Legislative leaders not likely to rehash SB 1070 in special session

PHOENIX — Legislative leaders from both parties are cool to a proposal by Gov. Jan Brewer that they explore ways to fix SB 1070 rather than fight over them in court.

House Speaker Kirk Adams, R-Mesa, said he's convinced that an appellate court will eventually overturn the conclusion by U.S. District Court Judge Susan Bolton that key provisions of the law are likely unconstitutional. Adams said he sees no reason to call lawmakers into special session to revamp those sections just because one judge found them flawed.

Assistant House Minority Leader Kyrsten Sinema, D-Phoenix, also sees no reason to consider Brewer's suggestion of a special session, first reported Thursday by Capitol Media Services. But Sinema's reason is more simple: She doesn't believe that anything lawmakers could do ever would make those disputed sections legal.

Sinema said the only way Democrats would cooperate with a special session would be if the Republican majority were to consider outright repeal of the law, replacing it with something that actually might make help curb illegal immigration.

Brewer was in attendance last week when the U.S. Department of Justice made its case to Bolton that several of the provisions illegally infringe on the exclusive right of the federal government to regulate immigration. The judge openly questioned several of those sections, saying the wording crafted by lawmakers created legal problems.

For example, Bolton cited a section which says that all those who are arrested cannot be released from custody until their immigration status is checked.

The judge pointed out that an arrest under Arizona law can include simply being cited at the scene and released. She suggested that holding these people while inquiries are made to Immigration and Customs Enforcement not only detains them longer than necessary but also puts a burden on the federal agency to respond to all the inquiries.

John Bouma, the governor's attorney, said lawmakers meant that to apply only to those actually taken into custody. But Bolton said that's not what they wrote.

“We knew that she had concerns with those particular sections,'' Brewer told Capitol Media Services. The governor said that opens the door to making “tweaks'' to the law in a special session, possibly before it goes this fall to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

“Obviously, I have considered that. And probably over the next few weeks will make some kind of decision if that's the direction we want to go or not,'' the governor continued. “We could address that legislatively and please the court.''

The idea of undoing the legislation to meet Bolton's legal objections got an angry reaction from Sen. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, the sponsor of the bill.

“She's wrong,'' Pearce said of Bolton's ruling, calling her “an activist judge.''

“She just took some pieces out that she didn't like,'' he said. “And that's not the law.''

Adams expressed the same basic sentiment, albeit without the attack on Bolton.

He said the judges of the 9th Circuit may be as hostile to the state's position that the law is legal as was Bolton.

“But when we get to the Supreme Court, we will prevail,'' Adams said. “I think 1070 is consistent with federal law.''

Sinema said she proposed 22 changes to the legislation when it was being considered by the House, changes she said would have addressed many, if not all, of the legal concerns raised by Bolton. All were rejected by the Republican who control both chambers.

“Part of me wants to say, ‘I told you so' because I told them so,'' she said.

“The other part of me wonders why they want to work on a piece of legislation which is just a flawed solution to a very real problem,'' Sinema continued. “We really should be cracking down on the things we can as a state take care of.''