From your opinion piece:
Quote:
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In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a unanimous decision in Muehler v. Mena that questioning someone regarding their immigration status is not a violation of Fourth Amendment rights - provided that person is already lawfully detained.
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...provided that person is already lawfully detained.
That is the difference between the Court's decision in Muehler v. Mena and the AZ law....and IMO, a significant difference.
Given that difference, I certainly dont think it is a "a strong precedent" as the columnists suggests.
But just like you and Gehrke, I'm no constitutional expert either, but that is why I think it is important for the law to go through a formal legal review.
Added:
And even taking illegal immigrants out the picture, under the AZ law, a citizen or legal resident,
not being lawfully detained for questioning in connection to any other crime, can be asked by the cops to prove their citizenship or immigration status if the cop thinks the citizen/resident looks "suspicious of being an illegal immigrant" (whatever that means)...and those citizens or legal residents are far more likely to be Hispanic than Anglo.