying they usurp the federal government's exclusive power to regulate immigration, deprive residents of their constitutional rights to equal protection and due process, and violate state and federal housing law.

[gondramB]

>>We do, and you just coined it:

L awbreakers
I n
B lack
R obes
A lert

Libra, the constellation that represents the Scales ... of Justice.
Time to tilt ‘em back.<<

I like it. But the credit goes to you and nicmarlo.

[Bladerunnuh]

"Burning judges’ houses, hanging them in effigy and decaptating the effigy and threatening them to make them resign when democratic means are available would be legally terrorism and it would be morally and ethically wrong.

I agree that we're not at the point where we should start burning down judge's houses, but you know what? We're real close.

[nicmarlo]

lol! Clever acronym.... : )

[Renegade]

All the friggin” illegals from Hazelton have made their way to Scranton 20 miles away , to turn it into a shi—hole. WHY??? because Scranton would not institute a law like Hazelton !All the pizza parlors in Scranton are becoming Taco parlors .

[Graymatter]

As painful as it may be, the way to change the judiciary is to consistently elect people who will appoint good judges...Insurrection cannot ethically or morally be on the table while there are democratic options. Not to mention, we are in...a particularly dangerous and wrong time to even consider using violence domestically.

Board the cattle cars in an orderly fashion. Got it.

[Regulator]

Circuit courts sit between District court and the Supreme court, and generally must take all cases that come their way

Thanks for the clarification. You're right, I was mistaking the District court for the Circuit.

Will be quite interesting to see what happens at the 3rd.

[Regulator]

How do you propose they get that Constitutional Amendment through?

They won't need to. Like Roe, they'll just do it through judicial fiat.

The key will be to use their electoral votes to get a Congress which will continue to seat these kind of judges, and a President who will appoint them.

And then voila, overnight you wake up in a different country.

[DCPatriot]

Stop these tyrants in robes!

"Tyrants in robes"?

How do you feel about...{{{drumroll}}}

...THE RULE OF LAW???

[CottonBall]

They way they got around privacy issues was its not the landlord who looks into renters backgrounds - the government does that and publishes a sex offender registry. It would be tough to make a complete illegal alien registry though... :(

Yes, it would. BUT - how about using the system that employers are supposed to be using? If that doesn't violate any laws for the employer (in fact, NOT using it violates our existing laws), it would be the same for landlords.

Do you know if landlords are required to check the sex offender database if they rent a dwelling near a school? If so, this could be one additional requirement. Not that I want to put more stress on landlords, but they'd be the only ones with the ability to screen. It would be in their best interest anyway. When we had a rental, we asked for SSNs and did credit checks. I would never rent to someone that I couldn't sue for damages that could just disappear.

[Borax Queen]

So depressing.

[nicmarlo]

Crooks at work at every level.

[Pyro7480]

What do you mean?

[WashingtonSource]

Judge James Munley should be impeached and removed from office immediately!

[DCPatriot]

I mean that one of our basic mantras as conservatives, is the that the RULE of LAW prevails....as we did in the SCOTUS overruling the Florida Supreme Court in Election 2000 vs. Gore.

We must abide by that belief when the sword cuts the other way.

This judge enforced the current Federal Law. He wasn't legislating from the bench.

That's all.

It's wonderful that local jurisdictions are trying to solve the immigrant problem, but the law must be changed at the federal level.

[Pyro7480]

This judge enforced the current Federal Law. He wasn't legislating from the bench. That's all.

You mean you digested that 200-page decision already?

[TAdams8591]

They are almost always on the wrong side.

[GiovannaNicoletta]

bookmark

[DCPatriot]

No...don't need to do that.

Current federal law mandates that immigration matters and border control are federal duties.

Of course, the defeated Immigration Bill would have made it easier to accomplish what Hazleton, PA. was attempting.

But, we all know who helped torpedo that...don't we?

[DCPatriot]

You mean you'd like to go judge shopping???

Shame on you. /s

[LibertarianInExile]

“Cities that try these laws clearly do not have the legal authority to enact such laws.”

How’s that? Can they refrain from hiring workers who are not in the U.S. legally? Not only can they, they have to. Are you claiming that federal law somehow preempts local law on that basis?

Further, I take issue with your grand ‘will not do anything to solve the illegal immigration problem’ statement. Really? It’d be great to see a city actually able to apply them so we could find out, instead of besieged by leftist lawyers hellbent on preventing the execution of the law. Seems like they scare hell out illegal immigrant lovin’ groups like La Raza. At the very least, scaring La Raza will help to solve the illegal immigration problem, because as long as they’re in judges’ faces, they’re not in legislators’.