Highlights of This Issue

Special Bulletin

• Supreme Court Rules in favor of Arizona Statute Requiring the Police to Determine the Immigration Status of People They Stop or Arrest If They Have Reason to Suspect They Are in the United States Illegally; Court Rejects Other Parts of the Law

United States Supreme Court Action

• State Police Forensic Specialist Could Testify to DNA Match by Cellmark Laboratory
• Law Enforcement Officer Had Qualified Immunity for First Amendment Retaliatory Arrest
• Life Sentence without Possibility of Parole for Juveniles Is Unconstitutional
• Public Employee Unions Cannot Unilaterally Increase Political Fees for Non-Members

Federal and State Decisions

• Arrest, Search and Seizure Issues: seizure; what constitutes; blocking defendant’s car; search warrant; probable cause; furtive acts; good faith; no knock execution; probation searches; protective sweeps; domestic violence cases; drug detection dogs; delay in arrival of dogs; consent; use of force
• Interrogation Issues: Miranda; interrogation; identification purposes; use of informer; waiver; voluntariness; retarded defendants; effect of expert testimony; public safety exception; spontaneous statements
• Crimes; Evidence; Trial Procedure: DUI; parked car; use of force for taking blood sample; lineups; right to second lineup; double jeopardy; failure of police to obtain search warrant in a timely manner
• Civil Liability/Personnel Law: false arrest; consultation with prosecutor; qualified immunity; character of neighborhood; adequacy of training program; excessive force; tasering non-resisting disturbed persons and misdemeanants; leg sweep injuries; road block as deadly force; failure to protect; giving child’s autopsy photo to the press; free speech; deposition in civil rights suit; prisoner suicide

Contents

Special Bulletin
United States Supreme Court
Federal and State Decisions

Special Bulletin

This was a unanimous decision on this issue, which was the centerpiece of the statute. Three other provisions of the statute were struck down:

• Allowing the arrest without a warrant of some people suspected of being deportable.

• Making it a state crime for immigrants to seek or hold jobs without documentation.

• Making it a state crime for immigrants to fail to register with the federal government.

Basically the Court struck down these three provisions because they are preempted by federal law, i.e., within the exclusive scope of federal law enforcement.