City of Tucson to Arizona Governor: We'll See You In Court

Even as Arizona Governor Jan Brewer was expressing confidence about prevailing in the litigation over SB 1070 (Julie Weiner, Arizona Governor is So Excited for Possible Legal Entanglement With the Federal Government, Vanity Fair, June 2, 2010), the pressure from anti-SB 1070 forces continued to shake up the Arizona political structure, as revealed in filings in the Tucson federal court. The City of Tucson, which had been named as a defendant in the Tucson federal court litigation against SB 1070, Escobar v. Brewer, today has responded to the plaintiff police officer's complaint by, in effect, taking the side of the plaintiff and asserting cross-claims against its co-defendants Governor Brewer and the State of Arizona. (Steve Nunez and Brian Pryor, City of Tucson Joins Officer's Lawsuit Against SB 1070, KGUN-TV, June 2, 2010). The City of Tucson's cross-claim alleges that the new Arizona immigration statute is unconstitutional. Plaintiff's attorney, Richard Martinez, praised the action of the City, observing that it is "rare" for a "governmental entity" to concede that "a statute is unconstitutional." (Id.)