Scalia and Limbaugh trash Supreme Court immigration ruling (LA Times|Top of the Ticket)

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Scalia and Limbaugh trash Supreme Court immigration ruling

David Horsey
June 26, 2012, 5:00 a.m.

The first day of a big week for the third branch of government brought a ruling on Arizona's immigration law that was less than satisfying for Justice Antonin Scalia and the Rush Limbaugh wing of the U.S. Supreme Court.

A five-vote majority that included Chief JusticeJohn G. Roberts Jr.struck down all but one provision of the controversial statute, asserting that the federal government has preeminent authority for setting immigration policy. They did leave intact the most controversial element of Arizona's disputed law -- the mandate placed on local police to determine the immigration status of anyone detained for other violations if there is reason to suspect that person is in the country illegally -- but they ruled that taking further steps to kick undocumented persons out of the country or to keep them from seeking work or require that they carry documentation of citizenship are not powers allocated to the states.

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Those five (Justices) did band together on a ruling Monday, overthrowing a 100-year-old Montana statute that limited corporate donations to political campaigns. The venerable law was adopted back in the days when copper kings and robber barons bought and sold politicians like hogs at auction. But the law was found to be in conflict with the court's notorious Citizens United ruling from 2010 that has turned American politics into a shopping mall for big corporations and billionaires.

It is interesting that though Scalia defended the right of states to conduct their own immigration policies to keep their people safe from border crossers, states' rights did not count for much in his campaign finance deliberation. There, he reasoned that the political interests of billionaires supersede the duty of the state of Montana to protect its citizens from the corrupting influence of monied interests.

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/topoftheticket/la-na-tt-scalia-and-limbaugh-20120625,0,458552.story