Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer abruptly suspends state's attorney general from illegal immigrant law case

[npk]

Source: LA TIMES

A sudden new twist in the ongoing rhetorical and legal struggle over Arizona's tough new law to round up illegal immigrants.

Late Friday night as the Memorial Day weekend began, Arizona's Republican Gov. Jan Brewer, in effect, suspended the state's Democratic attorney general from defending the new law in upcoming legal challenges. The measure, known as S.B. 1070, is due to take effect this summer and, among other things, allows local police under federal guidelines to check the immigration status of people they stop. (For a full list of background stories, see Related Items below.)

The governor's abrupt action against Terry Goddard, her likely Democratic opponent in this fall's gubernatorial election, came after months of disputes between the two and at the end of a long day of legal maneuvering in both Arizona and the nation's capital.

As the state's chief lawyer, Goddard would be expected to take the lead in defending Arizona against....

...challenges to the Legislature's action, which erupted after years of state frustration with the federal government's inability to secure the state border with Mexico against illegal immigrants, drugs and criminals.

However, Goddard has vocally opposed the measure, so much so that the Legislature gave the governor advance authority to hire outside legal counsel.

On Friday, Goddard met with the Obama administration's Atty. Gen. Eric Holder in Washington, then held a news conference just hours before Brewer's handpicked attorneys were to meet with Holder, an outspoken critic of the law.

Brewer said, "I believe the federal government should use its legal resources to fight illegal immigration, not the State of Arizona."

Seeing apparent collusion between the two Democrat lawyers, Brewer pulled the plug Friday night.

Part of Brewer's statement:

Due to Attorney General Goddard’s curious coordination with the U.S. Department of Justice today and his consistent opposition to Arizona’s new immigration laws, I will direct my legal team to defend me and the State of Arizona rather than the Attorney General in the lawsuits challenging Arizona’s immigration laws.

Read more: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2010/05/jan-brewer-arizona-illegal-immigrant-law.html

[nosmokes]

1. The desert sun has driven better people than Brewer bat quano nuts...

[Name removed]

24. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ixion]

2. the Confederacy of Arizonastan continues to unfold

Brewer is acting like a true dictator.

[PCIntern]

3. "two Democrat lawyers" WTF!!!

LATimes getting it's editors/writers from Freeperville?

[TxVietVet]

4. They love to use name calling to promote their insults.

I do know they don't like being called names either. Like CONSERVANAZIS. :kick:

Maybe that will catch on. More maybe call them "teabagging kluckers". :spank: Give them a dose of their own medicine.

[man4allcats]

32. "ConservaNazis"

I like it. :thumbsup:

[tqla]

34. PubTards is a good one too.

[mascarax]

8. Had the same reaction

And had to double-check the source!

[No Elephants]

15. I've been noticing for at least a year that LAT (and NYT) seems to go further right every month.

[goclark]

28. If that is Los Angeles Times you are so "right"

That's why I stop subscribing 9 years ago.

They call people and beg the to take the Times for "Free for 2 months" and my friends still say NO WAY/

[EFerrari]

23. It has been since 2003 or 4. It's a right wing rag any more. n/t

[elleng]

25. 'Seeing apparent collusion' between the two Democrat lawyers,

What a thing to write! Is this a (WSJ) editorial, or a news story???

[jmondine]

5. There's nothing "tough" about the law

A truly tough immigration law would take on employers who hire illegals at slave wages.
Picking on the weakest members of our society is bullying and cowardly.

[No Elephants]

16. +1

[K8-EEE]

27. Agreed!! nt

[pinboy3niner]

6. LAT flub: a later-datelined story has AG Goddard still on the case

Arizona's top cop vows to fight any U.S. bid to quash immigration law
Atty. Gen. Terry Goddard says he has urged Justice Department officials not to sue. Busloads of activists are heading to Phoenix to protest.

By Teresa Watanabe, Los Angeles Times
May 29, 2010

As opponents of Arizona's tough new immigration law prepare a weekend of protests, the state's chief attorney vowed Friday to "fight back vigorously" if the Obama administration files legal action to stop its implementation.

Atty. Gen. Terry Goddard said he met Friday with a Justice Department official, who informed him of possible legal action and asked for his input. Speaking at a Phoenix news conference, Goddard said he urged the administration not to sue, because five other legal challenges are pending. The law, set to take effect July 29, would require police to determine whether people they stop are in the country illegally.

Addressing concerns about racial profiling, Goddard also said he told the Justice Department official that Arizona police would enforce the law in a "fair and highly professional manner." The state is preparing a 90-minute video to train 16,000 police officers on the legal and constitutional standards involved in implementing the law, he said.

