Judge Tosses Class Action Lawsuit Over Bungled Green Card Lottery

The Contra Costa Times reports that U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson dismissed a class-action lawsuit filed by a Dublin man and 35 other people who were told they won a chance to get a U.S. green card, only to be informed that the State Department voided the results of its annual visa lottery because of a computer glitch.  Though Judge Jackson said she sympathized with the plaintiffs, she sided with the State Department in arguing that the results had to be voided because a computer problem had caused the selection to favor certain applicants over others.  The process is supposed to be strictly random. 

http://www.contracostatimes.com/my-town/ci_18479132

*****

Indiana Won’t Appeal Court Ruling Freezing New Immigration Law

The Indianapolis Star reports that the state will not appeal a federal court decision to place a preliminary injunction against parts of Indiana’s new immigration law.  Attorney General Greg Zoeller asserts that he “[remains] committed to defending legislative enactments against outside challenges.” The decision not to appeal means those parts of the law will not be enforced while U.S. District Judge Sara Evans Barker hears arguments by the ACLU of Indiana that the provisions should be thrown out.  Zoeller said his office prefers to “vigorously oppose a permanent injunction” in District Court over appealing the ruling in Circuit Court.

http://www.indystar.com/article/20110719/NEWS/110719012/State-won-t-appeal-court-ruling-freezing-new-immigration-law

*****

Utah Attorneys Defend Immigration Enforcement Law

The Salt Lake Tribune reports that Attorney General Mark Shurtleff’s office says in court documents that a federal court injunction sought against the state’s enforcement-only immigration law should be denied outright.  The lawsuit, filed by the ACLU and the National Immigration Law Center, charges Utah’s HB497 encourages racial profiling and violates the civil rights of undocumented immigrants as well as citizens.  Barry Lawrence, assistant attorney general, argued in the brief that the lawsuit is based on the enforcement-only Arizona law.  Lawrence wrote in his brief that the lawsuit was baseless because the Utah Legislature took “painstaking efforts to avoid the constitutional infirmities of the Arizona law.” 

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/52235704-90/argued-brief-court-enforcement.html.csp

*****