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Sb1070 Fourth Amendment

How does the Hiibel decision affect the arguements for and against SB1070?

Hiibel v. Sixth Judicial District Court of Nevada, 542 U.S. 177 (2004), held that statutes requiring suspects to identify themselves during police investigations did not violate either the Fourth or Fifth Amendments.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiibel

Some have argued that enforcing immigration law is the fed’s jurisdiction, therefore the states need to stay out of it.

Well, we should probably break it down a little further than that. An officer has a right to ask you for identification, if he has reasonable suspicion that you are, will, have, or may be about to commit a crime. And in Terry v. Ohio has the right to pat you down for not only his safety but if they believe that you are, will, have, or may be about to commit a crime.

I haven’t read the actual law, However, the intent of the law is to detain people who are possibly breaking the law… i.e. illegally trespassing on the state of Arizona, and U.S. soil.

Therefore, if an officer has a suspicion that you are breaking the law than he has a duty to stop you and request identification.

Now, as to the argument that immigration in fed’s jurisdiction, There are many state laws that are the exact mirror or even harsher than Federal laws about many legal issues.

For example, I’m going to say just about all (and I’m pretty sure that it is all) states in the Union state that you may not discriminate in the workplace based on religion, origin, race… blah blah. However, it is also a federal law (Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964) that also states the same, which a person who is discriminated again can choose either route to go through (of course, there are other requirements to take it to federal court, but theoretically, if all other requirements are met, they can go either route). The Federal law is the minimum standard that all States have to follow. States can then legislate, or vote other laws that are stricter.

Another example. Minimum wage. Federally it is like 6.15 or something like that. In the state of Ohio the minimum wage is 6.85, and I think in New York it borders 8-9 dollars. It goes above and beyond the federal minimum, therefore it’s legal. It would be illegal if they allowed employers to pay less than the federal minimum wage.

The reason is this, The Supremacy Clause and the 10th Amendment to the US Constitution. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supremacy_Clause

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution

Basicially, the 10th gives power to the states that haven’t been specifically allocated to the federal government. the Supremacy Clause, states that when in conflict the Federal law supercedes.

In Edgar v. Mite Corporation, 457 U.S. 624 (1982), the Supreme Court ruled that “A state statute is void to the extent that it actually conflicts with a valid federal statute.” In effect, this means that a state law will be found to violate the supremacy clause when either of two conditions exists:[1]
Compliance with both federal and state law is impossible, or
“…state law stands as an obstacle to the accomplishment and execution of the full purposes and objectives of Congress…”

So, a state law basicially will become invalid if a person can’t follow both laws without breaking one or the other, or it the law stands as an obstacle to the federal law… For example, Jim Crow laws infringed on the rights of black Americans and voting. The 14th? and the 20th amendments granted all citizens the right to vote. You cannot follow both laws without violating one. And the Jim Crow laws infringed on a US Citizens rights guaranteed to be allowed to vote, therefore they were not able to execute their right to vote.

So back to the SB 1070, They created a law that is at the minimum the federal law. Instead of making it a felony like the federal law states, they made it a misdemeanor. They also are allowing officers to detain a person if they have reasonable suspicion that they are an illegal immigrant, which is allowed, a person can be detained for 24-48 hours without being charged (I can find the decision but I don’t feel like it now), then let go. that gives the detained person 24-48 hours to prove that they are a US Citizen, or otherwise here legally. Then, they too will also be conducting an investigation as to whether they are here legally or not. Maybe by calling ICE or whatnot.

Should they not be able to prove citizenship status, they will be charged as a misdemeanor, and also be handed over to ICE for deportation and/or fines. They aren’t deported the immigrants, that’s illegal, they are handing them over to the federal authorities, which they are allowed to do

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