From: Mountain States Legal Foundation – Perry Pendley
Sent: Friday, October 29, 2010 11:27 AM
Subject: Opportunity to battle Obama’s attempt to invalidate Arizona’s illegal immigration statue
I want to tell you of a unique opportunity to participate in the battle by Arizona, assisted by Mountain States Legal Foundation (MSLF), against attempts by the Obama Administration to invalidate Arizona’s illegal immigration statute, S.B. 1070.
On Monday, November 1, at 9:00 a.m. Pacific Savings Time, C-SPAN will broadcast LIVE, oral arguments before a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit in United States v. Arizona. The three judges include: Richard Paez (appointed by Bill Clinton), John Noonan (appointed by Ronald Reagan), and Carlos Bea (appointed by George W. Bush).
I will be watching. If you watch, I would be interested in learning what you think.
Let me provide you some additional background. As a supporter of MSLF and its courageous defense of constitutional liberties and the rule of law, you know that, at the specific request of Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, MSLF filed a brief in support of Arizona S.B. 1070 before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. MSLF aggressively challenged the ruling by the Arizona federal district court based on the outrageous claim by President Obama and his Attorney General Eric Holder that a state law is preempted, not when it conflicts with a law enacted by Congress, but when it conflicts with White House policy regarding “foreign relations [] and humanitarian concerns.” This fallacious argument proves that the lawsuit filed by the Obama Administration against Arizona is not about illegal immigration and who may enforce laws; it is about the Constitution, federalism, and dual sovereignty.
Even more outrageous than the lawsuit Holder filed against Governor Brewer was the decision by Secretary of State Clinton to list Arizona as a human rights “problem” and subject Arizona to the scrutiny of a three-country panel next month for enacting S.B. 1070. One State Department expert I consulted said that the review is akin to being “barbecued.”
This action follows the decision by one of Obama’s top diplomats to advise China, during human rights discussions, that the United States has its own human rights problems, citing, as an example, Arizona’s enactment of S.B. 1070!
Arizona got more bad news days ago when a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit ruled 2-1 that Arizona’s adoption of a voter ballot initiative (Proposition 200) in 2004, which
required proof of citizenship and proof positive of identification before voting in Arizona, was unconstitutional! Two judges held that the Arizona law was preempted by a federal law and was invalid. The third judge filed a stinging dissent in which he charged that the two other judges had reversed a Ninth Circuit precedent! Worse yet, said the dissenting judge, the federal law does not preempt state law; instead, it invites more “identifying information [such as that required by Arizona] to enable the appropriate State
official to assess the eligibility of the applicant.”
The timing of this decision could not be worse and is most curious to me. In a matter of days, one of the most important elections of our lives will take place and Arizona will not
be able to ensure that every voter is a citizen! MSLF filed a strong brief in support of Arizona, which the two judges ignored. I am working with Arizona now on the next steps in
the case, which should go before an en banc panel of the Ninth Circuit and from there to the Supreme Court of the United States.
MSLF has experience in this area. When Proposition 200 was first challenged by the ACLU and MALDEF, MSLF made the winning argument at the Ninth Circuit and got the case dismissed in 2005! As a result, Arizona was able to prevent those illegally in Arizona from receiving “public benefits” in violation of federal law. Over the years, MSLF’s victory has saved Arizona millions of dollars.
Earlier this month, MSLF filed a friend of the court brief in support of the challenge by the Commonwealth of Virginia to the constitutionality of ObamaCare. Because I am admitted to practice law in Virginia, I signed the brief. Days ago, I met with Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, who thanked me and MSLF for our brief in support of Virginia and asked me to pass on his appreciation to MSLF’s supporters.
Consider yourself thanked!
Meanwhile,
My Action Update on the China issue is here: http://www.mountainstateslegal.org/action_updates.cfm?ActionUpdateID=22
MSLF’s press release on its brief in support of Arizona is here: http://www.mountainstateslegal.org/press_releases.cfm?pressreleaseid=936
MSLF’s press release on its constitutional attack on ObamaCare is here: http://www.mountainstateslegal.org/press_releases_home.cfm
Thank you for your support,
William Perry Pendley, Esq.
President and Chief Operating Officer