Another law overruled

The Indiana legislature had a wealth of setbacks lately.

In addition to the ruling by U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt that put an injunction on an Indiana law which blocks federal aid from reaching Planned Parenthood. U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker is blocking the state’s new immigration law.

The new law, which was to go into effect July 1, allowed police to arrest people whose immigration status was “questionable.” The law also disallowed the use of consular identification cards.

Barker said Indiana’s “seriously flawed” law violated the search and seizure laws, due process and other provisions that ran afoul of the laws laid out in the Constitution. She also said the section of the law barring the use of consulate ID cards violates federal law.

The ALCU has won another battle — for now. Though many legal scholars believe the judge’s halting of the bill means it won’t survive long, its supporters like Indiana Sen. Mike Delph, R-Carmel, disagree.

However, with a district judge ruling that two major sections of the bill are unconstitutional, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out judges further up the food chain will agree.

The current state legislature seems to be letting power go to its collective head and passing laws right and left the feds now have to snack down.

Indiana certainly isn’t the first state to try to pass immigration laws — we’ve all seen what happened in Arizona — but the legislators need to take a deep breath, relax and let the federal government do its job in controlling immigration.

Many believe the federal government hasn’t been doing its job, which is why the state decided to step in. However, it’s not the state’s job.

Yes, the state does have some jurisdiction, but it can’t supersede federal rulings and it shouldn’t try to.

It seems that some of the state senators could use a little lesson in federal law, since they keep making laws that violate it.

They need to be more concerned about protecting Indiana residents than pushing their own agendas.

A few people up there seem to have their hearts in the right place. The part of the immigration law that denied tax breaks to businesses that knowingly hire illegal immigrants was a good step to protecting residents’ jobs and the ALCU didn’t challenge that portion.

Now the legislators should concentrate on other immediate problems, such as the economy. Get people more jobs. Keep large companies like Lilly and Cummins happy so they’ll stay — and that stab at amending the Indiana constitution to say that marriage is between one man and one woman certainly didn’t make them happy.

Legislators: Put your own personal beliefs about abortion, about gay marriage and about everything else aside, and try to do some good in this state.

­— hanns@indiana.edu