Originally, I posted a commentary on SB 1070, but that was based on summaries of the law, and I was wrong to have commented without reading the actual text. Now that I've read the text, I don't see that it gives law enforcement any new teeth to arrest any person for any new reasons. The law requires local police to try and determine the legal status of persons, but because no person is required to answer questions, nor be detained against their will (expect with a warrant and/or arrest), the police actually have no new capabilities.
The one troubling component of SB 1070 is that it requires law enforcement to verify the legal status of a person before being released AFTER an arrest. Given that the federal agency may not be able to return verification for an extended period of time, this can lead to persons who are ready to be released (because the arrest cause didn't stick) from being released in a reasonable amount of time.
As I read SB 1070, when a cop approaches a person and asks for proof of legal residence, there is nothing to keep that person from refusing to comply, and that is not a crime.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment