U.S. Supreme Court: Arizona's Employer Sanctions Law A-OK

supremecourt1.jpg
In a 5-3 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court has sustained Arizona's employer sanctions law.

The law forces employers to check the immigration status of employees, and allows the state to penalize businesses that hire illegal immigrants.

The court's ruling doesn't address SB 1070, Arizona's controversial immigration law. However, it indicates that the majority of the court is willing to give states a little wiggle room when it comes to immigration issues.

In the court's ruling, Chief Justice John Roberts writes that the law "falls well within the confines of the authority Congress chose to leave to the states."

"Arizona's procedures simply implement the sanctions that Congress expressly allowed the states to pursue through licensing laws," Roberts continues. "Given that Congress specifically preserved such authority for the States, it stands to reason that Congress did not intend to prevent the States from using appropriate tools to exercise that authority."

Justices Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Sonia Sotomayor, all Democratic appointees, opposed the law, while Justice Elena Kagan didn't participate in the case because she worked on it while serving as President Barack Obama's solicitor general.

Like this Story?

Sign up for the Weekly Newsletter: Our weekly feature stories, movie reviews, calendar picks and more - minus the newsprint and sent directly to your inbox.

Privacy Policy

Most Popular Stories

Sign up for free stuff, news info & more!

Tools

General

Electronics

Browse Voice Nation
  • Voice Places

    Voice Places

    Discover restaurants, nightlife, travel, shopping...

  • VOICE Daily Deals

    VOICE Daily Deals

    Get 50 to 90% off every day on restaurants, movies, massages...

  • Best Of

    Best Of...

    More than 10,000 of the BEST things to eat, drink, and experience

  • My Voice Nation

    My Voice Nation

    Join the Village Voice community and get exclusive deals and info

  • Happy Hour

    Happy Hour

    Your local Happy Hour guide at your fingertips

or

Log in or Sign up

Social Connect:

Use your favorite account to access My Voice Nation.


Use your My Voice Nation account to log in:





Forgot password?
or

Sign Up or Log in

Social Connect:

Sign up for My Voice Nation with your preferred network.


Sign up for a My Voice Nation account:



Privacy policy