Breaking: significant parts of SB1070 blocked by federal judge

This fight is hardly over, and the Republicans/nativists are sure to appeal the ruling, but this is still great news...

From the Arizona Republic -

U.S. District Court Judge Susan Bolton has issued a preliminary injunction preventing several sections of Arizona's new immigration law from becoming law, at least until the courts have a chance to hear the full case.

Key parts of Senate Bill 1070 that will not go into effect Thursday:

• The portion of the law that requires an officer make a reasonable attempt to determine the immigration status of a person stopped, detained or arrested if there's reasonable suspicion they're in the country illegally.

• The portion that creates a crime of failure to apply for or carry "alien-registration papers."

• The portion that makes it a crime for illegal immigrants to solicit, apply for or perform work. (This does not include the section on day laborers.)

• The portion that allows for a warrantless arrest of a person where there is probable cause to believe they have committed a public offense that makes them removable from the United States.

Parts of the law will remain in effect, including provisions allowing individuals to sue law enforcement agencies/political subdivisions who don't enforce immigration law enthusiastically enough and those making it a misdemeanor to harbor or transport undocumented immigrants.  Full hearings on the law will take place in the near future.

Terry Goddard, Arizona's Attorney General and a candidate for governor issued the following statement:

Jan Brewer played politics with immigration, and she lost.
Rather than providing the leadership Arizona needs to solve the immigration problem, Jan Brewer signed a bill she could not defend in court which has led to boycotts, jeopardized our tourism industry and polarized our state.

It is time to look beyond election year grandstanding and begin to repair the damage to Arizona's image and economy.

Perhaps now we in Arizona can focus on effective steps to fight border crime and keep our families safe. Now we can focus on steps, such as the ones I have been taking, to go after border crime and cut off the cash that flows to organized criminal cartels that smuggle thousands into the U.S.

Now, we should start making smart decisions about immigration - beyond sound bites, fear mongering and political stunts.

There were expected to be protests in downtown Phoenix, expressing objections to the law.  Now, however, the protests are expected to be from those opposed to the ruling.

Breaking news in a breaking news post:  I'm not sure if it is related to the ruling, though the timing is certainly eyebrow-raising, but the Downtown Justice Court building (NOT the federal court or Maricopa County Superior Court buildings in Phoenix) has been locked down due to a suspicious package.  No one is being let in or out of the building.  The MCSO has been called.  More info as it becomes available. (confirmed by a call to the Justice Courts administration office)

The text of the judge's ruling, courtesy the Arizona Republic, here.

Arizona Capitol Times coverage here.

CNN coverage here.