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L.A. to File Amicus Brief in Arizona Immigration Lawsuit
A group protests outside the White House last Thursday | AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais
If people don't like the Los Angeles City Council "meddling in the affairs of another state,” then too bad -- because they did it again. Today the Council voted to file an amicus brief in support of a lawsuit challenging SB 1070, which requires "police to demand 'papers' from people they stop whom they suspect are not authorized to be in the U.S.," according to the motion authored by Council President Eric Garcetti.
Today's 8 to 2 vote instructs the city attorney to file the brief with the class-action lawsuit, Friendly House et al. v. Whiting et al.
In his motion, Garcetti notes that the County of Santa Clara has already filed a brief. They "will argue that the involvement of local law enforcement agencies in enforcing federal immigration law harms public safety by undermining trust between local law enforcement agencies and immigrant communities, making it more difficult for local agencies to investigate and prosecute crimes," he wrote, noting that Los Angeles should do the same, especially considering their recent action to boycott the state.
The two dissenting votes were cast by Paul Krekorian and Bill Rosendahl. In an earlier vote where the motion did not garner enough votes either way, Garcetti accidentally hit the wrong button voting no against his own motion.
For the Record: An earlier version of this post said that Greig Smith voted against it. In the first vote, he voted yes, according to the vote count displayed on Channel 35. During the second vote, he was not present.
For the Record: And mystery solved: Smith's and Garcetti's votes were accidentally flip-flopped by the City Clerk in the original vote. Smith voted against the motion and Garcetti voted for it, but it went through backwards. In that vote, it was 7 to 3, meaning nothing happened. (you need 8 votes to pass something) In a second vote, when more members were present, the measure passed 8 to 2 as Smith had left the room.
1st vote: clerk
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