Sunday, July 11, 2010

Holder Considering Second Lawsuit vs. Arizona

In an interview on CBS' Face the Nation this morning, Attorney General Eric Holder stated he was considering another lawsuit against Arizona over S.B. 1070 if the law ends up going into effect.

Of course, the lawsuit filed last week focuses on preemption of federal jurisdiction. A potential second lawsuit would focus on racial profiling.

The fact that Holder would mention this just days after filing his suit tells me he and the Obama Administration are not confident they are going to prevail. Otherwise why show his hand now?

It also tells me that they are going to try to find a test case to challenge the Arizona law. Frankly, I think this is the better approach for the Obama Administration to take. Law enforcement, like all other human institutions, is imperfect. No matter how carefully written one cannot guarantee the Arizona law will always be applied correctly. But an incorrect application of the law does not make the law unconstitutional. So I suspect the Obama Administration's zealotry will once again get the better of them. Instead of biding their time they will strike at the first opportunity even if the test case turns out to be less than solid. But this is what happens when one governs by emotion instead of reason.

The Obama Administration can bring as many lawsuits as they want against Arizona. The more they take this approach the more they demonstrate their indifference towards securing the border. Government's sole obligation is to protect their populace. If government abdicates that responsibility then that government has no legitimacy. In which case, the people of Arizona might have the last laugh.

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