A federal lawsuit, Goddard said, would detract from efforts to fight crime and secure the border against illegal immigration, which surged 70% in Arizona from 2000 to 2008. Several polls have shown widespread support for the law in Arizona and nationwide.

Read More:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/immigration/la-me-immig-protest-20100529,0,519827.story

[madrchsod]

7. she really is insane..

almost zero support for this bill with the police agencies in arizona and she suspended the state attorney general.

nothing like digging deeper in the 'well,well ,well'

[SILVER__FOX52]

9. Brewer..........

needs to get back on her meds.

[tavalon]

13. There aren't any meds for teh stupid

[DFW]

10. "curious coordination with the U.S. Department of Justice?"

A state's own attorney general coordinating with the U.S. Department of Justice is curious?

She'll really blow a gasket when she finds that her state treasurer coordinates with the U.S.
Department of the Treasury to make the U.S. dollar the official currency of the State of Arizona.

[activa8tr]

12. Good parallel analogy! Talk about paranoid ! n/t

[LynneSin]

11. This woman wasn't even fucking elected to her job

I hope they elect Goddard so he can clean up this mess she's made!

[tqla]

35. Exactly! It should be illegal for someone who is NOT elected

to pass sweeping laws. Officials who "step up" to a position should be relegated to less power until they are elected.

[Name removed]

14. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[mulsh]

17. enjoy your brief visit here, I have.

n/t

[Kali]

19. leftover pizza is the best breakfast!

[wordpix]

18. "curious coordination"? It's "curious" that a state AG discusses a legal issue with DOJ?

C'mon, that is just nuts :crazy:

[The Backlash Cometh]

20. Here we go again hedging our bets playing dodge ball with the Attorney Generals.

[Dappleganger]

21. That state needs to get their act together or a bunch of judges will do it for them.

And Brewer has gone Michele Bachmann bat-shit-crazy!

[rasputin1952]

22. Brewer needs to crawl back under the rock she emerged from...

and live with her other lizard kin.

She's toast, knows it and is getting desperate. Good riddance in advance, and the rest of the lege that voted for this piece of trash law.

[Arkana]

26. This is not going to go well for her

It'll be seen as improperly using the powers of the governorship against a political opponent.

[kag]

30. Which is...

exactly what she's doing.

[noiretextatique]

29. oh no...an activist governor

:spank: this arrogant shrew needs to be taken down a few notches

[barbtries]

31. before i read it

i was thinking the boycotts have worked! she's going to let it go. apparently not. i don't think it matters who defends the law, it will not hold up.

[Joey Liberal]

33. Arizona is dead to me

I'll never go to that Nazi-state again.

[jillan]

36. How about volunteering some time to Goddard's campaign so we can send Brewer home in NOV?

He's a clean elections candidate, and you can't contribute...but I'm sure he'll have some phone numbers for you to call.

[Ruby the Liberal]

37. Ariz gov. bypasses attorney general on immigration lawsuits

Source: CNN

(CNN) -- Gov. Jan Brewer of Arizona has bypassed Attorney General Terry Goddard and will rely on other lawyers to defend the state against lawsuits challenging its controversial law targeting illegal immigration, according to a statement.

The legislature gave Brewer the power to hire outside counsel "because of its lack of confidence in the Attorney General's willingness to vigorously defend" the law, she said in the statement.

Read more: http://us.cnn.com/2010/US/05/29/arizona.immigration.attorney.general/index.html

---

She is going to hire "outside counsel" to defend the state in immigration cases? :wtf:

[harkadog]

38. This is a waste of money.

Terry Goddard has said that he will fight any lawsuits against the law. His campaign sent an email to that effect yesterday.

"This morning I met with senior officials of the US Dept. of Justice at my office in Phoenix. I urged them not to file a federal lawsuit against Arizona's new immigration law. I told them that if they file their lawsuit, not only will I defend the State of Arizona, but Arizona will fight back. The real work to fix Arizona's immigration problem needs to be done in Congress, not in the courthouse."

Terry Goddard

[Hawkeye-X]

39. Well, someone needs a sane person to control the insane

especially the right-wing asshats that have absolutely no business being lawmakers.

Terry Goddard is running for Governor, and he has the majority of Arizona with him.

Hawkeye-X

[pinboy3niner]

41. Absolutely. It's nothing but a campaign ploy.

AG Goddard WAS defending the law (link to another report, "Arizona's top cop vows to fight any U.S. bid to quash immigration law,": http://www.latimes.com/news/local/immigration/la-me-immig-protest-20100529,0,519827.story).

I don't know what Brewer thinks she gains by this. Perhaps she thinks she makes points by demonstrating superiority over the AG, a political opponent in the Governor's race, while portraying him as disloyal to the state on an issue where most residents support her.

[Ruby the Liberal]

40. Ariz gov. bypasses attorney general on immigration lawsuits

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