Judge Wake Up Arizona

So the group that calls itself "Wake Up Arizona" files a motion for injunction against the employer sanctions law and it ends up in front of...Judge Wake.  I think that's cool. 

(I made the mistake of suing one of Neil Wake's clients in 1992...let's just say that it didn't go well.  He's an exceptionally bright attorney and a great judge.  This is going to be an interesting case.)  Here's the press release. 

PHOENIX – Plaintiffs in the federal case against Arizona’s new employer sanctions law filed a pair of motions today with Judge Neil V. Wake in U.S. District Court in Phoenix.  The first seeks a preliminary injunction enjoining enforcement of the law and second requests an early hearing date on the suit.

Judge Wake is asked to rule on the plaintiff’s claim that allowing the law to go into effect on January 1, 2008 will produce “irreparable harm” to Arizona businesses.  He will also consider if the plaintiff’s complaint has a “substantial likelihood of prevailing on the merits.”

In the motion of proposed schedule for briefing, the plaintiffs suggest a hearing on the case be scheduled for the week of October 15, 2007.  This request in no way binds the court and only serves as a suggestion to Judge Wake.

The original suit, Arizona Contractors Association, et al. v. Napolitano, was filed in July by a dozen national and Arizona business associations.  The suit alleges that the Arizona employer sanctions law (HB 2779) violates federal and state due process, the commerce and supremacy clauses of the U.S. Constitution, federal preemption of states in the area of immigration enforcement; separation of powers under the Arizona Constitution; and, the Fourth Amendment’s protection from “unreasonable search and seizures.”

HB 2779 was passed by the Arizona Legislature and signed by Gov. Janet Napolitano earlier this year.  It seeks, on second violation, to revoke all state licenses held by businesses found to have “knowingly” or “intentionally” employed an undocumented worker.  The law also mandates that more than 100,000 Arizona employers use the federal Basic Pilot Program/E-Verify to screen new hires for employment eligibility.

The complete list of plaintiffs in Arizona Contractors Association, et al. v. Napolitano are Arizona Contractors Association, Arizona Employers for Immigration Reform, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Arizona Farm Bureau Federation, Arizona Restaurant and Hospitality Association, Associated Minority Contractors of America, Arizona Roofing Contractors Association National Roofing Contractors Association, Wake Up Arizona! and the Arizona Landscape Contractors Association.

RESOURCES

• Motions filed

  August 31, 2007

  by the Plaintiffs in

  Arizona

  Contractors Association, et al. v. Napolitano (http://www.azeir.org/pdf/2008-0831-motions.pdf)
• Arizona Contractors Association, et al. v. Napolitano (http://www.azeir.org/pdf/aca-azeir_v_napolitano_hb-2779.pdf)
• HB 2779: Fair and Legal Employment Act as Enacted (http://www.azleg.gov/legtext/48leg/1r/bills/hb2779c.pdf)
• HB 2779: Fair and Legal Employment Act Official Fact Sheet (http://www.azleg.gov/FormatDocument.asp?inDoc=/legtext/48leg/1r/summary/h.hb2779_06-20-07_astransmittedtogovernor.doc.htm)