The Supreme Court agreed Dec. 12 to hear a challenge by the state of Arizona against a lower court's decision to overturn most of its controversial immigration law, known as SB 1070.

In an order (.pdf) listing cases granted certiorari, the Court says Justice Elena Kagan recused herself, presumably due to earlier work on the matter while serving as Solicitor General.

The last court to rule on the case, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, issued on April 11, 2011 an injunction against the most controversial sections of the law, including a clause that requires local law enforcement to check for immigration status based on "reasonable suspicion."

The Justice Department has argued the Arizona law preempts federal jurisdiction over immigration law, an argument the Ninth Circuit appeared to agree with.

"There is a substantial likelihood that officers will wrongfully arrest legal resident aliens" under the law, wrote District Judge Susan Bolton in the injunction (.pdf). " By enforcing this statute, Arizona would impose a 'distinct, unusual and extraordinary' burden on legal resident aliens that only the federal government has the authority to impose.

Other provisions of the law blocked by the Ninth Circuit include one making it a state crime for an illegal alien to apply for, or receive, a job, one that would permit police to arrest without a warrant anyone law enforcement believes based on probable cause has caused a crime that would make them subject to deportation, and one that would make it a state crime to intentionally fail to register with state authorities.

For more:
- download the order (.pdf)

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