Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever Joins Appeal of Injunction against AZ SB 1070

From http://www.bordersheriffs.com/:

SHERIFF LARRY DEVER CLEARED BY COURT TO JOIN FIGHT AGAINST ARIZONA IMMIGRATION LAWSUIT

9th Circuit Court Grants ‘Friend of the Court’ Status to Fight Injunction of SB 1070

Phoenix, AZ – The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals this week granted permission to Sheriff Larry Dever of Cochise County to join the appeal of the injunction of Arizona immigration SB 1070, barring certain parts of the law from being enforced. Sheriff Dever has seen the threat of illegal immigration firsthand but has been largely shut out of the debate in court.

“Arizona’s citizens need every uniformed officer in the State of Arizona enforcing Federal Immigration laws,” said Dever. “SB 1070 was put in place to give Arizonans the assurance that every officer across the State is doing everything they can to stop the flow of drugs and violence. We look forward to participate in the hearings and welcome the day when we can use all the tools necessary to secure our borders.”

On September 2, Sheriff Dever, honorary chairman of www.bordersheriffs.com which helps Arizona sheriffs fight lawsuits by the ACLU and the Justice Department against Arizona, filed an Amicus Curiae brief requesting permission to participate in the appeal of the District Court’s preliminary injunction preventing the inaction and enforcement of SB 1070. On Monday, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reviewed and granted the motion and determined that Sheriff Dever's perspective on this dispute is valuable and will consider his arguments seeking to vacate the preliminary injunction.

In light of this development, Sheriff Dever will request that his counsel be allowed to participate in the oral argument proceedings, which are scheduled to be conducted November 1 in San Francisco.

The brief challenges Judge Susan Bolton’s ruling striking down key portions of SB 1070. Section 2(b) of SB 1070 requires that law enforcement, with reasonable suspicion that someone is in the country unlawfully, check immigration status but does not require that law enforcement check immigration status of every arrestee. Despite that language, the Federal District Court prevented SB 1070 from going into effect in part by incorrectly reading the statute to require that every single detention by a uniformed officer would require an immigration status check.