[Peace-discuss] [Peace] Partial victory against SB 1070. Protest is still on!

[Brussel Morton K.]

Somewhat different from what Stuart expresses, I would guess that what determined Susan Bolton's opinion was less the demonstrations than what she perceived as justice and fundamental laws. Hispanic immigrants and their allies' demonstrations probably will not carry a great deal of weight  in the courts' decisions unless the bulk of the American public supports them, and that is far from happening. 

The immigration issue in my lights is not so simple as some make believe. For me it comes down to "open borders or not". The USA is not going to dramatically improve the living conditions in the lands south of the border that are a main reason for immigrants illegally trying to get here for a better life. (I suppose if there were not jobs for these illegals in the U.S. that would also "help".) That would be the only non-legal, non-criminalizing, non physically restrictive solution to stemming the illegal flow. Unless the whole character of our government and the mores of the country changes, it aint going to happen. 

--mkb

On Jul 29, 2010, at 9:30 PM, Stuart Levy wrote:

> On Thu, Jul 29, 2010 at 07:45:39PM -0500, Ron Szoke wrote:
>> 
>> "Friends,
>> In response to massive public pressure by immigrants' rights
>> activists, the U.S. District Court judge Susan Bolton has struck down
>> the most egregious provisions of SB 1070 in Arizona."
>> 
>> Do you have any evidence that her ruling was influenced in any degree 
>> whatever by such pressure, & not entirely by the intrinsic constitutional 
>> & legal merits of the case?  
>> 
>> Do you think she, & other federal judges, can be intimidated by ever 
>> greater displays of "massive public pressure by immigrants' rights 
>> activists"?  
> 
> 
> Well... I've no idea whether this judge was influenced by public protest
> in this case.   But in general at least, Howard Zinn did think that
> public action drives the decisions of the courts and the Congress --
> at least in the long run.  After the appointment of John Roberts
> to the Supreme Court, Zinn wrote this:
> 
>   "It's Not Up to the Court"
> 
>   http://www.thefreelibrary.com/It's+not+up+to+the+court-a0139521164
> 
> It's worth reading the whole article, but here are some relevant clips:
> 
>  [...]
>    It would be naive to depend on the Supreme Court to defend the
>    rights of poor people, women, people of color, dissenters of all
>    kinds. Those rights only come alive when citizens organize, protest,
>    demonstrate, strike, boycott, rebel, and violate the law in order
>    to uphold justice.
> 
>    The distinction between law and justice is ignored by all those
>    Senators--Democrats and Republicans--who solemnly invoke as their highest
>    concern "the rule of law."  The law can be just; it can be unjust. It does not
>    deserve to inherit the ultimate authority of the divine right of the king. 
> 
>  [...]
>    The rights of working people, of women, of black people have not depended
>    on decisions of the courts.  Like the other branches of the political system,
>    the courts have recognized these rights only after citizens have engaged in
>    direct action powerful enough to win these rights for themselves. 
> 
>  [...]
>    That is why Cindy Sheehan's dramatic stand in Crawford, Texas,
>    leading to 1,600 anti-war vigils around the country, involving
>    100,000 people, is more crucial to the future of American democracy
>    than the mock hearings on Justice Roberts.
> 
>    That is why the St. Patrick's Four need to be supported and emulated.
> 
>    That is why the GIs refusing to return to Iraq, the families of
>    soldiers calling for withdrawal from the war, are so important.
> 
> ...
> 
> And it's in that spirit that the action today (I think maybe 15-20
> people came by), and many others around the country, are important too,
> whether they seem to make a difference in the short term or not.
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