Arrests without warrants struck down

An Indiana Federal Judge has struck down provisions of Indiana’s 2011 immigration law on the grounds that they are unconstitutional.

“Because (the law) authorizes state and local law enforcement officers to effect warrantless arrests for matters that are not crimes, it runs afoul of the Fourth Amendment, thus is unconstitutional on those grounds,” Judge Sarah Evans Barker said in a news release from the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana.

Judge Barker of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana in Indianapolis said in her ruling the law “runs afoul of the Fourth Amendment,” because it authorizes state and local law enforcement officers to “effect warrantless arrests for matters that are not crimes,” according to the press release.

In a press release from July 2012, Attorney General Greg Zoeller noted the Supreme Court’s ruling in Arizona v. United States makes it clear state laws authorizing local law enforcement officers to make warrantless arrests of people for immigration violations are unconstitutional.

According to a news release from ACLU of Indiana, the Senate Enrolled Act 590, passed by the Indiana General Assembly and signed by Governor Mitch Daniels in 2011, permitted local law enforcement officers to make warrantless arrests of people in possession of certain immigration-related documents. Possessing these documents is not a crime in the state of Indiana.

The Senate Enrolled Act 590 also made the use of identification cards issued by consulates of foreign countries illegal, according to the news release from ACLU of Indiana.

ACLU plaintiffs filed a legal challenge, Buquer v. City of Indianapolis, to the Senate Enrolled Act 590 after it passed into law in 2011.

“The Constitution is a restraint on the power of government over the lives of individuals,” Jane Henegar, ACLU of Indiana executive director, said in the news release.

— Anu Kumar